TUMS QuikPak 500 Race Review

Martinsville Speedway -- 10/19/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Oct 19 2008 10:24pm

So, maybe Jimmie Johnson's latest nickname, `Mr. Martinsville,` has some basis in fact after all.

Johnson started on the pole Sunday thanks to rain on qualifying day, dominated the race, and won his fourth Martinsville race of the last five. He survived several late-race restarts with a hungry Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his bumper, and increased his points lead from 69 to 149 over second place Greg Biffle in the championship point nascar standings.

No one else even came close to Johnson in terms of laps led. Jimmie was out front for 339 of 504 laps which included a green-white-checkered finish. The next highest lap leader was teammate Jeff Gordon, who led 57 and finished 4th.

There were only two other double-digit lap leaders, Aric Almirola with 53 and Jamie McMurray with 37, and just three other drivers who led any laps at all - Greg Biffle, 9, Matt Kenseth, 8, and Scott Riggs, 1.

Without exception, other drivers in the race, particularly those who finished in the top 10, said their cars simply didn't roll the corners or have the same forward bite off as the 48 did.

Though TV announcers repeatedly hyped the possibility of an Earnhardt Jr./Johnson `shootout` each time there was a late-race caution, Johnson's restarts were flawless and Junior just didn't have the car to pull off the upset.

The win was Johnson's sixth of the season, his fifth at Martinsville, his eighth short track win, and the 39th win of his Cup career.

Aside from Johnson's superiority, Hendrick Motorsports in general had an excellent day with all four cars finishing in the top 6, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2nd, Jeff Gordon, 4th, and Casey Mears, 6th.

Mears and Martin Truex Jr., who finished 10th, were the only non-Chasers to finish in the top 10.

Along with Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon, as already cited, Carl Edwards finished 3rd, Denny Hamlin, 5th, Kevin Harvick, 7th, Matt Kenseth, 8th, and Clint Bowyer, 9th. Just outside the top 10 was Greg Biffle in 12th, who recovered from an out-of-sequence pit stop that had him mired one lap down for much of the race.

A few Chase contenders did not fair as well, however. Jeff Burton had trouble on pit road and finished a lap down in 17th, while Tony Stewart has tire issues and finished four laps down in 26th. Kyle Busch had several different problems, including both pit road and tire concerns, and finished the lowest of the Chasers in 29th.

Because so many of the Chase racers finished in the top 12, there was really not that much movement in the nascar standings. The most significant change was Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton swapping spots, with Biffle moving up to 2nd and Burton slipping to 3rd. Biffle, now 149 points back, and Burton at 152 back, remain the only drivers within a one-race (161 points) reach of Johnson.

Everyone else, from Carl Edwards in 4th on back, is now more than a race behind Johnson in points with four races to go.

Kyle Busch had the biggest drop in the nascar standings, down three spots to 12th, and David Ragan, who finished 13th, held on to 13th in the points.

Other notable finishes included Brian Vickers, just outside the top 10 at 11th, Juan Pablo Montoya, 14th, AJ Allmendinger, 15th in the 10 car, and Bill Elliott, 16th in the 21.