2011 Brickyard 400
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 20 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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The 2011 Brickyard 400 program cover, featuring Jamie McMurray. | |||
| Date | July 31, 2011 | ||
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.73 km) | ||
| Weather | Mostly sunny with a high around 90; wind out of the NNW at 4 mph | ||
| Average speed | 140.762 miles per hour (226.534 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Roush Fenway Racing | ||
| Time | 49.182 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | |
| Laps | 48 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree | ||
The 2011 Brickyard 400 presented by BigMachineRecords.com, the 18th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 31, 2011, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt rectangular oval, it was the 20th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season.
There were five cautions and 22 lead changes among 13 different drivers throughout the course of the race. Paul Menard won his only Cup Series race, driving for Richard Childress Racing, while Jeff Gordon finished second, and Regan Smith clinched third. The result moved Menard to the 14th position in the Drivers' Championship. He remained 53 points behind tenth place driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and two ahead of Kasey Kahne in fifteenth. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, 20 points ahead of Ford and 28 ahead of Toyota, with 16 races remaining in the season. A total of 138,000 people attended the race, while 6.4 million watched it live on television.