Jimmie Johnson Wins At Martinsville
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Sean Gardner/Getty Images(MARTINSVILLE, Va) — Jimmie Johnson sure loves racing at Martinsville Speedway.
Johnson led a career-best 346 laps and pulled away on a restart with eight laps to go for his eighth-career victory at the track.
“We stuck to our game plan and knew what we wanted to have in the race and stayed patient, and it was tough to do at times, but it certainly worked out well,” Johnson said. “And in the race, we had to adjust on the fly.”
Clint Boyer finished second, while Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
Johnson picked the inside line for the final restart with Bowyer on the outside, Gordon behind him and Busch to his outside, and Johnson was able to get a clean break for the lead into Turn 1, his top priority to build some separation for the finish.
“I felt like if I could get two or three corners and maintain the lead on Clint, I could stretch it back out again,” he said.
The victory made team owner Rick Hendrick’s organization the winningest team in Martinsville history with 20.
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