It looks as if the “Busch” series may have come to an abrupt end Sunday at Martinsville Speedway as Jimmie Johnson won his first race of the season. Neither Busch brother was a factor for the win. Kyle could have been if he hadn’t been the cause of an early race caution after getting into Scott Speed sending them both spinning. And Kurt just wasn’t there all day. He did managed to finish on the lead lap in 18th.
As for the rest of the race, well, it looked as if Denny Hamlin was going to win. He took the lead early on lap 156 and pretty much never looked back. That was until Jimmie Johnson decided he wanted the lead and the win.
Trailing behind Hamlin didn’t sit well with Johnson, so after a very interesting few laps, Johnson tapped Hamlin’s Toyota and without wrecking Hamlin, or himself, took the lead with 15 laps to go. Despite Hamlin’s persistent attempts to regain the lead, Johnson soared across the finish line to win his sixth Martinsville win. To make the win more memorable, it was on the 25th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports team owner, Rick Hendrick’s first win in 1984 with Geoff Bodine behind the wheel.
Hamlin finished second and during his post-race interviewed didn’t appear to be upset about yet another second place finish, but looks and words can be deceiving. There is no doubt that he’ll get Johnson back given the opportunity and that’s a fact from Hamlin’s mouth.
A few notables:
- A.J. Allmendinger scored his second Top 10 this season in his underfunded ride in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 44 Dodge. He was the top finishing RPM driver and Dodge with a ninth place finish. Allmendinger is also 15th in points and is guaranteed a spot in each race until (if) he falls out of the Top 35 in owner points. At the rate he is going, the team may have to desperately find sponsors to fulfill a full time ride for Allmendinger who is only secured sponsorship until the end of May.
- Jeff Gordon is still the current points leader despite not winning a points race since October 2007. His consistency has allowed him to sit nicely on top while everyone chases him. He finished fourth in Sunday’s race to gain his fifth Top 10 of the season. Gordon’s sure to have a win sooner or later.
- Stewart Hass Racing has had it ups and downs for the season, mostly with Ryan Newman who was just barely in the Top 35, but Sunday both Newman and team owner, Tony Stewart, finished in the Top 10. Newman finished sixth with only his second Top 10 of the season thus far. As for Stewart, he finished third to capture his fourth Top 10 of the season. Stewart, like Gordon, has been consistent this year and is proving all the naysayers wrong. He is seventh in the points and is well on his way at capturing a win.
Bring on Texas!
Don’t miss:
From Texas
- Sprint Cup qualifying, Friday at 4:30 p.m. on SPEED
- O’Reilly 300 (Nationwide race), Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2
- Samsung 500 (Sprint Cup race), Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on FOX
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