IMS Trackside Report for Sunday

DAY 4 - SUNDAY, JULY 27, 2014

A RECAP OF TODAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):

1:19 p.m. Green Flag waved by Ryan Middleton, Crown Royal contest winner, Start of 21st running of Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com

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The high temperature Sunday in Indianapolis is forecasted to be 85 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The high temperatures for the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup series race days in Indianapolis: 89°, July 25, 2010; 94°, July 31, 2011; 91°, July 29, 2012; 69°, July 28, 2013.

The warmest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race day at Indianapolis was Aug. 4, 2002, when the high temperature was 96 degrees. Bill Elliott won that race.

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Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson could become just the second five-time winner of a major race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a victory Sunday in the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com.

Michael Schumacher became the first five-time winner when he captured the 2006 United States Grand Prix. Schumacher won the USGP in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Gordon and Johnson are tied with four-time Indianapolis 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears on the IMS win list. Gordon won the Brickyard 400 in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004. Johnson won in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012.

Foyt won the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977; Unser won the "500" in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987; Mears won the "500" in 1979, 1984, 1988 and 1991.

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2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya - who finished fifth in May at the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 - looks to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

***Kevin Harvick won the 2003 Brickyard 400 from the pole position. The only other drivers to do so are Jimmie Johnson (2008) and Ryan Newman (2013). Harvick starts from the pole again today.Jeff Gordon (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004 winner) and Bobby Labonte (2000 winner) are making their 21st starts at the Brickyard. They are the only two drivers to appear in every NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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Chevrolet owns an 11-year win streak at the Brickyard and has won 15 of 20 Brickyard 400s overall. Ford last won in 1999 (Dale Jarrett). Toyota has never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at IMS.

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Winning at Indianapolis has been a championship prelude for some drivers. Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2008, 2009), Jeff Gordon (1998, 2001), Tony Stewart (2005), Bobby Labonte (2000) and Dale Jarrett (1999) each won the Brickyard 400 and series championships in the same season.

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Kurt Busch returns to IMS just two months after he finished sixth in the 2014 en route to being named the Indianapolis 500 Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Busch has made 13 starts at the Brickyard 400 with two top-10 finishes.

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Columbus, Ind., native Tony Stewart has won the Brickyard 400 twice (2005, 2007) and has 11 top 10s in 15 starts. He has also finished on the lead lap in every start, 2,401 laps in all.

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Roger Penske has won 15 Indianapolis 500s as a team owner but has yet to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski won the inaugural Nationwide Series race at IMS in 2012 for Penske. Today at the Brickyard, Keselowski, Juan Pablo Montoya and Joey Logano will try to give Penske his first win.

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Actor Chris Pratt, star of the upcoming movie "Guardians of the Galaxy", will serve as pace car driver of the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com. He met the media on Sunday morning:

CHRIS PRATT: "This is incredible. The two times I've been to Indianapolis was for a 'Parks and Recreation' shoot. I was down on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium playing catch with Andrew Luck on camera and hanging out with the Indianapolis Colts. And now I'm driving the pace car at the Brickyard 400. Man, I want to come back to Indianapolis as often as I can if I keep getting treated like this. I was expecting to drive off in the pace car but I did get a (Chevrolet) jacket. What happens if I don't come into pit road, if I just take it and run? I heard Jeff Gordon is going to bump the back end of my car to say 'hello.' The car is beautiful; the Chevy SS is powerful, 415-horsepower V-8." (continued)

"It's smooth, being out here on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway going 120 miles per hour. It doesn't feel like you're going that fast, it's so smooth. We're going to have 100,000 people here and I'm really kind of a rookie to NASCAR. I've seen it on TV but I've never been to a race in person to hear the racing motors and the squealing of tires. I expect to walk away from this with a whole new appreciation for it. I'm just thrilled. It's a big responsibility; I'm learning those responsibilities of being a pace car driver. I have to keep it at 55 so these guys can set their tachs to come into pit road at the right speed. I just want to do everything I'm told so I get it right." (On acting career) "It's been really good. Becoming part of the Marvel cinematic universe, that's a really big deal, and Jurassic Park was one of my favorite movies growing up, so to be a big part of that ("Jurassic World") is a big deal to me. I've been Googling synonyms for 'unreal.' It has been unreal, weird and phantasmagorical."

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A Big Machine Records trophy guitar featuring artwork from Sam Bass, the officially licensed artist of NASCAR, will be presented to the winner of this year's race. The guitar features the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Yard of Bricks, the official logo of the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com, two Big Machine Records logos and gold hardware. The guitar comes with a silver case featuring a checkered flag shroud covering the guitar.

