The tight racing provided some exciting moments as tempers ran high. Fortunately NASCAR stayed out of it and allowed emotion to return to the sport.
Qualifying
Chevrolet drivers claimed the top four spots in qualifying with Chasers Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon claiming the front row. Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin started behind them in row number two.
Toyota driver David Reutimann rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Ryan Newman took the lead from the pole as the top six drivers dropped into single-file order by the end of lap one.
Sprint Cup activity was rained out on Saturday so NASCAR declared a competition caution on lap 50. Drivers were taking it easy and feeling out their cars. Hendrick Motorsports controlled much of the early going with Jeff Gordon leading, Jimmie Johnson passing a lot of cars from his fifteenth place starting position to run third and Mark Martin showing in fourth position at the caution.
After the caution Jimmie Johnson wasted little time in completing his march to the front. Jimmie took the top spot on lap 60 and continued to control the rest of the early going.
Storylines
Martinsville Speedway's tight racing stirred up some tempers during the 2009 Tums Fast Relief 500. A.J. Allmendinger and Joey Logano provided some on-track fireworks. The two exchanged fenders a few times before Logano drove it hard into the corner under Allmendinger causing Allmendinger to spin up into the wall. It didn't look like Logano even tried to turn and avoid him.
Later Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch got into it. Kyle nudged Carl Edwards' rear quarter in turn two. Carl pulled over and let him pass on the outside but then returned the favor in turn three (and apparently flipped Kyle off for the move). This time there was no caution needed but clearly neither driver was happy.
In spite of the apparent punt by Logano NASCAR let it pass. This was a case where they both were clearly beating and banging. I was happy to see NASCAR let them race a little bit. They need to stay out of the way and let the drivers bring some emotion back to the sport.
Chasing The Checkers
Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson had controlled most of the race as we entered the final laps. Johnson was quickest on short runs but Hamlin seemed to be better during long greens.
Denny Hamlin won the battle off of pit road and picked the inside line over Jimmie Johnson for the restart with 52 laps to go. Hamlin got the jump and took the lead on the restart.
Johnson was on his bumper and gave him a few bumps to let him know that he was quicker. After twenty laps or so Hamlin started to pull away as his longer-run advantage started to show through. However NASCAR found some debris on the track with 17 laps to go bringing out a late race caution and erasing Hamlin's advantage. This triggered more cautions in the closing laps.
The final green flag was a green-white-checkered finish with 2 laps to go. Denny Hamlin again picked the inside lane with Jimmie Johnson on the outside. Juan Montoya and Jeff Gordon lined up third and fourth.
Hamlin got the lead in turn one and held on for the win over Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya.
Top Ten
- Denny Hamlin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Juan Montoya
- Kyle Busch
- Jeff Gordon
- Jamie McMurray
- Ryan Newman
- Mark Martin
- Kevin Harvick
- Tony Stewart
The Points
Jimmie Johnson finished up front once again and added some more points to his lead. Now only four races remain in the 2009 Chase for the Cup and Johnson's lead over Mark Martin to 118 points.
The top twelve are now:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Mark Martin -118
- Jeff Gordon -150
- Tony Stewart -192
- Juan Montoya -200
- Kurt Busch -240
- Ryan Newman -312
- Greg Biffle -350
- Denny Hamlin -352
- Carl Edwards -413
- Kasey Kahne -439
- Brian Vickers -530
