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NASCAR - Sprint Cup - Tums Fast Relief 500 Preview

The Sports Network

Date: Sunday, October 25th

Start Time: 1:43 p.m. (et)

Site: Martinsville Speedway (1947) -- Martinsville, Virginia

Track: 0.526-mile "paper-clip"-shaped oval

Laps: 500

Miles: 263

Capacity: 65,000

Total purse: $4,972,883 (2008 figures)

Payouts: 1st Place - $219,161; 2nd Place - $121,975; 3rd Place - $145,850

Year: 61st

On TV: ABC

Announcers: Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Dr. Jerry Punch

On Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS XM Satellite

Race record: Jeff Gordon, 1996 (82.223 m.p.h.)

Qualifying record: Tony Stewart, 2005 (98.083 m.p.h.)

2008 Finish

Defending champion: Jimmie Johnson

Runner up: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Pole winner: Jimmie Johnson (owner points)

Top 10:

1. Jimmie Johnson (Start: 1)

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr (10)

3. Carl Edwards (4)

4. Jeff Gordon (8)

5. Denny Hamlin (12)

6. Casey Mears (23)

7. Kevin Harvick (6)

8. Matt Kenseth (11)

9. Clint Bowyer (5)

10. Martin Truex Jr (18)

Average speed: 75.931 m.p.h.

Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes, 29 seconds

Margin of victory: 0.708 second

Caution flags: 12 for 76 laps

Lead changes: 14 among 7 drivers

Past winners

2008 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 75.931 m.p.h.

2007 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 66.608 m.p.h.

2006 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 70.446 m.p.h.

2005 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 69.695 m.p.h.

2004 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 66.103 m.p.h.

2003 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 67.658 m.p.h.

2002 Kurt Busch, Ford, 74.651 m.p.h.

2001 Ricky Craven, Ford, 75.750 m.p.h.

2000 Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 73.859 m.p.h.

1999 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 72.347 m.p.h.

1998 Ricky Rudd, Ford, 73.350 m.p.h.

1997 Jeff Burton, Ford, 73.072 m.p.h.

1996 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 82.223 m.p.h. (race record)

1995 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 73.946 m.p.h.

1994 Rusty Wallace, Ford, 77.139 m.p.h.

1993 Ernie Irvan, Ford, 74.101 m.p.h..

1992 Geoff Bodine, Ford, 75.424 m.p.h.

1991 Harry Gant, Oldsmobile, 74.535 m.p.h.

1990 Geoff Bodine, Ford, 76.386 m.p.h.

1989 Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 76.571 m.p.h.

1988 Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 74.988 m.p.h.

1987 Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 76.410 m.p.h.

1986 Rusty Wallace, Pontiac, 73.191 m.p.h.

1985 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 70.694 m.p.h.

1984 Darrell Waltrip, Chevrolet, 75.532 m.p.h.

1983 Ricky Rudd, Chevrolet, 76.134 m.p.h.

1982 Darrell Waltrip, Buick, 71.315 m.p.h.

1981 Darrell Waltrip, Buick, 70.089 m.p.h.

1980 Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 69.654 m.p.h.

1979 Buddy Baker, Chevrolet, 75.119 m.p.h.

1978 Cale Yarborough, Oldsmobile, 79.336 m.p.h.

1977 Cale Yarborough, Chevrolet, 73.447 m.p.h.

1976 Cale Yarborough, Chevrolet, 75.370 m.p.h.

1975 Dave Marcis, Dodge, 75.800 m.p.h.

1974 Earl Ross, Chevrolet, 66.232 m.p.h.

1973 Richard Petty, Dodge, 68.831 m.p.h.

1972 Richard Petty, Plymouth, 69.989 m.p.h.

1971 Bobby Isaac, Dodge, 73.681 m.p.h.

1970 Richard Petty, Plymouth, 72.159 m.p.h.

1969 Richard Petty, Ford, 63.127 m.p.h.

1968 Richard Petty, Plymouth, 65.808 m.p.h.

1967 Richard Petty, Plymouth, 69.606 m.p.h.

1966 Fred Lorenzen, Ford, 69.177 m.p.h.

1965 Junior Johnson, Ford, 67.056 m.p.h.

1964 Fred Lorenzen, Ford, 67.320 m.p.h.

1963 Fred Lorenzen, Ford, 67.486 m.p.h.

1962 Nelson Stacy, Ford, 66.870 m.p.h.

1961 Joe Weatherly, Pontiac, 62.590 m.p.h.

1960 Rex White, Chevrolet, 60.440 m.p.h.

1959 Rex White, Chevrolet, 60.500 m.p.h.

1958 Fireball Roberts, Chevrolet, 63.970 m.p.h.

1957 Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, 63.030 m.p.h.