SAM BASS: "My last Cup guitar trophy was late '70s or early '80s and that was Gibson presenting a guitar with a plaque on it at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway. I started doing the artwork in 2002 for Nashville Superspeedway and did 45 guitars for their various events. I'm so honored to have it brought back at such a historic speedway by giving the guitar trophy to the winner of the Brickyard 400. The Speedway is just amazing. The sense of history when you drive into this place just overwhelms you. You know how long they have been racing here and all the stories of the past. I actually came to the first test session (NASCAR) here and for the first Brickyard race. It was just incredible. This track - it's so amazing because you're driving through the city and all of a sudden there's the race track. You come in here and you almost get lost - there's a golf course, a road course inside the track, and a fishing pond; it's just amazing. And the fans up here are really true race fans."

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE SPECIFICS:The race distance is 160 laps/400 miles on the 2.5-mile oval.The pit road speed is 55 mph.The pace car speed under caution is 70 mph.The estimated fuel window is 32 laps.There will be a competition caution at Lap 20.NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE RUNNING: At 1:15 p.m., the ambient temperature was 74 degrees with a relative humidity of 91 percent and southwest winds at 8 mph. Skies were cloudy.Lap 1: GREEN. #4 Harvick leads into Turn 1. #24 Gordon second. #4 Harvick leads by .024 of a second after first lap.Lap 2: #24 Gordon passes for lead in Turn 1. #4 Harvick second. #24 Gordon leads by 1.121 seconds. #2 Keselowski third, #55 Vickers fourth, #31 Newman fifth.Lap 3: #2 Keselowski has piece of trash on grille. #24 Gordon leads by 1.461 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 4: #24 Gordon leads by 1.690 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 5: #23 Bowman to pit road to clean grille. Lap 6: #24 Gordon leads by 1.791 seconds over #4 Harvick. #2 Keselowski third.Lap 8: #24 Gordon leads by 2.522 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 10: Leaders -- #24 Gordon, #4 Harvick. #2 Keselowski, #55 Vickers, #31 Newman, #5 Kahne, #22 Logano, #41 Busch, #48 Johnson, #20 KensethLap 12: #24 Gordon leads by 3.144 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 13: #24 Gordon leads 500th career lap at the Brickyard 400.Lap 14: #24 Gordon leads by 3.574 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 16: #24 Gordon leads by 4.277 seconds over #4 Harvick. #2 Keselowski in third, 6.268 seconds behind lead.Lap 18: #24 Gordon moves around lap traffic. Lap 20: #24 Gordon leads by 3.112 seconds over #4 Harvick.Lap 21: YELLOW. Competition caution.Lap 22: Pit stop report - Two tires, fuel: #24 Gordon, #5 Harvick, #3 Dillon, #20 Kenseth, 8 seconds; #15 Bowyer, 8 seconds; #16 Biffle, 14 seconds; #2 Keselowski, 10 seconds. Four tires, fuel: #55 Vickers, 15 seconds. Four tires, fuel and air pressure: #31 Newman, 17 sec.Lap 25: GREEN. #22 Logano leads into Turn 1, leads lap by .139 of a second over #5 Kahne.Lap 27: #22 Logano leads by .449 of a second over #5 Kahne. #48 Johnson third.Lap 29: #22 Logano leads by .156 of a second over #5 Kahne. Lap 32: #5 Kahne takes lead as #22 Logano to pits (four tires, fuel, air pressure, 13 seconds). #27 Menard brushes wall in Turn 3.Lap 33: #5 Kahne leads by 1.772 seconds over #24 Gordon. #4 Harvick third.Pit Stop reports: #20 Kenseth fuel only, 5 seconds; #27 Menard two tires, fuel, 10 seconds.Lap 35: Pit stop reports -- #24 Gordon four tires, fuel, 14 seconds.Lap 36: #5 Kahne leads by 1.811 seconds over #4 Harvick. #31 Newman to pits (fuel only, 5 seconds).Lap 37: Pit stop reports -- #4 Harvick two tires, fuel, 6 seconds; #27 Menard two tires, fuel, 18 seconds. Lap 38: Pit stop reports -- #55 Vickers two tires, fuel, 8 seconds; #5 Kahne four tires, fuel, air pressure, 13 seconds; #41 Kurt Busch four tires, fuel, wedge, 13 seconds.Lap 40: Pit stop report -- #12 Montoya two tires, fuel, 12 seconds.Lap 41: Pit stop report -- #10 Patrick two tires, fuel, 8 seconds.Lap 43: Pit stop report -- #42 Larson four tires, fuel, 17 seconds.Lap 44: Pit stop report -- #3 Dillon four tires, fuel, 13 seconds.Lap 45: #11 Hamlin leads by 3.564 seconds over #14 Stewart, #78 Truex Jr. third. Pit stop report: #31 Newman four tires, fuel, 19 seconds.Lap 48: Pit stop report -- #14 Stewart four tires, fuel, wedge, 15 seconds. Lap 54: #11 Hamlin leads #4 Harvick by 24.9 seconds, then #11 Hamlin pits for four tires, fuel, 14 seconds.Lap 55: Pit stop cycles complete, #4 Harvick leads by .376 of a second over #24 Gordon, #5 Kahne third.Lap 57: #4 Harvick leads by .225 seconds over #24 Gordon, #5 Kahne third, #22 Logano fourth.Lap 60: #4 Harvick leads by .388 of a second over #24 Gordon, #5 Kahne third.Lap 62: #4 Harvick leads by .378 of a second over #24 Gordon, working lap traffic.Lap 64: Pit stop report -- #22 Logano four tires, fuel, 15 seconds Lap 65: #4 Harvick leads by .398 of a second over #24 Gordon, #5 Kahne third, #11 Hamlin fourth, #42 Larson fifth. Pit stop reports -- #18 Kyle Busch four tires, fuel, 12 seconds; #31 Newman four tires, fuel, 12 seconds; #15 Bowyer four tires, fuel, 14 seconds, #20 Kenseth four tires, fuel, 13 seconds; #2 Keselowski four tires, fuel, 10 seconds; #24 Gordon four tires, fuel, 18 seconds; #88 Earnhardt Jr. four tires, fuel, 15 seconds.Lap 66: #4 Harvick to pit road (four tires, fuel, wedge, 14 seconds), #11 Hamlin to lead.Lap 67: YELLOW. #10 