Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson holds off teammate Mark Martin for Indy win
Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson kisses the bricks after winning Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmie Johnson turned a pit-road miscue by Juan Pablo Montoya into his second consecutive victory in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It was the third career win at the Brickyard for Johnson, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet. He also became the first driver to post consecutive wins in the annual event.
Montoya led a race-high 116 laps, dominating the 20th stop on this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. But the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver was flagged for speeding on pit road on lap 125, and fell from first to 12th.
“It’s absolutely a rip-off,” Montoya told his team over the radio. “I hope [NASCAR President] Mike Helton is listening to this, because you should double-check what happened because I got robbed.”
After Montoya’s misadventure, Johnson lined up second, on the outside, as the field regrouped following a blown engine by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It took the three-time series champion barely a quarter of a lap to reel in teammate and race leader Mark Martin, and Johnson led the final 24 laps.
“That was unbelievable,” Johnson said. “I hope the fans enjoyed that race.”
Although Martin closed to within two-tenths of a second in the waning laps, he was unable to get alongside the race leader.
“For an old guy, he had me pretty worried,” Johnson joked. “Those last 15 or 20 laps, we had to drive so hard to stay ahead of [him].”
Martin, a four-time winner this year, started on the pole and led early, and 14 laps in all. But he couldn’t hold off Johnson’s advances in the final rundown.
“He was better than I was off of [Turn] 4, I was better than he was off [Turn] 2,” Martin said. “… I asked for a chance to be in the fray and [the team] gave me a chance. That’s all I asked for.”
Points leader Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing) finished third, while Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing Ford) and Brian Vickers (Red Bull Racing Toyota) completed the top five. Stewart now leads Johnson by 192 points in the series standings.
Montoya, a previous winner at the Brickyard in the Indianapolis 500, appeared headed to adding the Allstate title. He led by more than five seconds on several occasions during the 160-lap event.
Afterwards, he appeared to still question the penalty call.
“It kind of sucks,” he said. “I was on the lights [under the speed limit] every time. … Once it happens, you can’t change it. It’s pretty frustrating.
“I was cruising. The car was stupid fast.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, a three-time winner this season, took a big hit in the points battle when he cut a tire and collected the wall on lap 57. Although he returned to the race after extensive repairs, Busch finished 38th and dropped from 10th to 14th in the point standings.