1956 Jack Smith, Dodge, 61.140 m.p.h.

1955 Speedy Thompson, Chrysler, 59.600 m.p.h.

1954 Lee Petty, Chrysler, 44.547 m.p.h.

1953 Jim Paschal, Dodge, 56.013 m.p.h.

1952 Herb Thomas, Hudson, 47.556 m.p.h.

1951 Frank Mundy, Oldsmobile, not available

1950 Herb Thomas, Plymouth, not available

1949 Red Byron, Oldsmobile, not available

Last race

Race: Bank of America 500 (October 17th)

Site: Lowe's Motor Speedway -- Charlotte, North Carolina

Miles: 501

Laps: 334

Finish line order: Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano

Time of Race: 3 hours, 38 minutes, 22 seconds

Average speed: 137.658 m.p.h.

Margin of victory: 2.303 seconds

Caution flags: 10 for 42 laps

Lead changes: 22 among 9 drivers

Lap leaders: J. Johnson 0; M. Martin 1-6; J. Johnson 7-36; M. Waltrip 37-39;J. Johnson 0; M. Martin 1-6; J. Johnson 7-36; M. Waltrip 37-39;T. Labonte 40; M. Kenseth 41-42; J. Johnson 43-44; M. Kenseth45-51; J. Johnson 52-70; D. Hamlin 71-94; M. Kenseth 95-98; D.Hamlin 99-121; J. Gordon 122-164; D. Hamlin 165-170; J. Gordon171-189; D. Hamlin 190; M. Kenseth 191-222; K. Kahne 223-245;Kurt Busch 246-247; K. Kahne 248-291; J. Johnson 292-318; J.Gordon 319-320; J. Johnson 321-334.

Entry list

#00 David Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL) Toyota/Aaron's Dream Machine

#1 Martin Truex Jr (Mayetta, NJ) Chevrolet/Vaseline Body Lotion

#2 Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) Dodge/Miller Lite

#5 Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) Chevrolet/Kellogg's/CARQUEST

#6 David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) Ford/UPS

#07 Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) Chevrolet/Jack Daniel's

#7 Robby Gordon (Orange, CA) Toyota/TBA

#9 Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) Dodge/Budweiser

#09 Sterling Marlin (Franklin, TN) Dodge/Miccosukee Gaming&Resorts

#11 Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) Toyota/FedEx Freight

#12 David Stremme (South Bend, IN) Dodge/Penske Racing

#14 Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) Chevrolet/Old Spice

#16 Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) Ford/3M/Filtrete

#17 Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) Ford/DeWalt

#18 Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) Toyota/M&M's Halloween

#19 Elliott Sadler (Emporia, VA) Dodge/Best Buy

#20 Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) Toyota/Farm Bureau

#24 Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) Chevrolet/DuPont/National Guard

#26 Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) Ford/Crown Royal

#29 Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) Chevrolet/Shell/Pennzoil

#31 Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) Chevrolet/Caterpillar

#33 Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) Chevrolet/BB&T

#34 John Andretti (Indianapolis, IN) Chevrolet/Taco Bell

#36 Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) Toyota/Wave Energy Drink

#37 Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) Dodge/Long John Silver's

#39 Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) Chevrolet/U.S. Army

#42 Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) Chevrolet/Target

#43 Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) Dodge/McDonald's

#44 AJ Allmendinger (Los Gatos, CA) Dodge/Coleman Natural Foods

#47 Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) Toyota/Little Debbie/Kingsford

#48 * Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) Chevrolet/Lowe's

#55 Michael Waltrip (Owensboro, KY) Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts

#64 Derrike Cope (Spanaway, WA) Toyota/TBA

#66 Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) Toyota/Prism Motorsports

#71 David Gilliland (Torrance, CA) Chevrolet/TRG Motorsports

#73 Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) Dodge/Arnold Development Company