Patrick stopped on inside of Turn 1, smoke from rear of car. Drives to garage.Lap 69: #11 Hamlin leads under caution. Lap 72: GREEN. #5 Kahne passes #11 Hamlin in turn 1, leads lap.Lap 74: #5 Kahne leads by 1.472 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 76: #5 Kahne leads by 1.842 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch. #4 Harvick third, #24 Gordon fourth.Lap 79: #5 Kahne leads by 2.318 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 81: #5 Kahne leads by 1.912 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 84: #5 Kahne leads by 1.777 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 85: Leaders -- #5 Kahne, #18 Kyle Busch, #4 Harvick, #24 Gordon, #22 Logano, #11 Hamlin, #55 Vickers, #42 Larson, #48 Johnson, #20 Kenseth.Lap 88: #5 Kahne leads by 2.169 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch. Lap 90: #11 Hamlin to pit road (two tires, fuel, wedge, 12 seconds).Lap 91: #5 Kahne leads by 1.944 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch, #24 Gordon up to third. #4 Harvick fourth.Lap 94: #5 Kahne leads by 2.049 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch, #24 Gordon third.Lap 95: #10 Patrick returns to track, team fixed broken rear gear.Lap 96: YELLOW. #21 Bayne cuts right rear tire going into Turn 3, skids through turn and hits inside wall in north short chute. Out of race. Lap 98: Pit stop reports -- #11 Hamlin wedge, fuel only; #5 Kahne four tires, fuel, 14 seconds; #18 Kyle Busch four tires, fuel, 14 seconds; #31 Newman four tires, fuel, 14 seconds; #4 Harvick four tires, fuel, trackbar, 14 seconds; #16 Biffle four tires, fuel, 14 seconds; #55 Vickers four tires, fuel, 14 seconds; #20 Kenseth four tires, fuel, 13 seconds; #48 Johnson four tires, wedge, trackbar, 14 seconds. Race off pit road: #5 Kahne, #18 Kyle Busch, #4 Harvick, #24 Gordon, #20 Kenseth.Lap 99: Pit stop reports -- #2 Keselowski four tires, fuel, 32 seconds; #41 Kurt Busch four tires, fuel, 14 seconds.Lap 100: GREEN. #5 Kahne passes #15 Bowyer in Turn 1 for lead, leads lap. Lap 102: #5 Kahne leads by .456 of a second over #18 Kyle Busch, #15 Bowyer third, #4 Harvick fourth.Lap 105: #5 Kahne leads by 1.548 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch, #15 Bowyer third, #4 Harvick fourth, #24 Gordon fifth, #22 Logano sixth.Lap 107: #5 Kahne leads by 2.312 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 109: #5 Kahne leads by 2.152 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch, #24 Gordon third, #15 Bowyer fourth, #4 Harvick fifth.Lap 112: #5 Kahne leads by 2.075 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 114: #5 Kahne leads by 2.067 seconds over #24 Gordon, #18 Kyle Busch third.Lap 116: #5 Kahne leads by 2.173 seconds over #24 Gordon. Lap 119: #5 Kahne leads by 1.878 seconds over #24 Gordon. Pit stop report: #14 Stewart two tires, fuel, 14 seconds.Lap 121: #5 Kahne leads by 1.367 seconds over #24 Gordon.Lap 125: Leaders -- #5 Kahne, #24 Gordon, #18 Kyle Busch, #15 Bowyer, #4 Harvick, #22 Logano, #20 Kenseth, #42 Larson, #48 Johnson, #55 Vickers.Lap 126: #5 Kahne leads by .914 of a second over #24 Gordon.Lap 127: Pit stop reports -- #5 Kahne four tires, fuel, wedge, 14 seconds; #20 Kenseth four tires, fuel, trackbar, 14 seconds.Lap 128: Pit stop reports -- #24 Gordon four tires, fuel, 13 seconds; #55 Vickers four tires, fuel, 15 seconds; #15 Bowyer four tires, fuel, 16 seconds. Lap 129: Pit stop reports -- #4 Harvick four tires, fuel, wedge, 14 seconds.Lap 131: Pit stop cycles complete, #5 Kahne leads by .155 of a second over #24 Gordon. #18 Kyle Busch third, #20 Kenseth fourth, #11 Hamlin fifth.Lap 132: #5 Kahne leads by .141 of a second over #24 Gordon.Lap 135: #5 Kahne leads by .283 of a second over #24 Gordon.Lap 138: #5 Kahne leads by .418 of a second over #24 Gordon, #18 Kyle Busch in third.Lap 139: YELLOW. #83 R. Truex slow on front straight.Lap 140: Pit stops -- #4 Harvick two tires, fuel, 7 seconds; #31 Newman two tires, fuel, 7 seconds.Lap 142: #10 Patrick out of race. Lap 143: GREEN. #24 Gordon passes #5 Kahne on outside of Turn 1, #18 Kyle Busch to second. #24 Gordon leads lap.Lap 145: #24 Gordon leads by .824 of a second over #18 Kyle Busch, #11 Hamlin third, #20 Kenseth fourth, #5 Kahne fifth.Lap 146: #24 Gordon leads by 1.180 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 147: #24 Gordon leads by 1.360 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 149: #24 Gordon leads by 1.547 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 150: #24 Gordon leads by 1.513 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 151: #24 Gordon leads by 1.631 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 152: #24 Gordon leads by 1.859 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch. Lap 153: #24 Gordon leads by 2.008 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 154: #24 Gordon leads by 2.113 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 155: #24 Gordon leads by 1.988 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 156: #24 Gordon leads by 2.262 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 157: #24 Gordon leads by 2.384 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 158: #24 Gordon leads by 2.305 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch.Lap 159: #24 Gordon leads by 2.408 seconds over #18 Kyle Busch. Lap 160: CHECKERED. #24 Jeff Gordon wins the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com. It is his record fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Indianapolis. #18 Kyle Busch second, #11 Denny Hamlin third.

