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  • AP/Autostock, Matthew T. Thacker Jimmie Johnson celebrates his win at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

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July 30, 2012

JJ joins hero Mears among four-time winners of Brickyard

Lori Wood Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS — Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Jimmie Johnson is a master at the Brickyard.

Johnson became a four-time winner Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard. He joins teammate Jeff Gordon as the only stock-car driver with four Indianapolis victories.

At a track that demands excellence from all involved, Johnson was flawless. “Four wins. I am at a loss for words,” said Johnson. “It makes going around this track something special.”

Johnson grew up in California, where fellow native and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears was his hero. “I just hoped to come here and race, and I’m glad I have my own memories here,” Johnson said. He has made 10 starts at the Brickyard, making him the most successful NASCAR driver at Indianapolis.

Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus felt the weekend off prior to the Brickyard gave them a boost. “It was a fantastic weekend all around. The team came in very energized,” Knaus noted.

Johnson started sixth, but after taking his first lead from Brad Keselowski on lap 46, Johnson dominated, leading 99 of the 160 laps. He finished 4.7 seconds ahead of second-place Kyle Busch, who had his best finish ever in seven starts at the Brickyard.

“We had a really good car. We worked on it well, and I can’t say enough for [the team’s] effort,” said Busch. “If it weren’t for the 48 car, we probably would have been in our own zip code. Johnson was in another country.”

Greg Biffle came home in third, grateful for the finish. “We were just super-loose all day long, and that made it difficult,” he said. During the last round of pit stops, Biffle took just two tires, anticipating other teams would do the same. However most took four. “We took the two instead of the four, and that hurt us,” he admitted.

Biffle won the race out of the pits on lap 127, but Johnson passed him for the lead on two laps later. “It didn’t matter if he started behind you. In a few laps he was going to pass you,” Biffle said afterward.

After taking the lead, Johnson checked out. He stretched his lead over Busch by over five seconds with just two laps to go.

Johnson said that he knew his car was so good, he slept very well Saturday night. “As a racer, you just want to wear them out all day long. Our stuff was good. There is no doubt about it,” he added.

It looked like Hendricks Motorsport was going to come away with a 1-2 finish as Jeff Gordon made his way to second, but he lost four spots on the final pit stop.

“We had a car that we thought could compete for the win, but we could never get the track position, and when we did, it was so hard to pass. It was a solid performance, so I can’t complain,” Gordon said. Gordon finished fifth, putting all three of the Hendrick’s cars in the top 10.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in fourth after starting 20th. Earnhardt’s finish put him in the points lead for the first time since 2004.

“We got some good fortune there to start on the inside on those last few restarts. We had a fourth- to eighth-place car. The car was fast, and we worked real hard today,” Earnhardt said. He gained the points lead from Matt Kenseth, who was taken out by Joey Logano when Logano slid up the track in Turn 1 into Trevor Bayne, then slid back down to knock Kenseth  out of the race. Kenseth finished 35th.

“The farther back we got, the dumber the people drove,” Kenseth said.

Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin finished sixth.

Tony Stewart was the top mover of the race. He started in 28th place, but methodically made his way through the field, getting as far as ninth by lap 140. He finished in 10th, and teammate Ryan Newman came in seventh. “I was proud of the gains we made. It was a very inconsistent car [Saturday], and a very consistent car today,” said Stewart.

Martin Truex Jr. finished eighth, and Keselowski ninth. Keselowski led three times for 22 laps, but on a lap 101 restart he got loose in Turn 2, dropping him to sixth, and could never recover. “I want to be a legit contender to win the big races, and we were today. I just didn’t close it out,” Kezelowski said.

Mark Martin finished 11th, while Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top 15.

That caution was one of five for a total of just 25 laps.  Kenseth, Logano, Travis Kvapil and Casey Mears were all involved in incidents. The race had 17 lead changes from nine different drivers.

The last three times Johnson was won at Indianapolis, he was the series champion. Hendrick Motorsports has accounted for eight of the 19 Brickyard 400 victories.

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Sports
SPT 052213 JENKINS JUBI.jpg

On the scoreboard: Terre Haute South's Justin Jenkins (6) celebrates the Braves' first run with teammate Jacob Johnson during the Braves' sectional game against North on Wednesday at South.

  • North baseball pulls away from South in sectional opener

    In high school baseball little things mean a lot, and the crack in the door doesn’t have to be open very wide.
    Terre Haute North burst through that crack in the bottom of the second inning Wednesday evening at Terre Haute South, scoring seven two-out runs and going on to a surprisingly easy 12-2 victory over the host Braves.

    May 23, 2013 4 Photos

  • SPT0512213mcmillan.jpg Blank, Mundy named McMillan Award winners

    Posing side-by-side for photos following Terre Haute North High School’s Senior Awards ceremony, seniors Calvin Blank and Chanli Mundy couldn’t look more different.

    May 23, 2013 4 Photos

  • Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship

    Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.

    May 23, 2013

  • West Vigo baseball advances with 10-0 win behind Stewart's two-hitter

    West Vigo got off to a good start in Class 3A high school sectional baseball action Wednesday evening at Dick Ballinger Field.
    The Vikings scored four runs in the first inning of the first sectional game and went on to defeat Brown County 10-0 in five innings with Kevin Stewart hurling a two-hitter.

    May 23, 2013

  • Terre Haute South tennis claims regional crown

    It was a lot tougher than some thought it would be, but the Terre Haute South girls tennis team won the Greencastle regional for the second year in a row Wednesday evening at DePauw University Tennis and Track Center.

    May 23, 2013

  • evans-jump.jpg METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete

    Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field

    Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

    May 23, 2013

  • SPT0511613trackseibert.jpg Big group of Wabash Valley boys head to Evansville looking for state berths

    The top four finishers in each event from last week’s Terre Haute North, Evansville Central, Jasper and Princeton boys high school track and field sectionals will converge on Evansville Central today for regional competition.

    May 22, 2013 2 Photos

  • SPT0512113WVSB mcclain.jpg West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball

    West Vigo got off to a good start but Brown County finished better in Class 3A high school softball sectional semifinal action Tuesday night at Edgewood.
    The Eagles bested the Vikings 7-5 and will meet South Vermillion, a 12-7 winner over Owen Valley, for the sectional championship on Thursday starting at 6 p.m.
     

    May 22, 2013 5 Photos

  • Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals

    When high school baseball sectionals begin around the Wabash Valley today, one complaint that’s not expected to be heard from any coach is that his team has had too much time off.

    May 22, 2013

Local Interest
evans-jump.jpg

  • METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete

    Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • SPT 051913 TIM TERRY.jpg Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play

    South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
    But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees.

    May 22, 2013 4 Photos

  • softballsecs.jpg Softball sectionals up for grabs

    All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • Indiana State baseball series canceled

    Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.

    April 27, 2013

  • METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain

    The Rose-Hulman baseball team has rescheduled its non-conference game with DePauw to Thursday night.
    The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain.

    April 24, 2013

High School
College
  • Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship

    Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.

    May 23, 2013

  • Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field

    Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

    May 23, 2013

  • Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain

    Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.

    May 22, 2013

  • ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury

    When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.

    May 21, 2013

  • SPT0511613manaea3.jpg ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction

    Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
    But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

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Terre Haute Rex
SPT 071512 DORSETT FILE.jpg

Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)

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