Kannapolis, NC – Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, led the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by finishing seventh in the 19th annual Brickyard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday. It was Newman’s sixth top-10 result of 2012 and his second top-10 in 12 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2.5-mile oval.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet for SHR, finished 10th to notch his 10th top-10 finish of 2012 and his 10th top-10 in 14 career Sprint Cup starts at Indianapolis.
The Brickyard 400 marked the fifth time this season both drivers have finished among the top-10. Prior to Indianapolis, the duo finished among the top-10 March 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 25 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., April 1 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and July 7 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson won the Brickyard 400 to score his 58th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his record-tying fourth Sprint Cup win at Indianapolis. Johnson tied Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon as the winningest Sprint Cup drivers at Indianapolis with four wins apiece. Johnson and Gordon are also tied for second on the all-time Indianapolis Motor Speedway win list with four-time Indianapolis 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher is the track’s all-time leader with five U.S. Grand Prix victories.
Kyle Busch finished 4.758 seconds behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Gordon rounded out the top-five. Polesitter Denny Hamlin, Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Stewart comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were five caution periods for 25 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 160-lap race
With round 20 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR duo in the championship point standings. He dropped one spot to eighth and has 652 points, 79 back of new series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., and three points ahead of ninth-place Keselowski with a 70-point cushion over 11th-place Busch. Newman remained 14th and has 573 points, 158 behind Earnhardt and 70 behind 10th-place Clint Bowyer.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Aug. 5 Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at noon.
