"Champion in Waiting?"
Racewinner Jimmie Johnson flat dominated the Tums QuikPak 500 here at Martinsville Speedway. Johnson bagged his 6th win of 2008 by leading 339 of 504 laps of the .528 mile oval--the smallest venue where NASCAR Sprint Cup cars run. His margin of victory over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2nd) was .708 of a second. Carl Edwards finished 3rd, Jeff Gordon 4th and Denny Hamlin 5th. Other chasers for the Sprint Cup and their finishes: Kevin "Happy" Harvick, 7th, Matt Kenseth 8th, Clint Bowyer 9th, Greg Biffle 12th, Jeff Burton 17th (thanks to a pit penalty he lost a lap), Tony Stewart 26th and Kyle Busch finished 29th with a pit miscue of his own.
This is Johnson's third Sprint Cup win in a row here. The series moves to the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday for pole day...assuming the rains stay away.
Points (NASCAR makes them official in the next 24-48 hours):
1--Jimmie Johnson #48--6073
2--Greg Biffle #16--5924
3--Jeff Burton #31--5921
4--Carl Edwards #99--5875
5--Clint Bowyer # 07--5831
6--Kevin Harvick #29--5817
7--Jeff Gordon #24--5798
8--Tony Stewart #20--5735
9--Dale Earhardt, Jr. #88--5694
10--Matt Kenseth #17--5665
11--Denny Hamlin #11--5653
12--Kyle Busch #18--5628
Martinsville is a no BS, friendly race track, which focuses on the product--the racing--and its paying customers. Clay Campbell has not forgotten that formula, which he learned from the legendary H. Clay Earles, the founder of this place. NASCAR and corporate cousin International Speedway Corporation will likely pull some shenanigans to get a race for the Kansas Speedway (and its new casino). There is something to be said for tradition...and especially if sponsors are willing to step up in the minefield that is the business climate, and write checks for race sponsorships.
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