Stewart Edges Johnson In Wild Martinsville Race

Tony Stewart celebrates with his No. 14 Office Depot Stewart-Haas Racing team after getting his third win in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)by Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
Tony Stewart passed Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps left in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and held off Johnson’s desperate bid for the win on the final lap.

The victory was Stewart’s third in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and vaulted him into second place in the standings, eight points behind leader Carl Edwards. Stewart won for the 42nd time in his career.

“He’d better be worried,” Stewart said of Edwards after the race, “that’s all I can say. He’s not going to have an easy three weeks.”

Miraculously, after twice being lapped on the racetrack, Edwards salvaged a decent run and retained his lead in the Chase standings with a ninth-place finish, as his two closest pursuers entering the race, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski, both experienced late trouble and finished 17th and 31st, respectively.

Jeff Gordon ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick, who climbed to third in the standings, 21 points behind Edwards. Denny Hamlin came home fifth, with Jeff Burton sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. seventh.

After a wild first half of the race had settled into a 97-lap green-flag run after the midpoint, Hamlin squeezed past Gordon on Lap 320 and stayed out front in traffic until Burton’s spin caused the 10th caution of the race.

That started a spate of cautions that gave Harvick and Stewart a chance to move to the front with two-tire calls—and allowed Edwards to return to the lead lap under the 12th caution with a free pass for the highest-scored car one lap down.

Note: At the drivers’ meeting before the race, NASCAR announced that any driver intentionally causing a caution by stopping on the racetrack will be penalized three laps. The rule is in effect for at least the rest of the season, though the number of laps could vary according to the size of the racetrack.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 33
Unofficial Race Results for the 63Rd Annual Tums Fast Relief 500 - Sunday,
October 30, 2011
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - .526 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 263 Miles - Purse: $4,851,202
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 4 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet 500 47 4 99.2 $198,983 Running 3 14
2 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Mylowes Chevrolet 500 43 1 126.1 $161,786 Running 2 61
3 10 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 500 42 1 122.5 $142,211 Running 2 113
4 5 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 500 41 1 110.9 $139,386 Running 2 35
5 11 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 500 40 1 120.7 $131,350 Running 2 58
6 23 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 500 38 91.3 $91,225 Running
7 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Diet Mt. Dew Paint the 88 / National Guard Chevrolet 500 37 100.1 $89,150 Running
8 24 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 500 36 92.4 $88,425 Running
9 1 99 Carl Edwards Scotts Winterguard Ford 500 36 1 79.0 $123,916 Running 1 28
10 12 39 Ryan Newman HAAS Automation Chevrolet 500 35 1 95.0 $118,225 Running 2 41
11 16 43 A J Allmendinger AdvoCare Ford 500 34 1 103.5 $114,961 Running 2 19
12 33 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 500 32 69.7 $82,400 Running
13 26 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 500 31 65.6 $103,445 Running
14 8 22 Kurt Busch Shell Pennzoil Dodge 500 30 81.5 $119,375 Running
15 15 16 Greg Biffle 3M Filtrete Ford 500 29 91.2 $92,575 Running
16 35 38 Travis Kvapil(i) Long John Silver's Ford 500 0 54.1 $95,058 Running 1 1
17 3 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 500 27 88.7 $100,458 Running
18 22 20 Joey Logano Interstate Batteries Toyota 500 26 67.9 $83,325 Running
19 13 33 Clint Bowyer American Ethanol / Cheerios Chevrolet 500 25 75.0 $115,158 Running
20 28 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 500 24 62.7 $102,758 Running
21 34 32 Ken Schrader U.S. Chrome / Southern Pride Ford 499 23 53.9 $89,183 Running
22 20 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 497 22 81.4 $111,358 Running
23 32 36 Dave Blaney Golden Corral Chevrolet 497 21 43.7 $86,183 Running
24 21 27 Paul Menard Richmond / Menards Chevrolet 497 20 71.2 $81,325 Running
25 14 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 495 19 63.6 $90,597 Running
26 36 71 Hermie Sadler(i) Home Smart Ford 493 0 40.6 $81,300 Running
27 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Halloween Toyota 493 19 2 114.7 $123,141 Running 4 126
28 19 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 491 16 66.6 $80,350 Running
29 17 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 488 15 47.2 $102,216 Running
30 25 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 484 14 68.7 $98,864 Accident
31 2 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 477 14 1 89.7 $106,461 Running 1 3
32 29 47 Bobby Labonte Grilling.com Toyota 464 12 46.3 $97,270 Running
33 18 6 David Ragan UPS My Choice Ford 444 11 59.0 $77,750 Running
34 31 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 357 11 1 47.5 $68,750 Accident 1 1
35 27 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 85 9 47.2 $107,314 Accident
36 37 7 Reed Sorenson(i) SPEED Energy Dodge 77 0 34.5 $68,650 Vibration
37 39 46 Scott Speed(i) Green Smoke Ford 74 0 39.1 $68,600 Rear Gear
38 42 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 52 6 34.6 $68,550 Brakes
39 40 66 Michael McDowell Victory Junction Toyota 45 5 33.9 $68,500 Brakes
40 43 55 J J Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 4 29.8 $68,450 Brakes
41 41 87 Joe Nemechek(i) AM FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota 33 0 31.5 $68,400 Rear Gear
42 30 51 Landon Cassill(i) Phoenix Construction/ThankATeacherToday Chev 27 0 28.9 $68,350 Brakes
43 38 37 Mike Skinner(i) MaxQ Motorsports Ford 7 0 27.9 $67,914 Accident

Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 62,000, Tony Stewart won the TUMS Fast Relief 500, his 42th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

Failed to Qualify: (2) 92, 75.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 49 Mins, 52 Secs. Average Speed: 68.648 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.170 Seconds

Caution Flags: 18 for 108 laps: Laps: 9-21 (#11, 22, 24, 33, 37, 88 accident turn 1 [None]); 29-35 (#36, 83, 87 accident turn 3 [None]); 48-51 (#42, 83 accident turn 4 [78]); 66-71 (#9, 00 accident turn 2 [None]); 87-96 (#1, 83 accident turn 3 [None]); 106-111 (#9, 42 accident turn 4 [47]); 151-155 (#20, 88 accident turn 3 [78]); 198-203 (#47, 71 accident backstretch [20]); 259-263 (#5 spin turn 4 [99]); 362-368 (#34 accident turn 1 [27]); 399-404 (#22, 31 accident turn 2 [33]); 409-412 (#5, 71, 78 accident turn 3 [99]); 416-419 (#16, 39 accident turn 4 [20]); 428-432 (#22, 27 accident turn 2 [5]); 459-462 (#17, 83 accident turn 3 [38]); 465-473 (#17, 18, 20, 42 accident turn 3 [16]); 476-478 (#22, 39 accident turn 2 [16]); 494-497 (#83 spin turn 3 [32]).

Lead Changes: 23 among 12 drivers: C. Edwards 0; M. Kenseth 1-3; C. Edwards 4-31; T. Stewart 32-39; Kyle Busch 40-54; A. Allmendinger 55-62; D. Hamlin 63-68; R. Newman 69-107; A. Allmendinger 108-118; Kyle Busch 119-151; D. Gilliland 152; T. Kvapil(i) 153; R. Newman 154-155; Kyle Busch 156-203; J. Johnson 204; Kyle Busch 205-234; J. Gordon 235-319; D. Hamlin 320-371; J. Gordon 372-399; K. Harvick 400-412; T. Stewart 413-415; K. Harvick 416-437; J. Johnson 438-497; T. Stewart 498-500.