It was a tale of two races today at Martinsville Speedway. In the first 343 laps, Tony Stewart led all but 60. For the final 157 circuits, Jeff Gordon led all but 6. And that final push put Gordon into Victory Lane at this sweet little short track in today’s Subway 500, giving him a sweep of both NEXTEL Cup events here. This was win #73 for Gordon’s career (he’s 7th on the all-time win list), and his 7th at Martinsville (he’s tied with Rusty Wallace for third on that list). Win #139 for Hendrick Motorsports was the 4th of the season (but his first since Talladega in May) for the four-time Champ and was worth $184,926 from the over $4.7M in posted awards.
Bobby Labonte (4th) had his best finish since he was 3rd at Loudon in July.
Jeff Burton (5th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Bristol in August.
Jamie McMurray (7th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Daytona in July.
Denny Hamlin (8th) is in a rut. That’s the second week in a row he’s finished 8th…..in only a three-race Cup career.
Ken Schrader (13th) had his best finish since he was 13th at Bristol in August.
Derrike Cope (33rd) had his best finish since he was 29th at Richmond in May of 2004.
STREAKIN….Jimmie Johnson has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
Ryan Newman has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is a lonely Jamie McMurray (+23). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Jeff Green (-26), followed by Jeremy Mayfield (-21) and Elliott Sadler (-20). A quiet week in the “Shaft”, especially for a short-track.
Tony Stewart now has a 15 point margin in the “Chase” standings. The “Magic Numbers” are continuing to grow for the guys at the bottom of the standings….if Tony finishes 9th or better the final four events there’s no way that Jeremy Mayfield can catch him, and so forth.
Jamie McMurray (14th to 11th) and Kyle Petty (29th to 26th) made the best moves forward today, while three drivers (Elliott Sadler, Sterling Marlin, and Mike Bliss) all fell three spots.(Stock Car Fans)(10-23-2005)
