At the end of a day filled with 18 cautions and 106 laps ran under the yellow flag, Tony Stewart held off a charging Jimmie Johnson in a three-lap shootout to the finish Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, winning his third race of the season -- all coming within the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The driver otherwise known as "Smoke" carried his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team throughout the day in Virginia, rebounding from a tight condition which saw Stewart fade as far as 21st on Lap 242. Stewart passed Johnson after the final restart of the afternoon on Lap 498, resisting an attempt from the five-time defending Sprint Cup champion to make a pass entering the final turn.
In terms of the Chase, Stewart rose from fourth to second, eight points behind leader Carl Edwards.
Speaking of Edwards, the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team experienced a day of ups and downs, salvaging a points lead out of the jaws of certain defeat.
Due to wet conditions wiping out the first practice during the week, Edwards was awarded the pole due to owner points. The No. 99 dominated most of the opening portion of the race, running consistently in the top 10 until a tire miscue on pit road dropped him to 25th, one lap down.
After charging through the field via a free pass following a Lap 258 caution (and getting lapped again), Edwards was black-flagged for illegal passing before a Lap 433 restart. Two laps later, however, the penalty was rescinded. At the end of the afternoon, Edwards finished ninth.
The craziness of Edwards's day was a small sample of a larger picture. The first 100 laps of the race were plagued with five cautions, including a Lap 7 pileup that swept up Chasers Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.
Brian Vickers was involved in three of the cautions -- at the end of the day, he would be involved in five incidents. Amazingly, the No. 83 Red Bull Racing team had a top-10 run going before he was spun out by Matt Kenseth on Lap 457.
Much like he did to Stewart at Sonoma in June, Vickers attempted to get payback on Kenseth 35 laps later. Once again, he wrecked himself instead of spinning out Kenseth. Vickers finished 30th, while Kenseth ended with a 31st-place result.
Gordon rebounded from the Lap 7 incident to finish third, while Kevin Harvick, Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Earnhardt Jr. Martin Truex Jr., Edwards and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.
The Chase for the Sprint Cup is seemingly a five-team race with three races remaining. Edwards, Stewart, Harvick (-21), Brad Keselowski (-27) and Kenseth (-36) are still within striking distance of the France Trophy. Despite his runner-up finish, Johnson is still 43 points -- a full race -- behind Edwards in sixth place.
Texas Motor Speedway awaits, as the AAA Texas 500 is slated for a 3 p.m. start next Sunday in Fort Worth.
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