With another qualifying session that was rained out, Johnson started on the pole, battled with the top five or ten for most of the race to keep things interesting. Johnson led the most laps with 339 of the 500 laps run today. 

Many times late in the race, Johnson had challenges from teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the front of the field navigated their way through the slower, lap down drivers, bunching up the top 5 several times in the last third of the race. 

Johnson’s pit crew, led by Chad Knaus nailed each stop, to allow Johnson to retain the lead if he brought the field into pit road, to come back in front of those who did pit. 

With the bunching up of the cars, this allowed Earnhardt Jr. to vie for the lead, but the car could not muster the power to get around Johnson. Gordon dropped back to 6^th at one time, allowing Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray to pass him. 

Laps later, McMurray would suffer a mechanical issue, dropping him to a disappointing 38^th place finish. 

In the closing laps of the race, it came down to a four driver battle between Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. Johnson led the three by 1.5 seconds at most times. In the closing laps Johnson got some breathing room as 2^nd place Edwards battled with 3^rd place Earnhardt Jr. 

With less than 30 laps to go, Earnhardt was able to duck to the inside of Edwards to take over 2^nd place. Earnhardt closed into less than one second separation behind Johnson. 

The race came to a green-white-checkered finish after a solo spin from back of the field, allowing one more shot for Earnhardt. Johnson was the better on the restarts which allowed him to take home his third Martinsville Chase win in a row. 

At this point in the last two Chase races, Johnson had a sizeable lead on the field at this point, allowing him the shot at the title to capture it by the time he arrived in Phoenix. At the end of the race today, Johnson leads the race by 149 points. 

Hendrick Motorsports had a great day as all four drivers scored in the top 6 at the end of the event.

PRE RACE CHATTER 

In 2006, Johnson was in seventh place and 146 points behind leader Jeff Burton with five races to go. Johnson went on to win his first title by 56 points, a swing of 202 points. 

Last season, Johnson was in second place, 68 points behind teammate Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet). Johnson won the championship by 77 points, a 145-point swing. 

Then, there was the underdog story of Greg Biffle (No. 16 DISH Network Ford), who came out of nowhere to win the first two races of the Chase. Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) has also been at the forefront, as he maintained a firm hold of positioning himself among the top two spots. 

The past couple weeks, the focus has been on Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet), as the two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has demonstrated he’s not going to relinquish his crown without a battle.  

Now, based upon his Bank of America 500 victory last Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway coupled with his consistent performance over the first half of the Chase, you can add another name to the list of contenders for the 2008 series championship — veteran Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet). 

Burton has indeed been a model of consistency throughout this season and as a result, has been flying under the radar somewhat. However, he has been in the top 12 the entire season, and for a four-week stretch early on (after the first Martinsville race until after the first Richmond race), he was the series points leader. In fact, he’s only strayed outside the top five in points four times this season. 

Burton won his 21st career NASCAR Sprint Cup  race last Saturday at LMS. It was his second win of 2008, marking the first time since 2001 he has posted more than one victory in a season. Burton is no stranger to competing for a series title. He finished third in the 2000 standings, fourth in 1997 and posted back-to-back fifth-place finishes in 1998-99. 

Burton says he gets a special feeling when he competes at Martinsville, the .526-mile short track located just 50 miles from his hometown of South Boston, Va. 

“There’s no question, when I come to Martinsville, it’s different,” said Burton. “There are a lot of people who supported us when no one knew who we were who are still in the stands today. We take a lot of pride in that.” 

Burton has one win (2nd race of 1997), seven top fives and 17 top 10s at Martinsville.  Burton knows that the tricky short track can quickly wreak havoc.

“I’ve got a feeling some things will happen with some of the Chase contenders this week at Martinsville,” said Burton. 

QUALIFYING – WHAT QUALFYING 

Another rainout is a race started by the NASCAR Rule book. David Ragan will go to the back of the pack for a backup car that he went to. 

LET’S BUMP BANG AND GET IT ON!! 

Out of the tight turns of three and four, Johnson and Burton bring the field up to speed to the… 

GREEN FLAG as they are side by side in turns one and two. By turn four, the top 5 are on the low line. Lap 4 the top 8 are single file. Lap 5 we see smoke out of Kenny Schrader’s car. 

Lap 8 battle for 3^rd as Greg Biffle tries for third place. Lap 13 ¾’s of the track is now in use. It will not take many laps for leader Johnson to catch the slower drivers. Lap 16 we see that Schrader’s smoke is the front splitter dragging on the track. Lap 19 we also see the same smoke from Tony Stewart’s car. 

