Personally, as much as I enjoy seeing the stars of NASCAR go fast on a high-banked speedway, I like it even more when they get to bump and bang on a short track. At such a track, aggressive driving is not only tolerated, it’s practically a requirement. Sunday afternoon, the Sprint Cup Series made it’s lone short-track stop in the Chase at the Martinsville Speedway. It would be 500 laps of sheet metal crumbling action as the Tums Fast Relief 500 was on tap.
Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon would lead the field to the green flag at the 0.526-mile track, and things quickly heated up. The first caution would come out just seven laps into the race as Robby Gordon, Marcos Ambrose and Matt Kenseth all got together in the fourth turn.
On the restart Newman managed to get the advantage, however, Gordon would make up the distance and would make his bid for the lead. He would finally get the position on lap 22.
Gordon held his lead until the race’s second caution flew on lap 43 when Michael Waltrip spun out following a flat tire. The ensuing round of pit stops did not shake up the leaders much as Gordon still kept his lead off pit road.
Gordon brought the field to green, but just as quickly found himself in a battle with teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has won five of the previous six races at Martinsville. Soon, Johnson found his way to the front, taking the lead on lap 59. He would hold his lead through the third and fourth cautions of the race, both of which were for Dale Earnhardt Jr. having tire issues, until Juan Pablo Montoya made the pass for the lead on lap 141.
Debris on the front stretch slowed the field on lap 157, but many of the leaders decided to stay out having already come to pit road. However, the following caution on lap 176 brought the leaders to pit road for service. Some of the teams that pitted on the previous caution now were up front, as it was Jeff Burton leading the field followed by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
Hamlin wouldn’t waste time making his move to the front as one lap after the restart, he got around Burton for his first lead of the afternoon. Hamlin would continue to lead until the caution came out on lap 194 as Sam Hornish Jr. hit the wall. Some of the front cars came to pit road for service, but Hamlin was not going to give up the top spot.
The field went back to green on lap 201, but Kyle Busch was looking for his chance to lead and immediately got the spot one lap later. But, just as quickly, Hamlin made the move back around his teammate to retake the lead.
Hamlin kept a stranglehold on the lead until the race’s ninth caution flag when A.J. Allmendinger wrecked in turn one following contact with Joey Logano. As Hamlin brought the field to pit road, Greg Biffle stayed on track to get the lead. Hamlin also lost the race on pit road as Johnson beat him coming off, giving him the outside starting position.
That positioning turned out to be big as he got a great restart and quickly got around Biffle to take the lead, one that he would hold for 42 laps.
The caution would take away Johnson’s lead as Kasey Kahne hit the wall following a tire failure. Despite Johnson winning the race off pit road, he would line up sixth as the top five cars decided to stay out, led by David Reutimann.
It would not take long for Johnson to get back to the front as he made quick work of the top five, getting the lead on lap 303.
This would start out the longest run of green-flag racing on the afternoon, but with that came a price. As short as the track was, Johnson quickly built a near two-second lead. At the same time, he was quickly approaching lapped traffic. Having to negotiate the slower cars brought Hamlin to his bumper. Finally, Hamlin made the pass for the lead on lap 363.
The yellow flag would not fly again until lap 442 when John Andretti went for a spin. The field had already completed pit stops, so many of the cars stayed out on track, with Hamlin still out front.
A late debris caution brought the field together with less than 20 laps to go, and it would appear to come down to a battle between Hamlin, Johnson and Gordon as they would be 1-2-3 on the field.
With just six laps left, Scott Speed hit the wall hard in the second corner, bringing out the race’s final caution flag of the afternoon. This would give Johnson one last opportunity to make it five consecutive wins at Martinsville. In the spring, it was these two battling late in the race, with Johnson bumping Hamlin out of the way to get the lead late in the going.
It would be a similar situation this time, but Johnson only had two laps to get it done as this race would end under green-white-checkered rules, otherwise known in NASCAR as “overdrive.” Hamlin would get the advantage on the restart, pulling out front of Johnson. However, the No. 48 would not get off the bumper of Hamlin and kept the pressure on, just waiting for the chance to bump him out of the way again.
This time, Hamlin would be able to hold on and get his second victory at Martinsville, winning the Tums Fast Relief 500. It would be Hamlin’s third win of the season, and his second victory in his home state of Virginia.
Still, Johnson’s second-place finish allowed him to expand his points lead to 128 over Mark Martin. With four races remaining, Johnson is in prime position to win his fourth title.
But, one major obstacle stands in his way. Next Sunday, it will be a different type of racing. Every driver will hold the throttle wide open, every car will jockey for position, and every fan will be on edge. It is known as restrictor plate racing, and it will be held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
This track in the spring provided all the spectacular moments one would expect to see at that kind of track. There was a big wreck early, a major wreck late, and a driver who only led one lap won the race.
Mark Martin referred to this track as the “lotto” race in the Chase, because so many factors are out of a driver’s hands. It will be a very interesting race from the drop of the green flag to when the checkered flag flies.
The Amp Energy 500 will be on ABC, with coverage starting at noon beginning with NASCAR Countdown.
RESULTS: 1-Hamlin 2-Johnson 3-Montoya 4-Kyle Busch 5-Gordon 6-McMurray 7-Newman 8-Martin 9-Stewart 10-Harvick
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Vickers 12-Logano (R) 17-Kurt Busch 20-Edwards 25-Biffle 29-Earnhardt Jr. 32-Kahne
CAUTIONS: 14 cautions for 83 laps. Lap 7-11 (No. 47, 7 and 17 wreck-T4), 43-49 (No. 55 spin), 89-93 (No. 88 tire trouble), 128-135 (No. 88 wreck-BS), 157-162 (debris-FS), 176-181 (No. 12 and 77 wreck), 194-200 (No. 77 wreck), 210-214 (No. 9 wreck), 251-258 (No. 44 wreck-T1), 275-279 (No. 34 and 09 wreck), 300-306 (No. 9 wreck), 442-446 (No. 34 spin), 483-487 (debris), 495-498 (No. 84 wreck-T1)
LEADERS: 15 lead changes among 11 drivers. Newman 1-21, Gordon 22-46, Andretti 47, Gilliland 48, Gordon 49-58, Johnson 59-140, Montoya 141-177, Burton 178-182, Hamlin 183-201, Kyle Busch 202-205, Hamlin 206-253, Biffle 254-259, Johnson 260-302, Reutimann 303-320, Johnson 321-362, Hamlin 363-501
CHASE STANDINGS: 1-Johnson, 6098 points 2-Martin, -118 3-Gordon, -150 4-Stewart, -192 5-Montoya, -200 6-Kurt Busch, -240 7-Newman, -312 8-Biffle, -350 9-Hamlin, -352 10-Edwards, -413 11-Kahne, -439 12-Vickers, -530