Kurt Busch passed Martinsville master Jimmie Johnson for the lead with 10 laps to go Sunday and held off the eight-time winner to win at Martinsville Speedway for the first time since October 2002.
Johnson, with eight wins in 25 career starts on the 0.526-mile oval, led 11 times for 296 laps. He seemed on his way to another when he took the lead from Busch with 17 laps remaining. But Busch stayed close, ducked underneath Johnson seven laps later and Johnson never made a good run at the lead again.
Busch’s 25th career victory ended a winless streak that had reached 83.
The race featured an event-record 33 lead changes and 12 race leaders.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.
Results - 500 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 3h38m38.000s
2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +0.263s
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +1.424s
4. Joey Logano Penske Ford +1.841s
5. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +2.131s
6. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +2.553s
7. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +3.087s
8. Aric Almirola Petty Ford +3.475s
9. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +4.563s
10. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +5.339s
11. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet +6.119s
12. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +6.536s
13. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +7.057s
14. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +7.589s
15. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet +9.333s
16. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +10.213s
17. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +11.959s
18. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +12.222s
19. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +12.411s
20. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +13.779s
21. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet +14.073s
22. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +15.732s
23. Justin Allgaier Hscott Chevrolet +16.713s
24. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet +18.019s
25. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet +19.221s
26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +1 lap
27. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +2 laps
28. David Ragan Front Row Ford +3 laps
29. Cole Whitt Swan Toyota +3 laps
30. Ryan Truex BK Toyota +4 laps
31. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet +5 laps
32. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +6 laps
33. Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Ford +7 laps
34. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet +8 laps
35. Josh Wise Parsons Ford +8 laps
36. Alex Bowman BK Toyota +12 laps
37. Michael McDowell Leavine Ford +26 laps*
38. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +31 laps
39. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet +60 laps
40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford +91 laps
41. Parker Kligerman Swan Toyota +92 laps
42. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet +104 laps
* Not running at finish
Retirements:
Joe Nemechek Robinson Toyota 310 laps