Lap 19 Mike Bliss has slammed the rear end of his car against the outside turn two wall after getting help from Dave Blaney, but continues on and the race stays under the green flag. Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 29 as Travis Kvapil spins into the outside turn two wall after Juan Pablo Montoya tapped David Reutimann into Kvapil. Bill Elliott is the lucky dog. Johnson leads them in and he will lead them out of pit road followed by Jeff Gordon, Burton, Harvick, Edwards and Stewart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is busted for speeding and will go to the back of the pack. 

GREEN FLAG lap 33 as Johnson and Gordon get the show going again. Lap 37 Jeff Gordon takes the lead. Lap 43 Jeff Burton and Stewart battle for 5^th place, with the position going to Stewart. Lap 45 a lot of action in the back of the field as the drivers fight for every inch of track to move forward so they do not get lapped. Lap 49 Earnhardt Jr. has moved back up to 36^th from the back. 

Lap 50 the top twenty drivers are Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Edwards, Harvick, Stewart, Biffle, Burton, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Blaney, Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola, Montoya and Scott Speed. Lap 54 Johnson works on the inside of Gordon for the lead. Lap 56 Johnson takes the lead. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 61 as Kasey Kahne’s car dies on the front stretch of the track. No lucky dog as Kahne was it. Earnhardt Jr. moved up to 29^th before the caution. Many of the leaders pitted, Earnhardt did not pit, which moves him up to 6^th. Johnson is the first driver again out of pit road followed by Edwards, Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Harvick. Johnson is 13^th followed by the rest. The top 5 at the moment are Almirola, Newman, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip. 

GREEN FLAG lap 68. Lap 70 Kurt Busch is in the garage to fix a brake issue. Earnhardt has moved up to 5^th. Lap 75 your top ten drivers are Almirola, Newman, McMurray, Mears, Earnhardt Jr., Scott Riggs, Johnson, Waltrip, Ragan and Edwards. Kahne is back on track 15 laps down. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 82 as McMurray and Earnhardt tagged each other, McMurray is the looser, spinning out of turn four. Kvapil is the lucky dog. The leaders stay out.

GREEN FLAG lap 88 as Almirola and Newman lead the field into turns one and two. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 89 as Regan Smith spins out in turn one. We see flames coming out from his front right tire. Bliss is the lucky dog. Smith will take his car to the garage to get the issue fixed. 

GREEN FLAG lap 94 as we try to get the race underway once again. Lap 95 battle around 11^th through 14^th as Stewart, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin beating on each other for position. 

Lap 100 (400 to go) your top 20 drivers are Almirola, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Mears, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Ragan, Riggs, Stewart, Harvick, Waltrip, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Biffle, Burton, Truex Jr., Reed Sorenson, Vickers and Montoya. So far we have seen 3 lead changes among 3 leaders and 4 cautions for 20 laps. 

Lap 105 Kurt Busch spun around, continues and we stay green. Lap 107 Gordon takes 3^rd place from Earnhardt Jr.  

YELLOW FLAG lap 116 as Kenseth tangles with Joe Nemechek in turn three as his car wheel hops, causing Kenseth to hit the driver’s side of Nemechek and both drivers spin out. Kenseth blows out a tire, tearing apart the right rear quarter panel of his car. The drivers head to pit road. Reutimann is the lucky dog. The race out of pit road is Stewart, Johnson, Hamlin, Edwards and Truex Jr. McMurray stays out along with Bobby Labonte, Bowyer and David Gilliland. 

GREEN FLAG lap 121 as McMurray has a huge start to pull 1 second in front of the field. Lap 130 Labonte starts to fall back to 8^th as Stewart and Johnson move up to 3^rd and 4^th. Lap 132 Montoya is having a good day running currently 10^th from his start of 24^th. 

Lap 135 McMurray is passing slower drivers. Lap 136 Johnson takes over 3^rd from Stewart. Lap 139 drivers a lap down are Kenseth -1, Bliss -5, Kahne -15, Nemechek -25, Kurt Busch -24 and Smith -48. Lap 142 Harvick works on Montoya for 9^th place. 

Lap 145 McMurray is 1.5 seconds in front of 2^nd place Johnson and 3 seconds in front of 3^rd place Stewart. Lap 150 your top 20 drivers are – McMurray, Johnson, Stewart, Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Earnhardt, Harvick, Mears, Montoya, Gilliland, Burton, Labonte, Newman, Kyle Busch, Ragan, Almirola, and Sadler. Lap 153 Johnson takes the lead. 

