Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 SUBWAY 500 at Martinsville Speedway, scoring his 23rd career Nextel Cup victory in his 179th career start. Johnson climbed from seventh to third in the Championship standings, 41 points behind first-place Matt Kenseth
Johnson moved into a tie for 25th on NASCARs All-Time win list, tying Ricky Rudd who also won 23 races.
This was Johnsons fifth victory in 2006. He also won races at Daytona, Las Vegas, Talladega and Indianapolis.
Johnson became the fourth Chase driver to post a victory in the first six races of the Chase.
Johnson scored his second victory in 10 races at Martinsville. Johnson last won at Martinsville in October 2004.
Johnson scored his 20th top-10 finish in 2006, the most among all drivers this season. It marked his ninth straight top-10 finish at Martinsville. Johnson finished 35th in his first race at Martinsville, his only DNF and only finish outside the top-10.
Johnson has been ranked among the top 10 for 101 consecutive races.
Johnsons victory today was the 20th Chevrolet victory in 32 races in 2006.
Johnson won the race from the ninth-place starting position. Both races at Martinsville in 2006 were won from a top 10 starting position.
Johnson led the most laps for the second time in 2006 and first time since Kansas, three races ago. Johnson led seven times for 245 of the 500 laps raced.
Race winner Johnson led the final 56 laps in the 2006 SUBWAY 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
This was team owner Rick Hendricks 149th Nextel Cup victory. Hendrick has scored nine victories
in 2006. Those victories were scored by Jimmie Johnson (five), Jeff Gordon (two), Kyle Busch (one) and Brian Vickers (one).
It is Hendricks 14th victory at Martinsville, ranking second among all car owners.
Chase Notes
Jeff Burton (42nd) dropped from first to fifth in the point standings marking the first time that the point lead changed in the second-half of the Chase since the programs inception in 2004.
Five of the 10 Chase drivers finished in the top 10.
Nine of the 10 of The Chase drivers changed points positions at Martinsville.
There have been five changes in the second-place points position in the six races in the Chase.
The top five in points are separated by just 48 points.
Four of the six races in the Chase have been won by Chase drivers
Matt Kenseth is the only driver to score five top-15 finishes in the six Chase races.
Jeff Burton is the only Chase driver to score four top-10 finishes in the six races in the Chase.
Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have each led in four of the six races in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson is the only Chase driver to post five top-10 starts in the six races in the Chase.
Notebook Items
Denny Hamlin (second) scored his 16th top-10 finish in 2006. It was his second top-10 finish in three races at Martinsville. He was the highest finishing rookie for the 15th time in 2006.
Bobby Labonte (third) scored his fourth top-10 finish in the last five races and his eighth top-10 finish in 2006. It was his 13th top-10 finish in 28 races at Martinsville. Labonte and teammate Kyle Petty (10th) posted the first top-10s in the same race for Petty Enterprises since Phoenix November 1999: Kyle Petty (seventh) and John Andretti (eighth). Labonte scored
Tony Stewart (fourth) scored his 17th top-10 finish in 2006. It was his ninth top-10 finish in 16 races at Martinsville. He remained 11th in the point standings. He has a 246-point lead over 12th-place Carl Edwards.
Jeff Gordon (fifth) scored his 15th top-10 finish in 2006. It is his eighth straight top-10 finish at Martinsville.(NASCAR Statisical Services)(10-22-2006)
