NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson Dominates Again At Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Jimmie Johnson has won at Martinsville Speedway, padding his lead in his bid for a third straight title with four races to go.

The two-time defending series champion led 339 laps Sunday as he and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates again dominated on this track.

Johnson won the fall race for the third consecutive time on the smallest, trickiest circuit in the Sprint Cup Series. It was his fifth career victory on the oval and fourth in the last five races.

Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, followed by Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon, giving Hendrick three of the top four spots.

Johnson increased his lead from 69 points over Jeff Burton to 149 over Greg Biffle. Burton started second and finished 17th.

NASCAR Sprint Cup-TUMS QuikPak 500 Results

Sunday

At Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, Va.

Lap length: .526 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 504 laps, 149 rating, 195 points, $219,161.
2. (10) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 504, 114.3, 170, $121,975.
3. (4) Carl Edwards, Ford, 504, 121, 165, $145,850.
4. (8) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 504, 120.5, 165, $136,236.
5. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 504, 105.7, 155, $121,916.
6. (23) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 504, 97.4, 150, $93,875.
7. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 504, 100.7, 146, $131,636.
8. (11) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 504, 82, 147, $123,416.
9. (5) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 504, 88.2, 138, $93,675.
10. (18) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 504, 93.1, 134, $110,708.
11. (17) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 504, 89.8, 130, $84,775.
12. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 504, 90.8, 132, $87,750.
13. (13) David Ragan, Ford, 504, 81.9, 124, $85,300.
14. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 503, 73.8, 121, $103,433.
15. (39) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 503, 64.8, 118, $81,425.
16. (37) Bill Elliott, Ford, 503, 59.2, 115, $89,720.
17. (2) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 503, 80.9, 112, $116,233.
18. (31) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 503, 59.5, 109, $97,258.
19. (25) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 502, 55.1, 106, $100,889.
20. (15) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 502, 82.4, 108, $107,683.
21. (32) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 502, 57.8, 105, $90,733.
22. (33) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 502, 52.1, 97, $86,633.
23. (16) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 501, 71.6, 94, $111,000.
24. (26) David Reutimann, Toyota, 501, 67.4, 91, $73,025.
25. (41) Chad McCumbee, Dodge, 501, 35, 88, $83,958.
26. (7) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 500, 95.4, 85, $117,161.
27. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, 40.9, 82, $79,350.
28. (40) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 500, 44.3, 79, $79,100.
29. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 497, 71.8, 76, $85,975.
30. (35) Scott Speed, Toyota, 497, 33.9, 73, $70,900.
31. (43) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 496, 35.9, 70, $68,275.
32. (28) David Gilliland, Ford, accident, 483, 43, 67, $79,722.
33. (14) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, electrical, 475, 52.3, 64, $98,491.
34. (36) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 473, 43.9, 61, $114,575.
35. (29) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 473, 60, 58, $94,664.
36. (19) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 470, 62.6, 55, $67,400.
37. (21) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 470, 50.1, 52, $104,286.
38. (20) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 466, 89.9, 54, $75,300.
39. (38) Mike Bliss, Toyota, rear end, 455, 25.4, 46, $67,250.
40. (34) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 453, 32.4, 43, $75,200.
41. (22) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 437, 52.2, 40, $93,495.
42. (30) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 417, 35.4, 37, $75,090.
43. (42) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, accident, 115, 30.3, 34, $66,555.

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Race Statistics

Winner’s Average Speed: 75.931 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 29 minutes, 29 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.708 seconds.

Caution Flags: 12 for 76 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Johnson 1-35; J.Gordon 36-55; J.Johnson 56-63; A.Almirola 64-116; J.McMurray 117-153; J.Johnson 154-164; G.Biffle 165-173; J.Johnson 174-241; J.Gordon 242-259; S.Riggs 260; J.Johnson 261-271; J.Gordon 272-290; J.Johnson 291-461; M.Kenseth 462-469; J.Johnson 470-504.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Johnson, 7 times for 339 laps; J.Gordon, 3 times for 57 laps; A.Almirola, 1 time for 53 laps; J.McMurray, 1 time for 37 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 9 laps; M.Kenseth, 1 time for 8 laps; S.Riggs, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 6,073. 2. G.Biffle, 5,924. 3. J.Burton, 5,921. 4. C.Edwards, 5,875. 5. C.Bowyer, 5,831. 6. K.Harvick, 5,817. 7. J.Gordon, 5,798. 8. T.Stewart, 5,735. 9. D.Earnhardt Jr., 5,694. 10. M.Kenseth, 5,665. 11. D.Hamlin, 5,653. 12. Ky.Busch, 5,628.

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NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)