McMurray does it again
July 26th 2010 15:22
By Sporting News Wire Service
Car owner Chip Ganassi got the expected result from an unexpected source in Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as race winner Jamie McMurray joined one of Cup racing's most exclusive clubs.
Restarting second thanks to a two-tire call on a Lap 140 pit stop, McMurray powered his No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet past Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevy on a restart with 11 laps left and pulled away to beat Harvick to the finish line by 1.391 seconds.
"I get to kiss the bricks," McMurray said after he crossed the stripe, adding another milestone to his career and Ganassi's unbelievable year.
McMurray gave Ganassi his first Daytona 500 win in February. In May, Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 in one of Ganassi's cars. On Sunday, Ganassi hit the unprecedented trifecta. No other car owner has won all three major races, much less in the same year.
At the same time, McMurray joined Dale Jarrett (1996) and Jimmie Johnson (2006) as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.
"I'm the luckiest guy on the planet," Ganassi said. "You wouldn't dare to dream this. You wouldn't dare to dream this kind of year."
The Brickyard victory, however, had a bittersweet edge to it. McMurray's teammate, Juan Montoya, tabbed as the driver more likely to finish the triple for his owner, did nothing to dispel that notion early on. Montoya led a race-high 86 laps but lost the lead when six teams -- including those of McMurray and Harvick -- opted for two tires on the Lap 140 pit stop under caution for debris. Montoya took four tires.
Montoya floundered in dirty air, dropped four positions and ultimately lost control of his car and crashed on Lap 145. For the second consecutive year, the Brickyard 400 ended in heartbreak for Montoya, who led 116 of 160 laps last year only to be thwarted by a pit road speeding penalty.
Greg Biffle finished third in his No. 16 Ford, the only non-Chevrolet to qualify in the top 10. Clint Bowyer was fourth and Tony Stewart fifth. Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch completed the top 10.
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