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Brickyard 400 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Gordon Dominates to Win Fourth Brickyard 400
Mears Goes Back-to-Back, Wins Brickyard Pole
Jeff Gordon put on a dominating performance to win his fourth Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon outran two-time Indy winner Dale Jarrett under the Nextel Cup series’ first green-white-checkered situation since the rule was initiated last month. Despite the rule, the race still ended under caution. Gordon dominated the event on Sunday afternoon, leading four times for a total of 124 of the event’s 161 laps, the most laps led in the history of the Brickyard 400. Gordon has now led 433 of the 1,761 laps raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 11 races, the most of any driver. The win for Gordon is his series-leading fifth victory on the 2004 season, his fourth career win at Indy, and his 69th career victory. Gordon joins A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. as the only drivers to win four races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jarrett’s runner up finish gives him seven top-ten finishes in the 11 races at IMS. Jarrett’s teammate Elliott Sadler crossed the finish line in the third position, while rookie Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart finished in the top five.
Casey Mears won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Bud Pole for the Brickyard 400,
lapping Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 48.311 seconds at 186.293 mph. He broke Kevin Harvick’s track-qualifying record of 48.822 seconds, 184.343 mph, set Aug. 2, 2003. The top starting spot is the second consecutive for Mears, becoming the first driver since Billy Wade (Old Bridge, NJ and Bridgehampton, NY - July 1964) to post his first two career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Bud Poles in consecutive races. Ward Burton had the second-fastest time with a qualifying lap of 48.546 seconds at 185.391 mph and will join Mears on the front row. It is his second top-10 start in his 10 races at Indianapolis, both top-fives and both in the past two races. Elliott Sadler will roll off from the third position while Joe Nemechek and Dale Earnhardt Jr. round out the top-five starting positions.
