Montoya deprives himself of victory

Leader of 116 of the first 125 laps, Juan Pablo Montoya missed a first victory on an oval by exceeding the maximum speed allowed in the pits. Penalized, the No. 42 finished eleventh, far behind Jimmie Johnson, winner of the Brickyard 400.

Published on 26/07/2009 à 23:17

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The drivers experienced a very smooth race on the legendary Indianapolis circuit. Led for a long time by Juan Pablo Montoya, who had a lead of more than five seconds before his penalty, the 400-mile event was decided after the third yellow flag was waved following the engine failure of Dale Eanrhardt Jr's Chevrolet .

Mark Martin restarted the race with 23 laps remaining, quickly passed by Jimmie Johnson. The fifty-year-old tried to pick up his first victory on this circuit by attacking the leader in the last five laps but the reigning Champion managed to maintain the advantage until the checkered flag. Greg Biffle finished third ahead of Tony Stewart and Brian Wickers.

Jimmie Johnson wins for the third time in Indianapolis, the second time in a row and takes second position in the Chase behind the untouchable Tony Stewart. Greg Biffle scored important points to move up to eleventh place while Kyle Busch, victim of a tire burst on the 58th lap, dropped out of the Top 12.

Next meeting in Pocono on August 2.