JEFF GORDON: "I don't think there's a greater feeling as a racecar driver, and a race team. I finally made the restart of my life when it mattered most. I cannot believe this just happened. I was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd, I was trying not to let it get to me. You can't help it, it's such a big race, such an important victory. This one is for all those fans throughout the years and all weekend long who said, 'go get No. 5.'"

RICK HENDRICK (Owner, No. 24 Chevrolet): I told him this morning, this is your day. He's been so good on the long runs at every track. For him to break that tie, this is pretty special. We're a little bit older than we were 20 years ago, but it's a great win.

POST-RACE NOTES:Jeff Gordon tied Michael Schumacher for the most wins overall at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Schumacher won the Formula One United States Grand Prix five times (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). Gordon also won at the Brickyard in 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004.Gordon won for the 90th time in the Sprint Cup Series.Gordon became the first driver to lead 500 laps at IMS when he led Lap 13 today. He now has led 528 laps in all at the Brickyard.Gordon extended his record of top-10 finishes at IMS with his 17th in 21 starts and top-5 finishes with his 12th.Gordon extended his mark of leading at least one lap in 14 different Brickyard 400s.Kyle Busch (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 10 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Denny Hamlin (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Kyle Larson (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.Jeff Gordon leads the Sprint Cup points standings by 24 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES POST-RACE QUOTES:

MATT KENSETH (No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, 4th): "There isn't an easy one here, but we didn't win and that makes it tougher. It was a great day for Dollar General and the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas were quick today. We were all top-10 cars and we were able to capitalize on that with a good finish. I wish it had been 1-2-3 and it would have been a good day for us. We've been on a good run lately. At Kentucky we were pretty good and at Loudon we were all pretty good -- all top-five cars -- but here we were about third- to eighth-place cars."

