Jimmie Johnson dominates Martinsville for his eighth win at the track

Jimmie Johnson dominates Martinsville for his eighth win at the track

Apr. 7, 2013

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Jimmie Johnson made eight the easy way.

Leading 346 of 500 laps in Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson racked up his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the .526-mile short track and the 62nd win of his career.

Clint Bowyer ran second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch.

The first repeat winner through six 2013 Cup races, Johnson regained the series lead by six points over sixth-place finisher and defending champion Brad Keselowski.

Danica Patrick ran 12th in her first visit to Martinsville. Patrick was the top finisher from Stewart-Haas Racing.

NASCAR red-flagged the race on Lap 487, after the brakes failed on Kurt Busch’s No. 78 Chevrolet SS and sent the car hard into the Turn 1 wall and ignited in a massive fireball.

Busch had the presence of mind to trigger his fire extinguisher before the exited the car and climbed from the driver’s-side window apparently none the worse for the flames.

After the stoppage, Johnson led the field to a restart on Lap 493 with Bowyer beside him in the outside lane. But Johnson pulled away over the final eight laps to beat Bowyer to the finish line by .628 seconds.

Patrick, who started the race at the rear of the field because of an engine change, restarted 20th from the outside lane on Lap 369 and promptly dropped five spots as cars in the inside lane freight-trained her.

But Patrick patiently and methodically drove back to the 17th position and was running there when Brian Vickers cut a tire and spun on Lap 448 to cause the 10th caution of the afternoon.

The yellow gave drivers a much-needed opportunity to pit for new tires. Out first after the stops, Johnson led the field to green on Lap 459 with Gordon beside him. Yellow flew again shortly when chain-reaction contact between Vickers, Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. sent Earnhardt spinning in Turn 4.

Johnson passed Earnhardt as the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet tried to re-fire and right his car, putting Earnhardt a lap down. Earnhardt finished 24th and fell from first to third in points, 12 behind Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.