Stewart salvaged a solid seventh-place finish atMartinsvilleafter a wild finish scrambled the finishing order and gave Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman the win. Stewart moved up one place into a tie for third in the Sprint Cup point standings, and trails Greg Biffle by 12.
Early in the season, all eyes are on Tony Stewart and his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team following the late domination last year and so far this year. At Martinsville this past weekend, Newman added to the win column to give SHR their third win in the first six races.
At a track where short-track tempers mix with history and old time racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 63rd running of the Goody’s Fast relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
The shortest track on the circuit, the oldest track on the circuit, but Martinsville delivered a short track shot in the arm for NASCAR’s faithful. It was a shot that the power house of Hendrick Motorsports had a bad reaction to.
While the spotlight may be on Tony Stewart, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman is quietly having a good season so far as he sits 12th in points.
Under a gloriously sunny sky and with an amazing flyover complements of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the green flag flew on the Kobalt Tools 400.
Denny Hamlin started the race in 13th position and by Lap 20 he was in the Top-5. He worked his way up to third position by Lap 33, after caution was thrown for Clint Bowyer blowing a tire.