Stewart-Haas Racing Tums Fast Relief 500 Race Report

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway by winning Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Stewart led three times for 14 laps and took the lead from five-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson on a restart three laps from the finish. It was Stewart’s third win and 16th top-10 result of 2011, his third win and 14th top-10 in 26 career Sprint Cup starts at the .526-mile Martinsville oval, and his 42ndwin in 461 career Sprint Cup races.

All three of Stewart’s victories this season have come during the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which the two-time Sprint Cup champion began seven races ago with back-to-back wins Sept. 19 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., and Sept. 25 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

This was the fourth Sprint Cup victory for SHR in 2011, as Stewart’s teammate, Ryan Newman, won in July at New Hampshire. SHR now has 11 Sprint Cup victories since its inception in 2009.

Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, battled back for a solid 10th-place finish after getting spun into the SAFER Barrier in turn two late in the race. Newman led twice for 41 laps en route to his 16th top-10 result of the season and his 10th top-10 in 20 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.

Stewart finished .170 of a second ahead of runner-up Johnson, while Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 18 caution periods for 108 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

Stewart and Newman are both in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup and came into Martinsville fourth and 12th, respectively, in the Chase standings. Stewart was 19 points behind Chase leader Edwards while Newman was 88 points out of the top spot. Stewart leaves Martinsville second in points, eight markers behind series leader Edwards. Newman remained 12th in the standings and is now 89 points out of first.

With only three races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1.                  Carl Edwards (2,273 points)
2.                  Tony Stewart (2,265 points, -8)
3.                  Kevin Harvick (2,252 points, -21)
4.                  Brad Keselowski (2,246 points, -27)
5.                  Matt Kenseth (2,237 points, -36)
6.                  Jimmie Johnson (2,230 points, -43)
7.                  Kyle Busch (2,216 points, -57)
8.                  Kurt Busch (2,215 points, -58)
9.                  Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,200 points, -73)
10.              Jeff Gordon (2,197 points, -76)
11.              Denny Hamlin (2,193 points, -80)
12.              Ryan Newman (2,184 points, -89)

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the third to last race of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Nov. 6 AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 3 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.