Indiana native Ryan Newman gets much-needed win at the Brickyard

Indiana native Ryan Newman gets much-needed win at the Brickyard

July 28, 2013 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Ryan Newman found the chink in Jimmie Johnson's armor on Sunday -- and it wasn't on the race track.

Taking advantage of Johnson's glitch on pit road during an exchange of green-flag stops late in the race, Newman, the polesitter, found himself with a three-second lead when pit stops cycled through the field on Lap 149 of 160 and held on to win Sunday's Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The victory was Newman's first at the Brickyard, at the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in his native state. Newman won for the 17th time in his career and for the first time since April 2012 at Martinsville.

Johnson ran second, 2.657 seconds back. Kasey Kahne came home third, followed by Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

A slow pit stop on Lap 133, because of a problem with the left rear tire, cost Johnson his edge over Newman. With a quick stop one lap later, Newman was back on track with a five-second advantage over the No. 48 Chevrolet, as the drivers waited for pit stops to cycle through.

Johnson couldn't make a significant dent in Newman's margin over the remaining laps.