Jeff Gordon outran Matt Kenseth to win the Goody's
Headache Relief Shot 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
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| Jeff Gordon celebrates his victory at Martinsville. The win was his eighth career victory at Martinsville. (Courtesy Geoff Burke/Getty Images) |
Gordon led the final 20 laps after getting around
Kenseth in lapped traffic late in the race.
The win was Gordon's first of the season, and his eighth career win at
Martinsville, tying him with Jimmie Johnson for third on the all-time list.
"Man, it's hard to top what it feels like to
win, especially with all this team had to go through," Gordon told ESPN in
victory lane. "I thought we'd given
it away a couple times there, but we really fought back."
Gordon is now third in the points standings, behind
Kenseth and Johnson. Gordon said Kenseth
made it hard for him to get the win on Sunday.
"I finally saw where [Kenseth] started
struggling on the exit, but he did a heck of a job," said Gordon. "He drove a real first-class race
today."
Denny Hamlin won the pole for the race, and he led
the field to the green flag. He held the
lead until lap three when Jimmie Johnson took the lead for the first time of
the day.
On lap seven, the first caution of the day came out
for Jeff Burton, who spun after contact with Carl Edwards.
Johnson led when the race went back green on lap 20,
but Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 25.
On lap 37, Kenseth took the lead for the first time.
The second caution of the day came out on lap 88,
when Travis Kvapil spun after contact with Edwards.
Kenseth led everyone back to the green flag on lap
95. He held the lead until Johnson
passed him on lap 111.
Johnson led until the third caution of the day came
out when David Reutimann spun on lap 140.
The leaders pitted, and Johnson won the race off pit road.
The race restarted on lap 147, and Johnson kept the
lead until the next caution came out on lap 165. Kyle Larson, making his second Sprint Cup
Series start, blew an engine and spun out heading to the pits.
The leaders pitted under caution, and Johnson won
the race off. Burton stayed out, and he
led the field back to the green flag on lap 181. Burton wasn't a match for Johnson, however,
and he lost the lead coming out of Turn 2.
On lap 182, the field stacked up to bring out the
fifth caution of the day. Kasey Kahne,
Martin Truex Jr., Ken Schrader, Aric Almirola, Kvapil and Hamlin were all
involved.
The race restarted on lap 192, and Johnson led until
another caution came out on lap 204.
Kurt Busch spun in Turn 3, and he came down the track into Mark Martin.
Johnson led when the race restarted on lap 210, but
the caution came back out on lap 219 when Kvapil spun again.
Kenseth took the lead when the race restarted on lap
222, and Reutimann spun again on lap 229 to bring out the eighth caution of the
day.
Kenseth led the field back to the green flag on lap
235. On lap 238, Clint Bowyer was able
to get around Kenseth to take the lead.
Bowyer led until lap 282, when Gordon took the lead for the first time.
Reed Sorenson stopped on the track to bring out the
caution on lap 284.
Gordon won the race off pit road, and he led the field
back to the green flag on lap 291.
On lap 298, the caution came out again for
debris.
The race went back green on lap 304, but the caution
came back out on lap 309 for a spin by Landon Cassill.
Gordon led when the race restarted on lap 315, but
the string of cautions continued when, on lap 318, Ryan Newman spun after
contact with Kevin Harvick.
The race restarted again on lap 325, but Truex spun
on lap 328 to bring out the 13th caution of the day.
The green flag came back out on lap 333, and Gordon
led until the caution came out again on lap 338 for debris on the
frontstretch. During the caution, Gordon
pitted, handing the lead over to Hamlin.
Hamlin led the field on the restart on lap 342, but
Bowyer took the lead on lap 351. He led
until the caution came out on lap 366 for a spin by Cole Whitt. The leaders pitted under the caution, and
Elliott Sadler took the lead after staying out.
Sadler led the field to the green on lap 373, but
Kenseth took the lead away on lap 374.
On lap 380, J.J. Yeley hit the wall to bring out the
16th caution of the day.
Kenseth led the field to the green flag on lap 386,
and he led until the final caution came out on lap 417 for debris. The leaders came down pit road to make their
final pit stops, and Kenseth won the race off to keep the lead.
Kenseth led when the green flag came back out on lap
424. He led until he came under fire
from Gordon, who took the lead on lap 480.
Gordon led the final 20 laps to win the race.
Here are the unofficial results:
1. Jeff Gordon
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Jeff Burton
12. Carl Edwards
13. Juan Pablo Montoya
14. Joey Logano
15. Kyle Busch
16. Martin Truex Jr.
17. Danica Patrick
18. Kurt Busch
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Aric Almirola
21. Casey Mears
22. Paul Menard
23. David Gilliland
24. Travis Kvapil
25. Elliott Sadler
26. Michael McDowell
27. Kasey Kahne
28. Ken Schrader
29. Landon Cassill
30. J.J. Yeley
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32. Bobby Labonte
33. Joe Nemechek
34. Josh Wise
35. Cole Whitt
36. Mark Martin
37. David Reutimann
38. Ryan Newman
39. Dave Blaney
40. Reed Sorenson
41. Tony Raines
42. Kyle Larson
43. David Ragan
