Nascar and Racing Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Rewinding from a successful tire test Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway could only mean one thing: it's time again for Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes.

If this were any other track, I'd have a huge problem with how the racing turned out Sunday. It's obvious that track position and clean air were the trump cards in a deck otherwise full of jokers -- but don't forget that Indianapolis has nearly always been like that.

Some may term it boring, and it definitely lacked excitement for much of the day thanks to the good work of so many drivers to not make mistakes and hit each other or the wall, but come on, that's what your going to get at this flat track.

INDIANAPOLIS -- For all the talk of problematic tires and empty seats, the rubber held up and an estimated crowd of 180,000 showed up Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for NASCAR's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Although a dominating performance by Juan Pablo Montoya made the race look like it might be a runaway, the former Indy 500 champ made a pit road mistake that allowed the dependable Hendrick Motorsports team to pounce with what turned into an exciting late-laps battle between 50-year-old pole-sitter Mark Martin and gracious but gritty Jimmie Johnson.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Two different years, two different races, two different tire compounds and two different styles of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway have yielded one thing for NASCAR: a No. 48 car driven by Jimmie Johnson in victory lane at the Brickyard.

"We made the best decisions we could [Saturday night], put the best setup in the car that we knew of, just deal with the circumstances and go out and race," said Johnson. "It's what the 48 is known for."

Indeed it is.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- It wasn't the one that got away. It was the one that was taken away.

That's how Juan Pablo Montoya felt after having one of the most dominating performances of the NASCAR season derailed by a speeding penalty on pit road late in Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

"I swear on my children and my wife, I wasn't speeding,'' Montoya radioed to his crew after being called back on pit road to serve a "drive through" penalty after having raced out to a nearly five-second advantage on the field and led 116 of the first 125 laps.

"Thanks NASCAR for screwing my day," he continued on the team radio.

"Frustrated? The word isn't frustrated. I've been robbed before and I've been screwed before and they outdid themselves this time.''

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson grabbed an improbable third victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when a speeding penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya blew Sunday's race wide open.

Montoya led 116 laps and had a 5-second lead when he headed to pit road for a routine stop with 35 laps remaining. NASCAR flagged him for speeding on his way in, and the penalty knocked him out of contention.

"I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" he shouted over his radio. "There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day."

Crew chief Brian Pattie begged his driver to calm down and focus on salvaging a solid points day, to no avail.

"Don't tell me to relax, dude!" Montoya yelled. "We had this in the bag."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Troubles continue for Kyle Busch and it may cost him a shot at the Sprint Cup Championship.

The right front tire on Busch's No. 18 Toyota blew out on lap 57 of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Sunday sending the car hard into the Turn 3 wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and eventually into the garage for major repairs.

Busch was able to return to the race but finished 38th and drops outside the top-12 Chase contention with only six races remaining to set the playoff field. He's 82 points behind 12th place Matt Kenseth and now has only one top-10 finish in the last eight races.

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: ESPN, IMS Radio Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 82 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Distance: 160 laps (400 miles)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson

INDIANAPOLIS -- It took just three hours, 28 minutes and 29 seconds to undo the 15-year love affair between the Brickyard and NASCAR.

Four-hundred miles of shredding tires and competition cautions left a lump in the throat of stock car racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008, and a year later, the Sprint Cup Series has returned to the disaster zone facing a myriad of questions. Can stock cars produce a good show here? Should NASCAR be at the Brickyard? And, most importantly, do drivers still feel the awe and prestige of this legendary speedway?

Yes, yes and especially yes, drivers say.

Before Sunday's Allstate 400, I chatted with FanHouse readers live from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to discuss all things NASCAR.

Will Jeff Gordon become the first driver to win five oval races at the famed Speedway? Will Indy's favorite son Tony Stewart win a third Allstate 400? Will Juan Pablo Montoya or Sam Hornish Jr. become the first men to win both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's 400-miler? Will Danica Patrick make the move to stock cars?

Check out the great questions -- and my answers -- in the chat wrap after the jump.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Some notes and quotes from inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway's famous Gasoline Alley:

*Four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon said Saturday he does not plan on getting any more invasive treatments for his nagging back pain.

Earlier this year an MRI revealed that Gordon suffers from mild arthritis. He underwent a procedure in May to inject anti-inflammatory medicine and Gordon said he's feeling better but credits that mostly to an improved training regiment, not the procedure.

He said some tracks irritate the injury more than others joking that he could take a month off, "then go to Bristol (Tenn.) and it will hurt.""The procedure really didn't have an impact so I made the decision after talking with my doctors not to do anything more,'' Gordon said. "And frankly, I don't like having needles in my back.''