Juan Montoya had almost secured victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but a questionable 4-tyre strategy during the last race pitstop 23 laps to go cost him first the lead, and ultimately the race.However, the benefactor of Montoya's gaffe was his teammate at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Jamie McMurray who earned a spot in the NASCAR hall of fame with his surprise victory and joined Jimmie Johnson (2006) and Dale Jarrett (1996) as the only drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season.
The victory also gave team owner Chip Ganassi a rare trifecta: Chip Gannasi is the only car owner to win the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season.
"I need oxygen!" the jubilant car owner said from pit road.
Montoya led 86 of the 160 laps, but gave up the lead when a debris caution with 23 laps remaining sent the field to pit road. Crew chief Brian Pattie called for four tires, but the first six drivers off pit road only took two.
The strategy put McMurray out front on the restart with 18 laps left, while Montoya was mired back in seventh. Trying hard to force his Chevrolet through traffic and back to the front, he lost control and crashed hard into the wall with 15 laps left.
Kevin Harvick slid past McMurray at about the same moment to take over the lead, but caution was called for Montoya's wreck, and McMurray moved back out front on the restart with 11 laps remaining.
While Montoya, who drove his battered car directly to the garage and declined comment, was fuming in the motor home lot, McMurray was sailing to victory in his second crown jewel race of the season. Montoya, who started from the pole Sunday, led 116 laps last year until a late speeding penalty cost him the victory.
Harvick finished second for Richard Childress Racing, Greg Biffle was third in a Ford for Roush Fenway Racing and was followed by RCR's Clint Bowyer and two-time Brickyard winner Tony Stewart.
Jeff Burton, the third RCR entry, was sixth. Carl Edwards in a Ford was seventh and was followed by Kyle Busch in the highest-finishing Toyota, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano and Kurt Busch, who in 10th was the highest-finishing Dodge. Hendrick Motorsports drivers who were multiple Brickyard winners were too back in the field. Mark Martin was only 11th and team;s ex champions Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished back at 22nd and 23rd position respectively facing various problems during the race.
The Canadian ace Jacques Villeneuve had a quite out of troubles race after a dramatic qualifying session and become the second driver after Juan Montoya who participated in all Indy's major racing events, Indianapolis 500, US Grand Prix and Brickyard 400. As an Indy 500 rookie in 1994, he finished second to Al Unser Jr. and in 1995 he was victorious. Villeneuve also competed five times at the U.S. Grand Prix, with a best finish of fourth place, in 2000. Driving an inferior No32 Dollar General Toyota Camry of Braun Motorsports and facing various problems during the race, he managed to finish Brickyard 400 at 29th position.
"It was tough. The first time out with the car, we didn't have the cooling working, the helmet or back cooling. That didn't work in the car. And, my drink bottle wasn't working until the caution around lap 100 when we could replace it. That was rough. Then the engine overheated and that killed me.
Then it was a question of staying out there. Halfway through the race, the car was really difficult to drive with a broken splitter. I hit the wall a couple of times, so I backed it down because there was no point in trashing it. Then we came in the pit and fixed it and the car was very strong. I could run two-wide even against the quick guys and hold my own. Too bad we lost too much time when the splitter came up. The car was loose after that, but it was fun. I could drive it hard."
