He’s won the last two Xfinity Series races at the track and won Saturday’s Xfinity race from the pole.
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And it felt great for all involved and for all watching. A five-time Brickyard 400 victor, Gordon finished 13th, two spots behind the two-time Brickyard victor Stewart.
“I didn’t expect to be this dominant”, Busch said afterward.
“I certainly didn’t want one, let alone five (overtimes) or however many there were”, Busch said.
“I got a penalty on the last stop and that was a green flag stop and that got us a lap down but we fought and got our lap back and got something respectable, ” Stewart said after competing in his final Brickyard 400, “When we got the checkered flag I didn’t want to come in just yet”. Gordon came out of retirement to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed the race due to concussion symptoms.
“There’s some people out there that have expressed some interest to me, so we’ll see where things kind of go”, he said. After a almost seven and a half minute delay, the race restarted with three laps to go and quickly went back under the yellow flag as Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer crashed down the backstretch. “I was with him when he got hurt and to see what he’s done and how tough he is as a competitor. I was fighting hard and you know it was hot out there but I was able to manage through that because I had a great vehicle and a great team”.
“It was different but I thought it went really well. He had the fast auto all weekend and you knew he was the guy”. It means a lot to me that he invited me to do [the post-race lap]. The result produced more warmth in a driver who seldom wore emotions on his Nomex sleeve. I had a shot at it at the end when we came in a put tires on, but got caught up when the 19 (Edwards spun out). “I wanted to share that moment with him. I don’t even have the words for it. That is a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life”.
But as expected, the Brickyard 400 settled into a long pull, as much a battle of attrition as one of position.
“It was an awesome weekend”, he said. We just came up short today. “And I got kicked on the restarts”. Everybody, Drew Brown (Stewart’s PR Representative), everybody tried to make my weekend as easy as possible.
Gordon said of his race Sunday; meh. And like kids at a broken piñata, everyone was looking for Skittles – in this case, the paint sponsor of Busch’s vehicle. We had some work to do in the beginning because we weren’t that good but made some adjustments and got better. I was having fun at that point. Stewart was second early in the contest, but had fallen to the low end of the top 10 when his penalty scuttled his race. So there were moments of fun all day. “We had a couple of good restarts and wound up second”. I wanted to run one more lap, and Jeff was around us.
Next week at Pocono Raceway, Gordon steps back into the No. 88 vehicle at a track he’s won six times.
The most intriguing story coming out of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday for people who follow racing was the public confirmation that Tony George was quietly named chairman of the board of the speedway, in addition to its parent company, Hulman & Co., some four months ago. “He is friends with Tony”.
While it’s been billed as their final race, it’s not likely to be their last time at the track.
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PENSKE PROBLEM: Roger Penske has won more May races at Indianapolis than any team owner.