JOEY LOGANO (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 5th): "What we did today was pretty much what we had expected. We ran about where we thought we would. We had nothing compared to the 24 car. Our strategy was sort of just to stay out there and cycle forward every time we could. We stayed out one time and led a bunch of laps and got some track position that way. It was a good call. Fortunately we were able to hang on to where we were. If you ever make one mistake in this race, your day is over. You never get those spots back. You just gotta be perfect all day."

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 12th): "Not the day we wanted; not quite good enough in every category. We couldn't get where we wanted. We had some very good speed but that wasn't enough."

AUSTIN DILLON (No. 3 Dow/Mycogen Seeds Chevrolet, 10th): "It was a solid day. We'll definitely take it. It's tough to pass out there. It's just so tough. Even if you have a good car, you get within five car lengths of somebody and your day's over and it goes from good car to just terrible. You gotta really work traffic as good as you can. But I'm really proud of my guys. They did a great job."

TREVOR BAYNE (No. 21 Motorcraft Ford, 43rd): "I had a right-rear tire go down getting into Turn 3. I thought I felt it about a half-lap sooner, but just didn't have time to check it out. The spotters are on the other side of the race track, so they can't tell what's going on. It let go getting into Turn 3 and I had it saved off the fence and then the right-rear tire cut the brake line so I couldn't get it stopped by the time I hit the inside guard rail. It just stinks for our team because we had a decent car, decent enough that when we got track position we could hold on to it. We were running top-20 and had a chance to do even better than that. It stinks to end our day like this with a brand new car, so I feel bad for my guys here. We don't get many opportunities to run and when we do it seems like a speedway where anything can happen, or you're running decent and something bad happens. You never have days like this when you're running 35th, it's always when you have a decent car. I just feel bad about it. We'll see what we can do next time."

KEVIN HARVICK (No. 4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, 8th): "Yeah, we just started off bad really from the first lap. We were just way too tight as we went through the day and we never could make it better. Just made it worse most of the day. So yeah, just way too tight."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet, 42nd): "We looked at everything and it looks like the launch was fine. It just one of those things. It's too bad and these things never happen when you're having a bad day (laughs). We were having a good day. It's disappointing and the GoDaddy guys built me a really good car. Hendrick gave me great horsepower. We were the fastest car out there at times. We qualified better and had a good car for the race, it just didn't end the way we wanted it too. The good thing is, I get to come back to Indy and that makes me happy."

JEFF GORDON (No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, winner of the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com): (Did you ever think you'd win five times?): "Certainly not in 1994 I didn't. You never know when your next win's going to come. We've been close a number of times to getting number five. But every time I come here to Indianapolis I feel like we have a shot at winning. It's just a special place and I love racing here. This weekend in particular, you know, the first couple laps that I felt this racecar, I knew that we had a racecar that was capable of winning this race. It just had the feel. It had the balance that I love to have. I think we showed that today, just how strong this car is. We got behind a couple times. Pit strategy changed for some people. It threw some people off. I think it made for a great race. Throughout all of that, I think we showed the speed our car had. There at the end, had a great battle with Kasey Kahne. I didn't know how it was going to end up. I didn't want to see that caution because I thought I could push him to slide the back, he was sliding the back a little bit. But I don't know if I would have gotten by him. I'm terrible on restarts. Restarts didn't go great for us all day today. I didn't think I wanted to see a restart. Out of nowhere, I have the restart of my life at the most important moment that you could ask for in a race, in a season, at a race like this. So that was awesome, just awesome." (Comparing emotions with 1994) "Very, very similar. I remember in '94, you know, in the closing laps of just disbelief. You don't want to see a caution. You're leading the Brickyard 400 with just a handful of laps to go. You want to take that moment in and look into the crowd and see what they're doing, but at the same time you don't want to lose focus. You know it's not over till in this case the white flag waves. I kept going in and out of those emotions of, All right, don't get off track, what's going on. Remember, still got to get to the end. Be ready if there is a caution.


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