Jeff Gordon took an emphatic victory in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, grabbing the advantage at the final restart to cement his place atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver led initially before falling back at the first round of stops, gradually working his way back up the order before passing team-mate Kasey Kahne with 17 laps to go en route to a second victory of the season and his fifth at the Brickyard.

“I don’t think there’s a greater feeling for a race car driver than to be here in Victory Lane in Indianapolis,” said Gordon. “I’m not usually good at restarts, but I made the restart of my life today when it mattered most.”

Gordon passed polesitter Kevin Harvick to take the lead on the second lap, leading before a pre-planned competition caution period on lap 21.

Joey Logano, the only lead driver to not take the opportunity to pit, assumed the lead before a round of green flag stops commenced, after which Harvick re-assumed control ahead of Gordon.

The pair were then both jumped by Kahne and Kyle Busch in the third round of stops, which took place partially during a caution period called after Danica Patrick stopped at the end of the pitlane with a broken axle.

Kahne retained the lead after the next caution period, caused by a spin for Trevor Bayne, with Gordon surging past Busch back into second. The Hendrick team-mates ran nose-to-tail after their final green flag stops before the fourth and final caution was called as Ryan Truex lost power.

Gordon surged ahead at the restart, duly romping home to win by 2.3 seconds, with Busch taking second ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing team-mates Denny Hamlin, rising from a lowly grid position of 27th, and Matt Kenseth.

Logano was best of the Ford drivers in fifth, ahead of Kahne, who led 70 of the 160 laps before dropping back after the final restart.

Kyle Larson, Harvick, whose pace suffered as weather conditions improved, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Austin Dillon completed the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson finished last of the four Hendrick cars down in 14th, two places behind fellow title contender Brad Keselowski, who suffered minor damage after making light contact with Kurt Busch in the pitlane.

Results - 160 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet       2h39m41.000s
 2.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota              +2.325s
 3.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +3.807s
 4.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +5.839s
 5.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  +11.728s
 6.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           +12.324s
 7.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet            +13.046s
 8.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +13.721s
 9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           +14.467s
10.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet          +14.956s
11.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet          +16.200s
12.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  +18.529s
13.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            +19.442s
14.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           +19.958s
15.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            +20.556s
16.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               +21.224s
17.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +22.257s
18.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet      +24.026s
19.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               +24.510s
20.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet            +25.582s
21.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   +27.075s
22.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   +28.170s
23.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Penske Ford                  +29.015s
24.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            +29.663s
25.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet      +31.101s
26.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford                 +33.352s
27.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet               -1 lap
28.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         -1 lap
29.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet              -1 lap
30.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet             -2 laps
31.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet             -2 laps
32.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                     -2 laps
33.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             -2 laps
34.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet           -2 laps
35.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                -2 laps
36.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                -3 laps
37.  Bobby Labonte       Baldwin Chevrolet             -3 laps
38.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet             -4 laps
39.  Travis Kvapil       FAS Lane Ford                 -4 laps
40.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                     -4 laps
41.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                    -11 laps

Retirements:

     Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       114 laps
     Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford            96 laps