#77 Sam Hornish Jr (Defiance, OH) Dodge/Mobil 1

#82 Scott Speed (Manteca, CA) Toyota/Red Bull

#83 Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC) Toyota/Red Bull

#87 Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) Toyota/NEMCO Motorsports

#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (Kannapolis, NC) Chevrolet/Amp Energy/Nat'l Guard

#96 Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) Ford/DLP

#98 Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) Ford/Menards/Schrock

#99 Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) Ford/AFLAC

Leading contenders

Name 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Jimmie Johnson 6th 2nd Won 3rd Won Won Won
Dale Earnhardt Jr 27th 4th 4th 33rd 18th 22nd 23rd 2nd
Carl Edwards 24th 26th 12th 11th 3rd
Jeff Gordon 9th 36th Won 9th Won 5th 3rd 4th
Denny Hamlin 8th 2nd 6th 5th
Matt Kenseth 36th 19th 13th 16th 12th 11th 5th 8th
Brian Vickers 27th 36th 17th 11th
Greg Biffle 19th 17th 20th 32nd 7th 12th
Juan Pablo Montoya 8th 14th
Ryan Newman 15th 5th 3rd 10th 13th 2nd 23rd
Tony Stewart 41st 11th 3rd 15th 2nd 4th 13th 26th
Kyle Busch 9th 18th 4th 29th
Kasey Kahne 13th 17th 7th 15th 33rd
Kurt Busch 35th Won 39th 5th 6th 27th 31st 36th
Mark Martin 7th 10th 14th 12th 34th 24th

Notes

At the halfway point in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnsonhas taken control of the 2009 edition of the NASCAR playoffs. Ninety pointsclear of Mark Martin, Johnson has put the peddle to the metal, winning twostraight and three of the last four Chase races. In fact, in the five races,Johnson has five top-10's. Although Martin is Johnson's nearest competitor,Jeff Gordon has moved into third on the points list, 135 behind. Speed Racerhas recorded four straight top-6 finishes, including a pair of runner-upplacings in California and North Carolina.Johnson has dominated this race in recent seasons, winning three straight andfour of the last five. Last year, Johnson defeated Dale Earnhardt Jr by lessthan a second for his 39th title. It was another overwhelming performance, ashe led seven times for a whopping 339 laps. Starting on the pole, Johnson ledthe final 35 laps to edge Earnhardt Jr by 0.708 of a second. A win this yearwill tie Johnson with the great Richard Petty, who won this race fourconsecutive years from 1967-1970.Johnson's victory total now stands at 46, good for 13th on the all-time SprintCup wins list. His average finish at this track is 5.3.Gordon, one shy of Cale Yarborough on the all-time wins list at 82, hasperformed well in his own right at Martinsville, recording five straighttop-10's including a win in 2005. In addition, Gordon has won at this trackseven times.In 2007, Johnson became the first back-to-back winner of this race sinceDarrell Waltrip captured three straight in 1987-89. Johnson, who startedfourth on the grid, led four times for 147 laps, as he defeated Ryan Newmanunder caution for his 30th career Sprint Cup title. Johnson survived a recordnumber of cautions (21) en route to victory.When Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, itmarked the furthest back a race winner had started.In 2005, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the lead on lap 360 of the 500-lap event andheld off pole sitter Tony Stewart for his 73rd Sprint Cup Series title.Stewart led seven times for a total of 283 laps, but finished 0.235 of asecond behind Gordon. Before 72,000 fans, Gordon led for 151 laps, as hecaptured one of four races that year.Martinsville Speedway is the last charter race track still on the NASCARSprint Cup Series schedule. There have been many changes to the .526-milefacility since it hosted its first NASCAR premier series event in 1949. Thatfirst race at the dirt-surfaced speedway covered 200 laps with 15 cars in thefield. Today's races at Martinsville cover 500 laps with 43 cars competing. Acrowd of 10,000 attended that first race, while an estimated 64,000 were inattendance at the race last season. Red Byron won the initial race in1949, pocketing $1,500 for the victory. There have been 121 NASCAR Sprint CupSeries races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two racesper year since 1950. The pole sitter has captured 18 of those races and thetop two positions have taken the checkered flag 33 times.The seventh race in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship takes placeNovember 1st at Talladega Superspeedway. Tony Stewart will attempt to defendhis title in the Amp Energy 500.10/23 14:57:03 ET

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