Menard runs lean to Brickyard win

Paul Menard claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by edging Jeff Gordon after a fuel-saving run to the checkered flag at Indianapolis. The Richard Childress Racing driver bounced back from a pit road penalty early on to be in position to battle for victory when fuel strategy came into play.

When the fifth caution of the day came out for an incident ignited by contact between polesitter David Ragan and Landon Cassill, Menard was among a number of cars to pit for fuel and tires. Right before the green waved they pitted again to top-up with gas, hoping some caution laps later on would allow them to drive to the end.

However, the race went caution-free, forcing Menard and others behind to ease off the throttle in order to make their gamble pay off. Most of the top runners of the day pitted for the last time shortly after the green waved, allowing Menard to eventually grab the lead 13 laps from the end.

Behind him Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray tried to time his attack and although he would briefly jump ahead, he then had to relinquish his lead as he feared his fuel tank would run completely empty.

Hendrick Motorsports' Gordon had jumped into the lead following the first caution and having pitted for the last time following the last restart, and was on a mission to grab his fifth Brickyard win as he closed on the leaders with the lap count fading rapidly. Menard was lapping close to two seconds per lap slower than Gordon before being told by his crew chief "Slugger" Labbe to go for the win. Despite catching some traffic on the penultimate lap he upped his pace enough to keep Gordon at bay and win his first NASCAR race in his 341st start, his 167th in Cup.

Gordon finished a disappointed second, ahead of Furniture Row's Regan Smith, who also succeeded at saving enough fuel to make it to lap 160. McMurray coasted to fourth in the end while Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

Tony Stewart led the race briefly before his final stop and finished sixth in the end, recovering from contact with the wall early on and a run-in with Kyle Busch in the pits. Red Bull's Kasey Kahne led the most laps and looked in a different league in clean air ahead, but was unable to move back to the front following a delayed first stop and front-end damage while trying to avoid the Cassill-Ragan incident.

Juan Pablo Montoya looked like he could contend for victory but his strategy did not play out as expected in the end and he finished 28th. Carl Edwards finished 14th but continues to lead the standings ahead of Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson.