Stewart Haas Martinsville Report

Kannapolis,NC – Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman each finished among the top-10 in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, marking the first time in Stewart-Haas Racing’s (SHR) brief six-race history that both of its drivers finished 10th or better in the same event.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished a solid third to score his best finish of 2009. It was the Columbus, Ind., native’s fourth top-10 finish in six races this season and his eighth top-five result in 21 Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.

Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished an impressive sixth – his best finish at SHR and his seventh top-10 in 15 Sprint Cup starts at the .526-mile oval in southern Virginia.

Stewart continues to lead the SHR driver lineup in the championship point race, as his third-place finish maintained his seventh-place point standing after round six of 36. Newman made a big gain with his sixth-place run, vaulting nine spots to 18th in the standings. Stewart is 161 markers arrears series leader Jeff Gordon, while Newman is 334 points out of first.

Jimmie Johnson beat Denny Hamlin by .774 of a second to win the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 and score the 41st victory of his Sprint Cup career and his sixth at Martinsville. Stewart was third, while Gordon and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five. Newman, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., A.J. Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 12 caution periods for 66 laps, with just four drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the April 5 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m.