Lap 160 movers from the start of the race have been – Schrader from 40^th up to 24^th, Gilliland from 28^th up to 18^th. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 161 as Kyle Busch’s bad lucky continues as blows a right front in turn two, and just behind him Sam Hornish and Tony Raines blow tires as well. NASCAR will penalize Busch for not continuing on after he blew out the tire. He will go two laps down. This will pretty much put the nail in his coffin for a championship. 

Chad McCumbee will be the lucky dog. The drivers head to pit road. Johnson’s team nails another pit stop for him to come back out in front followed by Jeff Gordon, McMurray, Edwards, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. 

GREEN FLAG lap 170 as Biffle lead the drivers past the start finish line. Lap 174 Johnson under Biffle for the lead. Lap 175 your top 10 drivers are Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Biffle, McMurray, Edwards, Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Reutimann, Bowyer and Vickers. Lap 176 Robby Gordon takes his car to the garage.  

Lap 181 Edwards takes over 4^th from Biffle. Lap 183 where are the drivers running in the Chase? Johnson is the points leader with 6073 running as the leader, Biffle 5943 running 7^th, Burton 5930 running 14^th, Edwards 5870 running 4^th, Bowyer 5831 running 9^th, Jeff Gordon 5808 running 2^nd, Stewart 5800 running 6^th, Harvick 5798 running 12^th, Earnhardt Jr. 5679 running 5^th, Hamlin 5632 running 9^th, Kyle Busch 5607 running 36^th and Kenseth 5582 running 33^rd. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 197 as Almirola tags the rear end of Sadler’s car in turn one, causing Sadler to spin out. Kenseth is the lucky dog. Lap 200 (300 to go) your top 20 drivers are Johnson, McMurray, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Biffle, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Bowyer, Harvick, Burton, Mears, Montoya, Ragan, Newman, Elliott, Gilliland, Vickers and Reutimann. So far we have seen 7 lead changes among 5 leaders and 7 cautions for 40 laps. 31 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

GREEN FLAG lap 203 as Johnson and Gordon get the show up to speed. Kurt Busch a lap down does not let go of Johnson to stay on the lead lap. Lap 206 Busch is nudged out of the way. Lap 209 Biffle battles with Hamlin for 7^th place. Hamlin is scored with the position. Lap 211 Truex Jr. works on the outside of Biffle for 8^th. 

Lap 217 let’s try to update you all again on the movers of the race from the green flag – Tony Raines from 43^rd to 33^rd, Schrader from 40^th to 31^st, McCumbee from 41^st to 30^th, A.J. Allmendinger from 39^th to 25^th, Elliott from 37^th to 19^th, Reutimann from 26^th to 16^th, Mears from 23^rd to 13^th, Truex Jr. from 18^th to 9^th and McMurray from 20^th to 3^rd.

Lap 225 your top 10 drivers are  Johnson, Jeff Gordon, McMurray, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Hamlin, Biffle, Truex Jr. and Harvick. Lap 234 Johnson leads Jeff Gordon by ¾s of a second and 3^rd place McMurray by 1.5 seconds.  

Lap 238 drivers not on the lead lap are McCumbee -1, Almirola -1, Raines -1, Speed -2, Kyle Busch -3, Bliss -8, Kahne -15, Kurt Busch -24, Hornish Jr. -25, Sadler -45, Robby Gordon -48, Smith -49 and Nemechek -127. 

Lap 242 Jeff Gordon takes the lead again. Lap 247 Biffle pits under green flag. Lap 250 (halfway) your top 20 drivers are Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Edwards, McMurray, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Harvick, Vickers, Bowyer, Mears, Burton, Reutimann, Ragan, Sorenson, Newman, Kvapil, Kenseth and Elliott. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 258. We first see Raines blow a tire in turn three but continues on with no caution, Paul Menard same issue in turn two then Labonte and Raines connect, causing Labonte to spin out in turn 2. The leaders head to pit road. Gilliland is the lucky dog. Johnson is the winner out of pit road followed by Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr. and McMurray. 

GREEN FLAG lap 268 as Johnson and Jeff Gordon lead the two rows of drivers back to racing. Lap 269 Earnhardt has to contend with two drivers on his inside as they head into turn three. Earnhardt makes it through with just a tap from behind by Almirola. 

