A late race yellow bunched the field and gave Tony Stewart a chance to get by Jimmie Johnson, and Smoke smoked the five-time champ, using his better grip to pass Johnson with two laps left. Despite drivers spinning all over the track in the final two laps, the yellow flag didn’t wave and Tony Stewart crossed the finish line .17 seconds in the lead.
Stewart was on the verge of going a lap down two-thirds of the way through the race, but used the numerous caution periods—18 in total—to stay in contention.
Stewart told ESPN he had no idea how he managed to pass Jimmie Johnson on the final restart.
I don’t think anyone has ever passed Jimmie Johnson on the outside,” he said. “Just determination.
“I don’t think we had the best racecar today by any means but we had the most determined pit crew to get it as good as they could get it—I was the only guy, I think, that didn’t get in a wreck with somebody, so I was kind of proud of that.
“The key was just getting into One beside [Johnson] and not letting him run up the racetrack like he did to Jeff Burton, and just hold him tight and let myself at least have the opportunity to get in there.”
Johnson took the lead on lap 437 and stayed out through the fifteenth caution on lap 457, while Stewart came in for two tires. Johnson kept the lead until the final caution on lap 492, but couldn’t hold it on the lap 407 restart: Stewart’s fresher rubber kept him along side Johnson and finally allowed him to slip past on the outside.
Johnson didn’t give up; he nudged Smoke slightly entering the last corner but couldn’t get close enough to offer a serious challenge.
“I just couldn’t get away from him on the restart,” Johnson told ESPN. “He hung on awfully strong on the outside.
“I was more worried about clipping a curb when he was running me tight and not taking him out in a championship situation, trying to mind my Ps and Qs and just do the right thing. Unfortunately I got beat in the process.”
The win boosted Stewart two places in the Chase; he is now only eight points behind leader Carl Edwards and thirteen points ahead of Kevin Harvick.
When asked how he felt about his chances to beat Carl Edwards to win the Championship with three races left in the season, Stewart said, “He’d better be worried, that’s all I have to say. He isn’t going to have an easy three weeks.”
Brad Keselowski got tangled up with Denny Hamlin, who got punted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps to go; Keselowski spun and finished 17th, dropping from third to fourth in the Chase, 27 points down. Clint Bowyer spun on the final lap, but the leaders were on the home stretch so no caution was called.
Carl Edwards had a terrible car for most of the race, at one point falling two laps down. His crew got the car to work by the end of the race and Edwards finished ninth.
|
2011 NASCAR Chase Points |
||||
|
|
+/- |
Driver |
Points |
Behind |
|
1 |
— |
Carl Edwards |
2273 |
– |
|
2 |
+2 |
Tony Stewart |
2265 |
-8 |
|
3 |
+2 |
Kevin Harvick |
2252 |
-21 |
|
4 |
-1 |
Brad Keselowski |
2246 |
-27 |
|
5 |
-3 |
Matt Kenseth |
2237 |
-36 |
|
6 |
+1 |
Jimmie Johnson |
2230 |
-43 |
|
7 |
-1 |
Kyle Busch |
2216 |
-57 |
|
8 |
— |
Kurt Busch |
2215 |
-58 |
|
9 |
— |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
2200 |
-73 |
|
10 |
— |
Jeff Gordon |
2197 |
-76 |
|
11 |
— |
Denny Hamlin |
2193 |
-80 |
|
12 |
— |
Ryan Newman |
2184 |
-89 |
|
NASCAR Tums Fast Relief 500 from Martinsville Speedway, Va. |
||||||||
|
|
St |
# |
Driver |
Make |
Sponsor |
Pts/bns |
Laps |
Status |
|
1 |
4 |
14 |
Tony Stewart |
Chevrolet |
Office Depot / Mobil 1 |
47/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
2 |
7 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
MyLowe's |
43/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
3 |
10 |
24 |
Jeff Gordon |
Chevrolet |
Drive to End Hunger |
42/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
4 |
5 |
29 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Budweiser |
41/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
5 |
11 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
FedEx Ground |
