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Paul Menard runs lean to take maiden NASCAR win at Indianapolis

Paul Menard claimed his maiden NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by edging Jeff Gordon after a fuel-saving run to the chequered 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 tyres. 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' Jeff Gordon was the car once he had jumped into the lead following the first caution and having pitted for the last time following the last restart, he 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.

Pre-race favourite 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.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          2h50m30.000s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 0.725s
 3.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet          + 6.687s
 4.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 7.176s
 5.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford                + 7.342s
 6.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 8.585s
 7.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                + 9.123s
 8.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 9.153s
 9.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                    + 10.672s
10.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                    + 13.016s
11.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet             + 14.796s
12.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet          + 15.190s
13.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet             + 16.035s
14.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford               + 17.194s
15.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota                 + 18.010s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet              + 18.417s
17.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota            + 18.608s
18.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota                 + 18.943s
19.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet              + 19.251s
20.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet               + 19.888s
21.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                    + 22.465s
22.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                      + 22.929s
23.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford               + 23.485s
24.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                  + 24.090s
25.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                    + 24.261s
26.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                   + 24.333s
27.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                    + 25.338s
28.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet     + 27.940s
29.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                  + 29.636s
30.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford              + 37.030s
31.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet               + 38.744s
32.  Mike Bliss          FAS Lane Ford                     + 1 lap
33.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                   + 3 laps
34.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                       + 3 laps

Retirements:

     Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet              153 laps
     David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                    49 laps
     Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                         23 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      19 laps
     Scott Speed         Max Q Ford                        19 laps
     Mike Skinner        Germain Toyota                    16 laps
     Terry Labonte       FAS Lane Ford                     15 laps
     TJ Bell             LTD Chevrolet                     10 laps
     Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                       5 laps

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