JGR Race Report - Martinsville
Date: Oct. 21, 2007
Event: Subway 500 (Round 32 of 36)
Series: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
JGR Finish: Denny Hamlin (Started 30th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 506 of 506 laps)
Tony Stewart (Started 34th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 506 of 506 laps)
J.J. Yeley (Started 8th, Finished 42nd / Engine, completed 258 of 506 laps)
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Chevrolet, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway by finishing sixth in Sunday’s Subway 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race. It was Hamlin’s 17th top-10 finish of the season and the fourth in five career starts at Martinsville for the native of Midlothian, Va.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for JGR, finished 13th on the track where he has won twice in his Nextel Cup career and brought home a seventh-place finish last April.
Stewart and Hamlin are JGR’s representatives in this year’s 12-driver Chase for the Nextel Cup. Stewart’s 13th-place finish maintained his fourth-place standing in points. The two-time Nextel Cup champion is now 244 points behind series leader Jeff Gordon. Hamlin, meanwhile, improved one position to eighth in points, 369 markers arrears Gordon.
J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for JGR, finished 42nd after an engine problem forced him to retire on lap 258. Yeley started eighth after qualifying in the top-10 for the third time this season. The finish dropped him three positions to 21st in points.
Jimmie Johnson won the Subway 500 to score his 30th career Nextel Cup victory, his seventh this season and his fourth at Martinsville. Ryan Newman, future JGR driver Kyle Busch, Gordon and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five. Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were a 21 caution periods for 127 laps, both Martinsville event records, with six drivers failing to finish the race, extended to 506 laps by a green-white-checkered finish.
The next event on the Nextel Cup schedule – the seventh race of the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup – is the Oct. 28 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.