40/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
6 |
23 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
Caterpillar |
38/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
7 |
9 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Diet Mountain Dew "Paint the 88" / National Guard |
37/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
8 |
24 |
56 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota |
NAPA Auto Parts |
36/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
9 |
1 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Scotts WinterGuard Fertilizer |
36/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
10 |
12 |
39 |
Ryan Newman |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
35/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
11 |
16 |
43 |
A.J. Allmendinger |
Ford |
AdvoCare |
34/1 |
500 |
Running |
|
12 |
33 |
13 |
Casey Mears |
Toyota |
GEICO |
32/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
13 |
26 |
78 |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
Furniture Row Companies |
31/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
14 |
8 |
22 |
Kurt Busch |
Dodge |
Shell / Pennzoil |
30/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
15 |
15 |
16 |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
3M Filtrete |
29/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
16 |
35 |
38 |
Travis Kvapil |
Ford |
Long John Silver's |
0 |
500 |
Running |
|
17 |
3 |
2 |
Brad Keselowski |
Dodge |
Miller Lite |
27/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
18 |
22 |
20 |
Joey Logano |
Toyota |
Interstate Batteries |
26/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
19 |
13 |
33 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
American Ethanol |
25/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
20 |
28 |
00 |
David Reutimann |
Toyota |
Aaron's Dream Machine |
24/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
21 |
34 |
32 |
Ken Schrader |
Ford |
U.S. Chrome / Southern Pride Trucking |
23/0 |
500 |
Running |
|
22 |
20 |
42 |
Juan Montoya |
Chevrolet |
Target |
22/0 |
497 |
Running |
|
23 |
32 |
36 |
Dave Blaney |
Chevrolet |
Golden Corral |
21/0 |
497 |
Running |
|
24 |
21 |
27 |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
Richmond / Menards |
21/1 |
497 |
Running |
|
25 |
14 |
4 |
Kasey Kahne |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
19/0 |
495 |
Running |
|
26 |
36 |
71 |
Hermie Sadler |
Ford |
Home Smart |
0 |
493 |
Running |
|
27 |
6 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
M&M's Halloween |
19/2 |
493 |
Running |
|
28 |
19 |
5 |
Mark Martin |
Chevrolet |
Daddy.com |
16/0 |
491 |
Running |
|
29 |
17 |
9 |
Marcos Ambrose |
Ford |
Stanley |
15/0 |
488 |
Running |
|
30 |
25 |
83 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
14/0 |
484 |
Running |
|
31 |
2 |
17 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
Crown Royal |
14/1 |
477 |
Running |
|
32 |
29 |
47 |
Bobby Labonte |
Toyota |
Grilling.com |
12/0 |
464 |
Running |
|
33 |
18 |
6 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
UPS My Choice |
11/0 |
444 |
Running |
|
34 |
31 |
34 |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
Front Row Motorsports |
11/1 |
357 |
Running |
|
35 |
27 |
1 |
Jamie McMurray |
Chevrolet |
McDonald's |
9/0 |
85 |
Running |
|
36 |
37 |
7 |
Reed Sorenson |
Dodge |
Speed Energy |
0 |
77 |
Running |
|
37 |
39 |
46 |
Scott Speed |
Ford |
Green Stuff Absorbent |
0 |
74 |
Running |
|
38 |
42 |
30 |
David Stremme |
Chevrolet |
Inception Motorsports |
6/0 |
52 |
Running |
|
39 |
40 |
66 |
Michael McDowell |
Toyota |
Victory Junction |
5/0 |
45 |
Running |
|
40 |
43 |
55 |
J.J. Yeley |
Ford |
Front Row Motorsports |
4/0 |
40 |
Running |
|
41 |
41 |
87 |
Joe Nemechek |
Toyota |
AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves |
0 |
33 |
Running |
|
42 |
30 |
51 |
Landon Cassill |
Chevrolet |
Phoenix Construction / Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit |
0 |
27 |
Running |
|
43 |
38 |
37 |
Mike Skinner |
Ford |
Max Q Motorsports |
0 |
7 |
Running |
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