Five-Time makes it four times at the Brickyard: Jimmie Johnson wins at Indy

The Johnson Family kissing the bricks.
Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team knelt on Crown Royal-purple cushions and kissed the bricks for the fourth time in his career. Owner Rick Hendrick was right beside him as the five-time champion added the eighth Brickyard trophy to the Hendrick Motorsports trophy case, joining Jeff Gordon as the only four-time winners at the historic venue. 

“Wow, man that victory lap to go around the track is something special.," Johnson said with obviously reddened eyes. His voice wavered as he spoke. "A big thank you to all the fans out there cheering it lets it really soak in. To come here and win is a huge honor, then to have four wins I’m at a loss for words."


The win gave Johnson his third of the season, and he earned it in dominating style, leading five times for 99 laps. Kyle Busch, who had a fast car and finished second said after the race that Johnson wasn't just in his own zip code, but his own country. Greg Biffle tried to put up a fight but wound up in third, saying, "He ran me down in two laps from 25 car lengths." 

Fourth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted the win, but settled for the points lead instead. With Matt Kenseth getting caught up in a wreck on Lap 133, Earnhardt Jr. went up by 14 points. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the No. 48 and No. 88 teams share a race shop. Gordon finished fifth, giving HMS a third car in the top five.

The Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at The Brickyard powered by Big Machine Records began with deliberate calm after a drivers' meeting where questions about yesterday's start and restart issues prompted stern words from Mike Helton. Carl Edwards started on the outside and gave polesitter Denny Hamlin's No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota plenty of space to cross the starting line first. Hamlin led the first 26 laps but couldn't get his car quite right and wound up finishing sixth. He tweeted after the race, "Not the day we were looking for. Still a solid weekend for our FedEx team. Just couldn't get the car where we needed." 


Edwards didn't fare as well, developing an electrical issue that sent him to pit road on Lap 13 and putting him two laps down. He finished a disappointing 29th with new crew chief Chad Norris. 


The nineteenth NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway slowed five times for 25 laps. Despite some concern about passing on the 2.5 mile oval, the lead changed 17 times among nine drivers. 


Drivers points after the 20th race of the 2012 season: (1) Earnhardt Jr. 731; (2) Kenseth 717; (3) Biffle 709;(4) Johnson 704; (5) Hamlin 667; (6) Harvick 653;(7) Truex Jr. 653; (8)  Stewart 652; (9) Keselowski 649; (10) Bowyer 643; (11) Kyle Busch 588; (12) Edwards 582.

Fin	Start	Driver
1	6	Jimmie Johnson
2	7	Kyle Busch
3	5	Greg Biffle
4	20	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
5	9	Jeff Gordon
6	1	Denny Hamlin
7	11	Ryan Newman
8	17	Martin Truex, Jr.
9	22	Brad Keselowski
10	28	Tony Stewart
11	19	Mark Martin
12	15	Kasey Kahne
13	27	Kevin Harvick
14	8	Paul Menard
15	33	Clint Bowyer
16	24	Sam Hornish, Jr.
17	18	Trevor Bayne
18	14	Regan Smith
19	4	Aric Almirola
20	23	Marcos Ambrose
21	12	Juan Pablo Montoya
22	16	Jamie McMurray
23	32	Dave Blaney
24	26	David Stremme
25	38	Landon Cassill
26	29	Bobby Labonte
27	31	David Gilliland
28	36	David Ragan
29	2	Carl Edwards
30	42	Ken Schrader
31	37	Stephen Leicht
32	21	Jeff Burton
33	3	Joey Logano
34	25	Casey Mears
35	10	Matt Kenseth
36	13	Kurt Busch
37	30	Travis Kvapil
38	34	Scott Speed
39	41	J.J. Yeley
40	35	Josh Wise
41	40	Scott Riggs
42	39	Mike Skinner
43	43	Mike Bliss