Tony Stewart made a statement today at Martinsville Speedway by capturing the win behind the wheel of his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, Stewart took the lead on the final restart and remained on the point for the final three laps of the 500-lap/263-mile race.
It is the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion’s third win in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and catapulted him to second in the standings, just eight points out of the lead with three races remaining in the season.
Today’s win in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 is Stewart’s third at the tough .526-mile track in southern Virginia. He led three times for a total of 14 laps on the way to his 42nd NSCS career win.
Five-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Mylowes Chevrolet, finished second just .170 seconds behind Stewart. Johnson led twice for a total of 61 laps and sits sixth in the standings, 43 points behind the top-spot.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet, finished third. The four-time NSCS champion led twice for a total 113 laps and remains 10th in the standings.
Kevin Harvick brought the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet to the checkered flag in fourth place. Leading twice for 35 laps, Harvick is now 3rd in the standings, 21 points out of the top-spot.
Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was the final driver in the top-five.
Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet is always good at Martinsville and today was no different. The South Boston, Virginia, native scored a solid 6th place finish in today’s TUMS 500 and had a shot at the win late in the race.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 Diet Mt. Dew Paint the 88/National Guard Chevrolet showed why Martinsville Speedway is one of his favorite tracks as he powered around the .586 mile short track inside the top-ten for most of the day and after some beating and banging and hard racing, came home in 7th place and maintained his 9th place in the overall standings.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 3 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 4 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 6 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford 10 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 11 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 12 13 Casey Mears Toyota 13 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 14 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 15 16 Greg Biffle Ford 16 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 17 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 18 20 Joey Logano Toyota 19 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 20 0 David Reutimann Toyota 21 32 Ken Schrader Ford 22 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 23 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 24 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 25 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 26 71 Hermie Sadler Ford 27 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 28 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 29 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 30 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 31 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 32 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 33 6 David Ragan Ford 34 34 David Gilliland Ford 35 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 36 7 Reed Sorenson Dodge 37 46 Scott Speed Ford 38 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 39 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 40 55 J.J. Yeley Ford 41 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 42 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 43 37 Mike Skinner Ford
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