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Johnson?s Third-Straight Martinsville Victory Tightens Chase Standings

MARTINSVILLE, Va. ? Jimmie Johnson might have his teammate Jeff Gordon’s number at Martinsville Speedway.

He beat him again here Sunday. It was almost a repeat of this year’s first race here when Johnson held Gordon off at the finish, but Ryan Newman passed Gordon a few laps from the finish to take second place.

After grousing over his team radio about Newman’s pass, Gordon ended up third, barely edging one of his other Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Busch in a green, white, checkered finish that ended a record day of cautions for this tough old track.

A record 20 caution periods for accidents slowed the field for one-fourth the race distance but Johnson and Gordon were the class of the field most of the day.

Johnson and Gordon finished one-two in a fender-rubbing finish this spring at Martinsville. At several points during the race Sunday, Rick Hendrick’s stable of cars ran one-two-three. Hendrick-prepared cars have won eight of the last 10 Martinsville races.

Matt Kenseth finished fifth. Denny Hamlin was sixth and Greg Biffle seventh. Juan Pablo Montoya was eighth and led the race for several laps. Clint Bowyer was ninth and Kevin Harvick 10th.

Gordon battled back from the rear of the field after having to make an extra pit stop for a loose lug nut. His third-place finish kept him atop the point standings in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. His point total of 6,055 is 53 ahead of Johnson, 115 ahead of Bowyer and 249 ahead of Tony Stewart.

Gordon took off from the pole position like he owned Martinsville and had begun lapping cars when Robbie Gordon blew a right front tire and hit the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 44.

When the race resumed after pit stops on Lap 49, Gordon was still in front. His No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet sailed around like it was glued to the half-mile oval.

Johnson moved past Harvick on the 62nd lap for second spot. Johnny Sauter spun on Lap 66 to bring the caution out again.

Dale Jarrett clipped David Gilliland in Turn 1 on Lap 81, causing another caution. Both cars spun but neither made contact with the wall.

On the Lap 87 restart, the Hendrick cars were running 1-2-3: Gordon, Johnson and Kyle Busch.

Another caution slowed the field on Lap 91. Kasey Kahne spun, as did Scott Riggs, David Ragan and Aric Almirola. Once the dust settled on the spinning cars, Riggs restarted his car and clipped Reed Sorensen, turning him around. Gordon remained the leader on the restart.

Johnson passed Gordon for the lead on Lap 108. A few laps later, Almirola’s car started smoking and a caution flew when he stopped on the backstretch with flames erupting from the engine compartment. The fire was quickly extinguished

Dale Earnhardt Jr. told his crew that his engine was misfiring shortly after 100 laps. He was running in 24th position, though, and not a factor in the race at that time.

Once pit stops were completed and the race restarted on Lap 126, Burton was in front with Jeff Green second and Montoya third. Those drivers did not pit along with Johnson, Gordon, Harvick and others.

Kurt Busch cut a right front and smacked the wall on Lap 166 bringing out another caution. This time, Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Bowyer did not pit as others did and Kyle Busch was the leader on the restart at Lap 172. Montoya came back on the track first among the cars that pitted and was in fifth position.

Gordon had to pit a second time for that loose lug nut and dropped to 33rd in the running order. The cars had barely gotten back up to speed when Michael Waltrip spun in Turn 3, prompting another caution period.

Busch continued to lead before a debris caution slowed the field on the 225th lap.

This time, Montoya was the leader followed by the determined Earnhardt, who had nursed his car into second place. Stewart was in third and Truex fourth. Gordon skipped this pit stop to gain track position and was fifth.

Earnhardt tapped Montoya out of the way to take the lead on Lap 229. Stewart and Truex slipped past while Montoya lost ground while keeping his car from spinning. Earnhardt ended up nursing a sick engine to a 23rd-place finish, continuing his streak of engine problems.

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