Jeff Gordon wins at Martinsville; Kenseth, Johnson tied for Chase lead - MotorSportsTalk

Jeff Gordon is still in the hunt for a fifth Sprint Cup championship after claiming his first victory of the 2013 season in today’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 powered by Kroger at Martinsville Speedway.

With less than 30 laps to go, Gordon was chasing leader Matt Kenseth through lapped traffic and with 21 laps to go, he got position on the inside of Kenseth going into Turn 1 and took the lead coming out of Turn 2.

Kenseth, who led a race-high 202 laps, would hang on to second by a nose over Clint Bowyer at the checkered flag, which Gordon took by a margin of .596 of a second. The victory ended a extended drought for Gordon, who had not won since the 2012 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“It’s hard to top what it feels like to win, especially when you’ve been through all of what this [No. 24] team has been through,” Gordon said to ESPN in Victory Lane. “I’m so proud of them for never giving up. We’ve shown it all year long and we’ve been through a lot, but this is making it all worth it.

“…At the end, I think it was a little too free. But every time I saw him slip a wheel, I tried to conserve my tires and drive the car real straight into the corner and off the corner. I was playing with brake bias and everything else, and I finally saw where he started struggling on the exit.

“I dove in there a couple times but I couldn’t quite make it – he drove in deep to protect his line and did a heck of a job…I didn’t know if we were going to get him, but it sure was awesome when we finally did.”

Despite the narrow loss, Kenseth was still able to pull into a tie with Jimmie Johnson for the lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with three races left to go; Johnson finished fifth today after pacing 123 laps.

“Jeff’s experience just got me,” Kenseth said about his battle with Gordon for the win. “I’m just not that experienced running up front here and I had something that was working, but I was hurting the rear tires and the front tires, too. It went away from me in the end. But it was a great race.”

As for Gordon, his victory moves him from fifth to third in the Chase at 27 points behind Kenseth and Johnson. Kevin Harvick is still fourth in the championship at 28 points back after a sixth-place run this afternoon.

More to come tonight…

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit