Hendrick Motorsport’s Jimmie Johnson took the lead on Lap 94 in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and never looked back. The six-time Sprint Cup champion won his ninth career race at Martinsville and sealed a spot in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was Johnson’s first win at the “Paper Clip” since 2013, and his fourth of 2016.
The event featured two green-flag runs of more than 110 laps, which is unusual for the half-mile raceway. Jimmie Johnson pulled out to a lead of more than two seconds in the final circuits and finished 1.291 seconds ahead of runner-up Brad Keselowski. The Penske Racing phenom sped passed Denny Hamlin for second place on Lap 477.
Jimmie Johnson said earlier on Friday, that he has been trying to avoid thoughts of a possible seventh title. If so, it would tie him for the all-time lead with legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
“I’ve been trying to ignore the conversation about seven, but now I can’t,” Johnson said in Victory Lane. “We’re locked in. It’s crazy to have a shot at seven now. “I’ll probably lie to all of you guys and say I’m not going to think about it at all. But it’s inevitable. Fortunately, I don’t have to think about it for three weeks. But we’re going to enjoy this and savor it. We’re going to get our ducks in a row for Homestead.”
Jimmie Johnson’s skill of the half-mile oval may have came back in the closing run, but the day was anything but easy for the # 48 team. Johnson was clipped by Denny Hamlin in the early stages of the event. As a result, he developed a tire rub that required him to pit. Unfortunately, the repairs placed the eventual winner back into the 25th spot for a restart on Lap 208.
The bad luck continued on Lap 358, when Jimmie Johnson slowed to a crawl on the back-stretch. The veteran had accidentally switched off the electronic control unit on his hot-rod. But after restarting it, Johnson came to pit road on Lap 366 and refueled for the final run. He came out of the pits in the fourth spot and the rest was history.
Denny Hamlin led a line of Joe Gibbs Racing speedsters to the three positions behind Jimmie Johnson. Sandwiched in between was Brad Keselowski who took second. Hamlin’s teammate Matt Kenseth, came in fourth. He was followed by the 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch in fifth.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards had a day that he would like to forget. The experienced driver blew a tire and hit the wall on Lap 358. The accident brought out the Goody’s Fast Relief 500’s final caution.
Carl Edwards took his #19 Toyota behind the wall for repairs and ended his day in the 36th position. Now, Edwards goes into next Sunday’s race at Texas second 32 points behind his teammate Kyle Busch. Currently, Busch holds the last of the Chase’s four positions.
Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet’s of Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch succumbed to the same pitfalls. Even when on the track at Martinsville, handling deteriorated after the sun came out mid-way through the event.
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Sprint Cup champion, finished in 20th and his teammate Kurt Busch a little worse in 22nd. As of now, they sit 16 and 18 points, behind Kyle Busch. That forces both speedsters to get a victory in the next two races, or have extremely strong performance in both.
Sprint Cup Chase driver Joey Logano finished out his day in the ninth spot at Martinsville. Logano never could get back to the front after leading in the early stages of the race. Nevertheless, he remained inside the top ten all day and and now is fifth in the standings, four points behind Kyle Busch.
Jeff Gordon, who drove the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet for Dale Jr., finished his last race at Martinsville Speedway in style. The experienced fill-in also was in the top ten for the better half of the day and finished out the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 in sixth.
Final Running Order for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville:
1. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500 laps, 115.7 rating, 44 points.
2. (19) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, 105.3, 39.
3. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 111.6, 39.
4. (17) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 500, 129.7, 39.
5. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, 122.1, 37.
6. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, 100.7, 35.
7. (1) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 500, 119.1, 35.
8. (14) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 92.9, 33.
9. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, 104.2, 33.
10. (4) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, 102.7, 32.
11. (22) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 499, 79.3, 30.
12. (5) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 499, 82.1, 29.
13. (25) Greg Biffle, Ford, 499, 68.6, 28.
14. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 499, 89.4, 28.
15. (16) Aric Almirola, Ford, 499, 71.7, 26.
16. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 499, 81.7, 25.
17. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 499, 78.8, 24.
18. (30) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 498, 58.0, 23.
19. (15) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 498, 64.8, 22.
20. (20) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 498, 76.0, 21.
21. (26) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 497, 69.7, 20.
22. (23) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 497, 65.7, 19.
23. (31) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 497, 52.5, 18.
24. (24) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 497, 53.2, 17.
25. (18) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 496, 55.5, 16.
26. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 496, 55.7, 15.
27. (29) Chris Buescher, Ford, 495, 46.2, 14.
28. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 495, 57.8, 13.
29. (33) Landon Cassill, Ford, 494, 46.4, 12.
30. (21) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 494, 45.4, 12.
31. (37) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 490, 32.0, 0.
32. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 489, 41.2, 9.
33. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 486, 28.5, 8.
34. (35) Brian Scott, Ford, 484, 35.8, 7.
35. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 479, 32.5, 6.
36. (7) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 477, 64.0, 5.
37. (12) David Ragan, Toyota, 424, 43.1, 4.
38. (34) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 407, 31.5, 3.
39. (36) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, reargear, 360, 27.8, 2.
40. (39) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, accident, 21, 24.0, 1.
Race Statstics:
Average Speed of Race Winner: 78.537 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 20 minutes, 55 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.291 seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 54 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers.