Lap 273 Jeff Gordon takes the lead once again. Lap 275 your top 10 drivers are Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Edwards, McMurray, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Vickers and Bowyer. 

Lap 282 some of the drivers that have fallen off of the pace from the start of the event are – Harvick from 6^th back to 13^th, Burton 2^nd to 18^th, Biffle 3^rd to 27^th, Kyle Busch 9^th to 34^th, Kahne from 14^th to 37^th, Kurt Busch from 19^th to 38^th and Sadler from 22^nd to 42^nd. 

Lap 292 Johnson passes Gordon again for the lead. Lap 298 Reutimann pushes out big time and takes his car to pit road. It looks like he hit the wall pretty hard and may have a right side tire going down. 

Lap 300 (200 to go) your top 20 drivers are – Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, McMurray, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Vickers, Mears, Bowyer, Harvick, Ragan, Sorenson, Newman, Kenseth, Montoya, Burton, Waltrip and Allmendinger. So far we have seen 12 lead changes among 6 leaders and 8 cautions for 50 laps. 24 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

Lap 310 Johnson and Gordon are tied up in lapped traffic. Add to the list of lap down drivers Biffle -1, Gilliland -1, Schrader -1, Almirola -1, McCumbee -1, Labonte -2, Reutimann -2, Menard -2, Kyle Busch -3, Speed -3, Raines -5, Bliss -10, Kahne -17, Hornish Jr. -26, Kurt Busch -28, Robby Gordon -49, Smith -50, Sadler -66 and Nemechek -211. 

Lap 320 Kurt Busch blows another right side tire. Lap 329 for the last 10 or 15 laps we have seen Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Edwards, McMurray and Hamlin get waded up with lap down drivers and some times we have been seeing three wide, which is not good here. Lap 332 Newman hits the outside wall of turn three. 

Lap 336 Harvick bangs into the back of Bowyer, Bowyer is loose after that but saves the car. Lap 342 Jeff Gordon had slipped back to 5^th as Earnhardt Jr. moved up to 3^rd. 

Lap 349 Kyle Busch is on pit road with a flat tire for a second time today. Lap 350 your top 20 drivers are Johnson, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., McMurray, Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Stewart, Mears, Truex Jr., Ragan, Bowyer, Harvick, Sorenson, Burton, Kenseth, Montoya, Allmendinger, Elliott and Waltrip. 

Lap 358 Earnhardt Jr. putting a lot of pressure on the back of Edwards for 2^nd place. Lap 362 Stewart blows a tire and brings his car to pit road. Lap 364 we hear teams talking about green flag pit stops in about 15 laps. Lap 371 Jeff Gordon slips back to 6^th as Vickers moves up to 4^th as he passed Gordon and McMurray. Lap 373 Earnhardt still working on Edwards. 

Lap 375 you top ten drivers are Johnson, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Vickers, McMurray, Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Ragan and Truex Jr. Lap 378 Vickers takes over 3^rd from Earnhardt Jr. Lap 380 Kurt Busch blows yet another tire and limps around the track trying to get around to pit road. He can’t get into pit road, so… 

YELLOW FLAG lap 382 for the issue. Allmendinger is the lucky dog. The leaders head to pit road. Johnson’s jackman slips loosing a second, but Johnson is able to stay in front as the drivers head back to the track. Edwards is second, Earnhardt Jr. 3^rd, McMurray 4^th and Vickers 5^th. 

GREEN FLAG lap 388 as Johnson leads the two rows of drivers back up to speed. It looks like the start of the race with all the lapped down drivers on the inside race line.  

Lap 395 Earnhardt all over Edwards for 2^nd place. Lap 397 trouble for McMurray as something in the back of the car broke. He takes the car to the garage. 

Lap 400 (100 to go) your top 20 drivers are Johnson, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Vickers, Ragan, Mears, Harvick, Truex Jr., Burton, Bowyer, Kenseth, Sorenson, Allmendinger, Montoya, Elliott, Biffle, Waltrip and Kvapil. So far we have seen 12 lead changes among 7 leaders and 9 cautions for 57 laps. 15 drivers remain on the lead lap.

90 to go Earnhardt looks like he is getting tired waiting for Edwards to make a mistake. He keeps looking to the inside of Edwards car. After a few laps Earnhardt takes over 2^nd place from Edwards. 

