Jeff Gordon wins record fifth Brickyard 400

INDIANAPOLIS — The NASCAR star nicknamed "Four Time" is now "Five Time" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon became the first five-time NASCAR winner at Indy, snatching the lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne on a restart with 17 laps remaining and holding on for his second Sprint Cup victory this season and the 90th of his career.

A win in Sunday's 21st running of the Brickyard completed a nice bookend for the four-time series champion, who won the inaugural Cup event at Indianapolis in 1994.

"I'm not very good on restarts and wasn't very good today," Gordon said. "I finally made the restart of my life when it counted most.

"Once we got down into (turns) 1 and 2, I could hear (Kahne) getting loose. I've got to thank him for racing me clean. He's such a good guy.

"I cannot believe this just happened. I was trying so hard with 10 to go not (to) focus on the crowd, trying not to let it get to me. It's such a big race, such an important victory. You can't help it, your emotions take over."

It was the first win at the Brickyard since 2004 for Gordon, who lived in nearby Pittsboro, Ind., while racing sprint cars as a teenager. He now is tied with retired Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, who won five times on the 2.5-mile layout.

"I told him this morning, this is your day," team owner Rick Hendrick said. "He's been so good on the long runs at every track. He gets around this place so well. For him to break that tie is pretty special. We're a little bit older. It's a great win. This is his home track. I remember the first one how good it felt. This one feels just as good."

Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet made it 12 consecutive victories at the Brickyard for Chevy and gave Hendrick Motorsports its 225th career win in NASCAR's premier series.

"It's just unbelievable. I've wanted to win this race my whole life," said crew chief Alan Gustafson. "Jeff was so good all day and he made it happen. This place is so special; this is the one, the one for me."

Kahne admitted afterward he let Gordon control the restart.

"Either way, he was going to pass me in 1 and 2. Looking back, I probably should have picked the top (line) on the restart. I would have loved to win the Brickyard."

Kyle Bush finished second ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano was fifth.

"There was no catching (Gordon)," Busch said. "He was really fast obviously. I think this was a really big day for JGR and Toyota, and I'm proud of the effort of bringing all three home in the top five."

Kahne, who was seeking his first win to sew up a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth, was sixth after running out of fuel on the final lap.

Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

Harvick started on the pole but led only the first lap before yielding first to Gordon, who led the next 20 laps.

Logano led the next 10 laps after he was the only driver electing not to pit during a competition caution. That triggered a plethora of strategy calls and a flurry of pit stops under green during the next 20 laps.

When the cycle was completed, Harvick went back to the point on Lap 55. After a brief stint in the lead by Hamlin (who had pitted out of sequence but was burned by a green-flag stop in which his fuel tank wasn't filled), Kahne led 68 of the next 71 laps before Gordon pounced on the final restart.

Danica Patrick was among those who suffered misfortune when her No. 10 Chevrolet apparently broke an axle leaving the pits. She spent nearly 30 laps in the garage for repairs before returning to the track.

Follow Ryan on Twitter @nateryan

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SUNDAY'S RESULTS

1. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160 laps, 138.4 rating, 47 points, $434,376.

2. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 160, 116.8, 42, $373,781.

3. (27) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160, 109.4, 42, $307,890.

4. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 160, 104.1, 40, $303,751.

5. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 160, 109, 40, $266,806.

6. (10) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 160, 132.7, 40, $231,130.

7. (15) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 160, 104.4, 38, $226,675.

8. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 160, 114.6, 37, $230,288.

9. (23) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 160, 83.2, 35, $196,255.

10. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160, 89.7, 35, $228,891.

11. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 160, 88.9, 33, $188,455.

12. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160, 85.3, 32, $218,288.

13. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 160, 71.9, 31, $209,330.

14. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160, 91.9, 30, $217,691.

15. (18) Carl Edwards, Ford, 160, 79, 29, $183,555.

16. (16) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 160, 87.9, 29, $201,046.

17. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160, 81.7, 27, $199,838.

18. (36) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 160, 62.7, 26, $181,713.

19. (5) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 160, 90.3, 25, $201,355.

20. (24) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 160, 73.5, 24, $196,144.

21. (41) Aric Almirola, Ford, 160, 64.2, 23, $197,416.

22. (22) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 160, 67.9, 22, $185,725.

23. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Ford, 160, 58.5, 21, $154,330.

24. (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 160, 54.4, 20, $193,030.

25. (25) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 160, 66.7, 19, $184,013.

26. (28) Michael McDowell, Ford, 160, 51.8, 18, $151,855.

27. (31) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 159, 58.2, 17, $178,088.

28. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 159, 69.7, 16, $152,555.

29. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 159, 44.2, 15, $151,955.

30. (37) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 158, 41.1, 0, $152,805.

31. (33) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 158, 48.5, 14, $164,813.

32. (39) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 158, 35.5, 12, $150,155.

33. (26) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 158, 34.8, 11, $169,338.

34. (29) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 158, 47, 10, $174,094.

35. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 158, 36.6, 9, $164,177.

36. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 157, 40.9, 8, $154,530.

37. (43) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 157, 34.5, 7, $146,113.

38. (42) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 156, 29.9, 6, $139,450.

39. (40) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 156, 26.9, 5, $135,450.

40. (35) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 156, 24.8, 4, $131,450.

41. (32) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 149, 34.2, 3, $127,450.

42. (14) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, rear gear, 114, 67, 2, $131,725.

43. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 96, 50, 0, $119,950.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 150.297 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 39 minutes, 41 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.325 seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 16 laps.

Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K.Harvick 1; J.Gordon 2-21; J.Logano 22-31; K.Kahne 32-37; K.Larson 38-42; A.Dillon 43; D.Hamlin 44-54; K.Harvick 55-65; D.Hamlin 66-72; K.Kahne 73-98; C.Bowyer 99-101; K.Kahne 102-126; J.Gordon 127-129; M.Annett 130; K.Kahne 131-143; J.Gordon 144-160.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Kahne, 4 times for 70 laps; J.Gordon, 3 times for 40 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 18 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 12 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 10 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 5 laps; C.Bowyer, 1 time for 3 laps; A.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Annett, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: J.Johnson, 3; Bra.Keselowski, 3; D.Earnhardt Jr., 2; C.Edwards, 2; J.Gordon, 2; K.Harvick, 2; J.Logano, 2; A.Almirola, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Gordon, 717; 2. D.Earnhardt Jr., 693; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 666; 4. M.Kenseth, 661; 5. J.Johnson, 628; 6. Ky.Busch, 609; 7. R.Newman, 606; 8. C.Edwards, 603; 9. J.Logano, 591; 10. C.Bowyer, 577; 11. D.Hamlin, 572; 12. K.Harvick, 565.