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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Goody’s Fast Relief 500”

Johnson wins at Martinsville

Jimmie Johnson’s steady march toward what would be a record-tying 7th Cup Series championship continued Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. Johnson led just once all day, but he had the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in front when it counted most – leading the final 92 laps and beating runner-up Brad Keselowski to the finish by 1.2 seconds. Three Joe Gibbs Racing entries, driven by Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch, filled out the rest of the top 5. Pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr. finished 7th after leading 6 times for 147 laps.

For 2 straight rounds of this year’s post-season Chase, Johnson has quickly won a race to guarantee advancement. In this case, Sunday’s win puts him into The Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway – where he’ll race for a title on Sunday, November 20th. With 6 championships, Johnson is 1 away from tying Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt for the NASCAR record.

With Johnson’s victory, Hendrick Motorsports has now won the last 5 fall races at Martinsville. Rick Hendrick easily leads all Cup Series teams owners with 24 victories on the Virginia half-mile.

Kenseth started 17th on Sunday and led a race-high 176 laps before settling for 4th place. Busch was victorious at Martinsville earlier this year but led just 3 laps Sunday en route to his 5th place finish in a failed bid for the season sweep. Defending race winner Jeff Gordon placed 6th in what is expected to be his final Martinsville start, subbing for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

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– story by John Singler
www.mrn.com
Concord, NC

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