Jimmie Johnson wins at Martinsville to grab Chase lead

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Mr. Martinsville is back.

Holding off Kyle Busch during a five-lap closing green-flag run at Martinsville Speedway, polesitter Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's TUMS Fast Relief 500 at the .526-mile short track and grabbed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series lead from sixth-place finisher Brad Keselowski.

Johnson's fourth victory of the season and his seventh at Martinsville leaves Johnson in a familiar position. He holds a two-point lead over Keselowski with three races left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Busch finished second .479 seconds behind the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, who won for the 59th time in his career.

Kasey Kahne ran third, followed by Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 21st in his return to racing after a two-week hiatus.

Johnson had the lead on Lap 491 when a chain-reaction spin involving Sam Hornish Jr., Carl Edwards and Earnhardt caused the 11th caution and set up a restart on Lap 496

Denny Hamlin's championship hopes suffered a crushing blow when his No. 11 suffered electrical problems late in the race. After intermittent losses of power, Hamlin's car stalled on the frontstretch on Lap 391, causing the eighth caution of the race.

By the time his crew identified and fixed the problem -- a broken post on the master cutoff switch -- Hamlin was 34 laps down and mired in 33rd place, his finishing position.

RACE RESULTS

1. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, $202511.

2. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, $167693.

3. (15) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500, $109060.

4. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 500, $131421.

5. (8) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 500, $116074.

6. (32) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 500, $127305.

7. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, $127321.

8. (2) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 500, $85160.

9. (18) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 500, $109718.

10. (30) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, $96835.

11. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, $120818.

12. (9) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, $88585.

13. (27) Sam Hornish Jr.(i), Dodge, 500, $120660.

14. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500, $124021.

15. (19) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500, $103443.

16. (14) Joey Logano, Toyota, 500, $88160.

17. (24) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, $109618.

18. (23) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500, $120951.

19. (34) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 500, $103680.

20. (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 500, $108151.

21. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, $84635.

22. (4) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 499, $115635.

23. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 499, $103424.

24. (33) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 499, $103868.

25. (22) Casey Mears, Ford, 499, $90368.

26. (16) David Ragan, Ford, 499, $87068.

27. (7) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 498, $125260.

28. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 498, $92632.

29. (28) Ken Schrader, Ford, 495, $82460.

30. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 494, $73385.

31. (41) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 492, $79760.

32. (13) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, Engine, 473, $120596.

33. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 466, $116826.

34. (42) Stephen Leicht #, Chevrolet, Brakes, 253, $80985.

35. (37) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Brakes, 193, $71435.

36. (29) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, Overheating, 185, $71385.

37. (43) Scott Speed, Ford, Suspension, 116, $71330.

38. (31) Josh Wise #, Ford, Brakes, 85, $71253.

39. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, Brakes, 61, $68500.

40. (40) David Stremme, Toyota, Accident, 46, $68450.

41. (38) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, Brakes, 35, $68400.

42. (36) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Overheating, 22, $68350.

43. (39) Reed Sorenson(i), Chevrolet, Overheating, 19, $67914.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.677 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 23 Mins, 09 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.479 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 11 for 64 laps.

Lead Changes: 22 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Johnson 1-47; T. Kvapil 48; J. Johnson 49-67; J. Gordon 68-98; J. Johnson 9-106; J. Gordon 107-146; B. Vickers 147-164; D. Hamlin 165-170; J. Johnson 171-182; C. Bowyer 83-200; J. Johnson 201-204; J. Gordon 205-225; C. Bowyer 226-234; J. Johnson 235-237; C. Bowyer 238-349; D. Hamlin 350-355; B. Vickers 356-364; M. Kenseth 365; K. Kahne 366-377; C. Bowyer 378-392; J. Johnson 393-477; B. Keselowski 478-485; J. Johnson 486-500.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Johnson 8 times for 193 laps; C. Bowyer 4 times for 154 laps; J. Gordon 3 times for 92 laps; B. Vickers 2 times for 27 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 12 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 11 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 8 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 1 lap; T. Kvapil 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: J. Johnson - 2,291; B. Keselowski - 2,289; C. Bowyer - 2,265; K. Kahne - 2,262; D. Hamlin - 2,242; J. Gordon - 2,237; M. Truex Jr. - 2,228; M. Kenseth - 2,226; G. Biffle - 2,222; T. Stewart - 2,220; K. Harvick - 2,203; D. Earnhardt Jr. - 2,151.

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