Ryan Newman Wins At Martinsville

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series was back on a short track on Sunday in the Goody's Fast Relief  500.  Ryan Newman took the Checkered Flag overcoming a speeding penalty in the pits and a lost lap.

Jeff Gordon dominated most of  the race leading 322 laps. Jimmie Johnson would eventually take control at lap 393 and he and Gordon would battle it out as the laps dwindled . With 4 laps left David Reutimann's car stalled causing a Green-White-Checkered finish.  Reutimann's car was sputtering for a few laps and many wondered why he didn't pit when he had a chance.  As the Green flag waived, Clint Bowyer made a move that caused he and Johnson to spin in the wall.  Gordon was low on fuel at the time and eventually ran out completely. The second chance at Green-White Checkerd saw Newman take control for his first win of the season and his first-ever win at Martinsville.  AJ Almendinger would take second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would continue his consistent runs for a 3rd place finish. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. would round out the top 5.

A few race favorites had problems, as Kyle Busch would hit the wall at lap 97 and Kasey Kahne's string of bad luck continued as he blew an engine on lap 315.

As Always, NASCAR will take next week off for the Easter holiday and will return on April 14th at the Texas Motor Speedway for the first scheduled night race of the year.

[NASCAR.COM]