So with this move, where are the Chase leaders in points? Johnson is on top with 6073 as the leader of today’s race, Burton back into 2^nd in points with 5939 in 11^th, Biffle 5903 in 19^th, Edwards 5875 in 3^rd, Bowyer 5820 in 12^th, Harvick 5809 in 9^th, Jeff Gordon 5798 in 4^th, Stewart 5741 in 24^th, Earnhardt Jr. 5694 in 2^nd, Hamlin 5653 in 5^th, Kenseth 5642 in 13^th and Kyle Busch 5619 in 32^nd. 

75 to go Earnhardt closes in on Johnson for the lead about 2 seconds back. Your top 10 drivers are Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Vickers, Mears, Ragan, Harvick and Truex Jr. 

68 to go Burton on the inside of Truex Jr. for 10^th place. 65 to go Earnhardt Jr. closes the gap to 1.5 seconds. 62 to go Kyle Busch is on pit road once again with another flat. 

60 to go 14 drivers remain on the lead lap. Kyle Busch is now 7 laps down. 58 to go both Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. are getting tied up in traffic as we still see Earnhardt closes in on Johnson to reduce the gap to 1.2 seconds. 

50 to go as we see the top 20 drivers of Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Vickers, Mears, Ragan, Harvick, Truex Jr., Kenseth, Burton and Bowyer on the lead lap with Sorenson, Allmendinger, Montoya, Elliott Biffle and Waltrip a lap down. 

46 to go Stewart brings his car to pit road with another flat tire. Earnhardt had closed in on Johnson as he was getting tangled up in lapped traffic. No Lucky Dog. Johnson is the leader out of pit road followed by Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Vickers and Hamlin. Burton had issues getting into his pit and the crew is ruled to be working outside the pitbox which will force Burton to come back onto pit road. Kenseth stays out to gain the lead. This will not work in most cases. Look for Kenseth to fall back in positions after a few laps. Biffle is on the tail end of the lead lap in front of Kenseth. 

GREEN FLAG 33 to go. Biffle is in front of Kenseth. 31 to go Johnson on the inside of Kenseth to take the lead. 30 to go Earnhardt Jr. on the inside if Kenseth to take 2^nd. 28 to go Johnson has to contend with Biffle, which allows Earnhardt Jr. to close in. 

27 to go Edwards working on Kenseth for 3^rd place. 25 to go as your top ten drivers are Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Vickers, Mears, Harvick and Ragan. 

23 to go Jeff Gordon on the inside of Kenseth for 4^th place. Johnson running his fastest laps of the day. Johnson leads Earnhardt Jr. by 1.3 seconds.

20 to go Johnson has clear air in front to keep his lead on Earnhardt Jr.  

YELLOW FLAG with 15 to go as Mears works on Hamlin for 5^th place. Gilliland has a tire cut on the back stretch, which send him into the outside turn 3 wall. Biffle is the lucky dog and the leaders stay on the track. 

GREEN FLAG with 8 to go Johnson and Earnhardt and no lap down drivers to deal with. Johnson gets a good run in turns one and two. 

7 to go Edwards looking on the inside of Earnhardt Jr. for 2^nd place. 

5 to go Johnson leads by almost 1 second over Earnhardt Jr. 

4 to go Earnhardt has his hands full of Edwards. 

3 to go Ragan is hit coming out of turn four by Kenseth, tries to recover but cannot by turn 1 and spins out. This will set up a green-white-checkered finished. 

GREEN FLAG as Earnhardt Jr. has his last chance to take the win on Johnson. Out of turn two Johnson had a big jump on the field. 

WHITE FLAG as Johnson leads by three cars lengths. Out of turn four… 

Johnson takes another win at Martinsville. Johnson wins by ¾s of a second. Your top 10 drivers of the event are Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Mears, Harvick, Kenseth, Bowyer and Truex Jr. 

Johnson led the most laps with 339, Jeff Gordon led 57, Almirola 53, McMurray 37, Biffle 9, Kenseth 8 and Riggs 1. 

We saw a total of 14 lead changes among 7 drivers, 12 cautions for 76 laps and 13 of the 43 drivers finished on the lead lap. 

Leaving this race the unofficial points chase is Johnson the leader with 6073 with the race win, Biffle jumps ahead of Burton by three points to 5924 to finish 12^th, Burton 5921 in 17^th, Edwards 5875 in 3^rd, Bowyer 5831 in 9^th, Harvick 5817 in 7^th, Jeff Gordon 5798 in 4^th, Stewart 5735 in 26^th, Earnhardt Jr. 5694 in 2^nd, Kenseth 5665 in 8^th, Hamlin 5653 in 5^th and Kyle Busch 5628 in 29^th.