Kurt Busch overcame an early-race tangle with Brad Keselowski, and then held off Jimmie Johnson in the final 11 laps to win Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
The elder Busch brother follows up younger brother Kyle’s win last week at Auto Club Speedway to become the sixth different Sprint Cup Series winner in as many races this season.
“I didn’t know if we’d be able to do it,” Busch said. “The 48 car (Johnson) is king here, him or the 24 (Jeff Gordon).”
Johnson and Gordon lead all active drivers at Martinsville with eight wins apiece, while NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty holds the all-time record with 15 career wins at the sport’s shortest track (.526-mile). Johnson gave it all he could to try and catch Busch in the closing laps, but Busch’s Hendrick Motorsports power under the hood was just a slight tick more powerful than Johnson’s own HMS motor.
“It’s the old theory, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,” Busch said. “I have a Hendrick chassis prepared by Stewart Haas Racing, a Hendrick motor, thanks to those guys at Chevrolet. I’ve been on this journey for awhile, and every time you come to Martinsville, you just draw a line through it and say there’s no way I’ll be able to challenge those Hendrick guys or be up in that top 10. This Stewart Haas team gave me a car to do it.
“It’s a dream come true to have Gene Haas call you and tell you that he wants you to drive, that he wants you to go for trophies and wins, and this is an unbelievable feeling to deliver for Haas Automation.”
Busch passed Johnson on Lap 473 and appeared headed to the win, but Johnson regained the lead 10 laps later.
Johnson was seeking his ninth triumph at Martinsville, but Busch rallied back to regain the lead on Lap 489, successfully navigated thick lapped traffic while still being able to keep Johnson at bay to take his first Sprint Cup win since Oct. 2, 2011 at Dover.
The 2004 Sprint Cup champion led just 23 laps in breaking an 83-race winless streak, earning his 25th career Sprint Cup win and his second career triumph at Martinsville (the other was back in October 2002 when he was with Roush Racing).
On Lap 44 under caution, Busch got into the rear of Keselowski’s car on pit road, sending it careening into Kasey Kahne’s car, causing extensive damage to Keselowski’s car that kept the 2012 Cup champ off the track for more than 30 laps while repairs were made by his Team Penske crew.
Shortly after the incident, Busch told his crew over the team radio that “We’re done” due to the incident, but was able to continue on and quickly worked his way up through the pack to run consistently in the top-10 for much of the day.
Keselowski was none too happy with his former Penske Racing teammate.
“Well, Kurt tore the whole suspension off the car, so it won’t turn, it won’t do anything,” Keselowski said shortly after the incident. “So, thanks, Kurt, appreciate it, Bud.”
Once his car was repaired, Keselowski got back on the track more than 30 laps later, racing without front fenders or a hood, and ran into both the rear and side of Busch’s car several times but didn’t wreck nor cause any significant damage to the eventual winner and his car.
After the race, Busch essentially ignored Keselowski’s claims that he caused the pit road wreck.
“We won but we’re not worried about any of that nonsense right now,” Busch said. “We are a winner, we’re not guaranteed anything, we need to win and we’re moving forward.”
Johnson, who led a race-high 296 of the event’s 500 laps, finished second, while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third. It was the first time Johnson has not won at Martinsville after leading more than 271 laps in an individual race.
“I’d been loose in the final third of the race. I was hanging on there and when he got back me, I was hopeful he’d wear his stuff off so I could get back him. And then I did, and then I couldn’t hold him off. I just kept getting looser and looser. That’s all I had. I ran the rear tires off the car.
“I was just a little too loose there to get the win. … I wish we could have gotten this for Rick’s 30th anniversary (of Hendrick Motorsports’ first career win in NASCAR back in 1984 at Martinsville), but we came up just a little short.”
Joey Logano, who led 39 laps, finished fourth, followed by a strong effort by Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose, who led 22 laps and finished fifth, while fellow RPM driver Aric Almirola finished eighth.
Sixth through 10th were Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard.
Earnhardt also regained the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings. Earnhardt, who led the points after the first three races, knocked Carl Edwards off the top spot after Edwards’ brief one-week reign.
Earnhardt now leads Matt Kenseth by nine points and Edwards by 10 as the series moves to the high-speed Texas Motor Speedway next Sunday.
With the win, Busch climbed four spots in the standings and into a tie for 20th with Mears.
Pole sitter Kyle Busch led 22 laps but fought handling problems throughout most of the race, eventually finishing 14th. Danica Patrick, who earned her best non-restrictor plate track qualifying effort on Friday and started Sunday’s race 10th, struggled to an eventual 32nd-place finish.
There were a record 33 lead changes among 12 drivers, breaking the old track record of 31.
Here’s the unofficial finishing order for Sunday’s STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, followed by the unofficial Sprint Cup standings after Sunda’s race:
1 Kurt Busch
2 Jimmie Johnson
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4 Joey Logano
5 Marcos Ambrose
6 Matt Kenseth
7 Kevin Harvick
8 Aric Almirola
9 Clint Bowyer
10 Paul Menard
11 AJ Allmendinger
12 Jeff Gordon
13 Carl Edwards
14 Kyle Busch
15 Austin Dillon
16 Brian Vickers
17 Tony Stewart
18 Greg Biffle
19 Denny Hamlin
20 Ryan Newman
21 Martin Truex Jr.
22 Kasey Kahne
23 Justin Allgaier
24 Casey Mears
25 Landon Cassill
26 David Gilliland
27 Kyle Larson
28 David Ragan
29 Cole Whitt
30 Ryan Truex
31 Michael Annett
32 Danica Patrick
33 Travis Kvapil
34 Reed Sorenson
35 Josh Wise
36 Alex Bowman
37 Michael McDowell
38 Brad Keselowski
39 David Stremme
40 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
41 Parker Kligerman
42 Jamie McMurray
43 Joe Nemechek
Unofficial updated Sprint Cup points standings after Martinsville:
1 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 Matt Kenseth -9
3 Carl Edwards -10
4 Jeff Gordon -11
5 Jimmie Johnson -18
6 Kyle Busch -38
7 Brad Keselowski -39
8 Joey Logano -40
9 Austin Dillon -48
10 Ryan Newman -53
11 Paul Menard -59
12 Denny Hamlin -62
13 Brian Vickers -62
14 Marcos Ambrose -65
15 Tony Stewart -73
16 AJ Allmendinger -75
17 Clint Bowyer -77
18 Greg Biffle -78
19 Kyle Larson -79
20 Kurt Busch -81
21 Casey Mears -81
22 Kasey Kahne -82
23 Jamie McMurray -87
24 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -91
25 Kevin Harvick -92
26 Aric Almirola -95
27 Justin Allgaier -118
28 Martin Truex Jr. -122
29 Danica Patrick -123
30 Reed Sorenson -126
31 Michael Annett -139
32 Cole Whitt -141
33 David Gilliland -142
34 David Ragan -142
35 Alex Bowman -145
36 Josh Wise -168
37 Ryan Truex -180
38 Travis Kvapil -182
39 Parker Kligerman -191
40 Bobby Labonte -198
41 Jeff Burton -200
42 Michael McDowell -201
43 Terry Labonte -203
44 David Reutimann -211
45 Timmy Hill -220
46 David Stremme -222
47 Michael Waltrip -223
48 Landon Cassill -227
49 Joe Nemecheck -227
Follow me @JerryBonkowski