The 2014 Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com, the 21st running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on July 27, 2014, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Contested over 160 laps, it was the 20th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Twenty years after he won the inaugural race, Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports took the lead on the final restart and drove away from the field for his 90th career victory and a record-breaking fifth win at Indianapolis. Kyle Busch finished second, while Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (7th), Austin Dillon (10th), and Justin Allgaier (27th).
Report
Entry list The entry list was released on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at 10:26 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-six drivers were entered for the race.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray (W) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (W) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Ford 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) (W) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard (W) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29 Matt Crafton (i) RAB Racing Toyota 31 Ryan Newman (W) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 33 David Stremme Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 37 Bobby Labonte (PC7) (W) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford Official entry list Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional (W) Past winner of event
2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton entered the race in the No. 29 RAB Racing Toyota, attempting to make his Cup debut. IndyCar Series driver and former Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya returned to NASCAR in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford to make his second start of the season. 2000 Brickyard 400 winner Bobby Labonte entered the race in the No. 37 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet. Crafton, Montoya, and Trevor Bayne were required to make the race via speed, due to having no owners' championship points or being too low in owners' points, while Labonte had the advantage of using a past champion's provisional.
Practice Two practice sessions were held at the track, on Friday at 11:35 am local time, and on Saturday at 9 am, three hours before the qualifying session.
First practice Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 48.313 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48.313 186.285 2 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 48.369 186.070 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 48.403 185.939Official first practice results
Final practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 47.544 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.544 189.298 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 47.747 188.494 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 47.780 188.363Official final practice results
Qualifying
In qualifying, Kevin Harvick won the pole with a new track record time of 47.753 and a speed of ; he had been quickest in each of the three segments of the session. Harvick noted the benefit of having the last pit stall on pit road, stating that it was "going to take some pressure off the guys for sure". and also felt that if he had fallen down the order, he believed that his car was quick enough as he believed that "track position is definitely important". Jeff Gordon joined Harvick on the front row, almost two tenths of a second in arrears. Gordon referred to the performance of Harvick and his team as "they had the field covered". Gordon's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. – who was second in points to Gordon coming into the race weekend – could only qualify 23rd, describing his session as “pretty pathetic" and "real slow". Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt and David Stremme failed to make the race. Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose started at the rear of the field for switching to a backup car and a transmission change respectively.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 47.647 47.801 47.753 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48.051 48.131 47.931 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 48.067 48.238 48.156 4 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 48.268 48.323 48.189 5 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 48.478 48.364 48.269 6 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 48.386 48.247 48.337 7 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 48.166 48.297 48.402 8 12 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Ford 48.322 48.362 48.407 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 48.371 48.366 48.432 10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48.326 48.334 48.464 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48.222 48.278 48.526 12 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48.517 48.441 48.651 13 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48.220 48.526 — 14 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 48.675 48.546 — 15 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48.628 48.582 — 16 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 48.642 48.615 — 17 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 48.601 48.636 — 18 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 48.581 48.651 — 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 48.769 48.675 — 20 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 48.425 48.683 — 21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 48.656 48.717 — 22 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 48.641 48.800 — 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48.515 48.943 — 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48.646 49.017 — 25 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 48.794 — — 26 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 48.986 — — 27 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48.995 — — 28 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Ford 49.029 — — 29 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.036 — — 30 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 49.216 — — 31 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 49.273 — — 32 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 49.295 — — 33 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 49.384 — — 34 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 49.431 — — 35 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 49.487 — — 36 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 49.501 — — 37 40 Landon Cassill Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 49.511 — — 38 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 49.557 — — 39 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 49.579 — — 40 32 Travis Kvapil Go FAS Racing Ford 49.594 — — 41 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 49.816 — — 42 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 49.938 — — 43 37 Bobby Labonte Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 49.852 — —Did not qualify 44 66 Brett Moffitt Identity Ventures Racing Toyota 49.816 — — 45 33 David Stremme Hillman-Circle Sport LLC Chevrolet 50.126 — — 46 29 Matt Crafton RAB Racing Toyota 50.542 — —Qualifying Results
Race
First half
The race was scheduled to start at 1:19 p.m. Eastern time, but started a few minutes later with Kevin Harvick leading the field to the green flag, but he ceded the lead to Jeff Gordon on lap two. Due to overnight downpours, a competition caution came out on lap 21. Joey Logano stayed out when the others pitted and assumed the lead, leading the field to the restart on lap 26. Kasey Kahne took the lead from Logano on lap 32 while Paul Menard brushed the wall in turn 3 after being bumped by Juan Pablo Montoya. However, Kahne gave up the lead on lap 38 to pit, with Kyle Larson assuming the lead, handing the lead to Austin Dillon after pitting on lap 43. Dillon made his stop and handed the lead to Denny Hamlin the next lap. Hamlin made his stop on lap 55 and handed the lead back to Kevin Harvick. Gordon retook the lead from Harvick on lap 66 and then both ducked onto pit road. Hamlin retook the lead as a result.
Second half Danica Patrick broke the rear axle of her when trying to leave pit road and stalled on the exit of pit road bringing out the second caution of the race on lap 68. The race restarted on lap 73 and Denny Hamlin lost the lead to Kasey Kahne. The caution flag came out for the third time on lap 97 when Trevor Bayne got loose and collected the inside wall in turn 3. Clint Bowyer did not pit during the caution period so he assumed the lead. The race restarted on lap 102 and Bowyer lost the lead to Kahne. Kahne made his final stop on lap 127 and handed the lead to his teammate Gordon. With 31 laps to go, Gordon made his final stop and handed the lead to Martin Truex Jr.; Truex made his stop and gave the lead to Michael Annett. Kahne cycled back to the lead with 30 laps to go, before Ryan Truex stalled in turn 2 bringing out the fourth caution of the race with 22 laps to go.
Finish Gordon took the lead on the ensuing restart and took the checkered flag for the 90th time in his career and for the 4th time in the Brickyard 400. The win guaranteed Gordon a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup; Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano also clinched spots. Kahne fell to fifth on the restart, and ran out of fuel on the final lap, finishing sixth. Gordon described his race win as "nothing better, especially in a big race, coming to Victory Lane with your family here", while he "was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd". Kahne reflected on his position at the final restart, stating that he should have picked the outside line, also stating "pretty much let Jeff control that restart. I took off and never spun a tire and the inside had been more grip throughout the race and I started on the inside and I thought it was a great decision. But I didn't spin a tire and Jeff drove right by me."
Post-race