Jeff Gordon Wins in Martinsville

Polesitter Scott Riggs led the field through to the green flag, but just four turns later he and Ryan Newman came together to bring out the yellow flag. Newman, who rolled into the pitlane with a flat tyre, was penalised one lap for stopping on the track.

Jeremy Mayfield led from the green flag on lap eight, from Rusty Wallace and Kevin Harvick, although the yellows were brought out just a few laps later when Jeff Green got lose, which Newman took advantage of to reclaim a lap.

The leaders were unchanged when the greens came out again, everyone holding station until Wallace finally found a way through in traffic for the lead on lap 48. The third yellow was brought out when Carl Edwards spun and cut a tyre, sparking the first round of stops, just after Jeff Gordon lost two laps for an unscheduled stop.

Wallace won the battle of the pitlane, coming out ahead of Bobby Labonte, Mayfield and Harvick and stayed there until Michael Waltrip was helped off track by a nudge from Jeff Green, giving Newman another lucky dog pass.

Labonte and Tony Stewart worked in conjunction to force their way through Wallace and into the lead on lap 115, running together for another 20 laps before Stewart forced his way by his teammate to become the fourth leader of the race.

Dave Blaney suffered a flat tyre on lap 126, stopping just after the pitlane to bring out the yellows once more. The resultant stops saw the lead static, with Stewart, Labonte and Wallace showing the way, quickly reclaiming the lead from a non-stopping Robby Gordon, while a slow stop for Harvick pushed him back to thirteenth.

After almost fifty laps of green flag racing the yellows were pulled out once again when Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers tried to occupy the same section of track. Stewart was quickest out once again, followed by Jeremy Mayfield, Kurt Busch and Labonte when the green flag was shown.

Mayfield pressured his way into the lead on lap 204 but Stewart wasn't done for the day - after heavy pressure he reclaimed the top spot twenty laps later, holding the position through the day's eight caution for a blown Joe Nemechek tyre and yet another stop.

On lap 270 the lead pack consisted of Stewart, Mayfield, Busch, Labonte and Mark Martin, while Harvick's work was done for the day courtesy of a clutch problem.

Elliott Sadler pushed Sterling Martin into a spin a few laps later, with the next green period lasting less than a lap after Dale Earnhardt Jr suffered a deflated tyre. The top five remained untouched, although on lap 305 Kyle Busch was forced into the pits due to radiator problems.

On lap 321 a Jeff Green spin brought the eleventh caution period, and yet more stops for the leaders. Mayfield was flagged for speeding in the pitlane meaning a change at the front, with Stewart now leading the way from Busch, Labonte and Martin.

Mayfield was desperately unlucky with his tyres - his right front went flat on lap 353 forcing him three laps down after a green flag stop after limping into the pits.

25 laps later the twelfth caution period was caused by a Kyle Petty spin, with Labonte, Busch, Martin, Stewart and Wallace, leading away from another stop, with Busch muscling his way into the lead on lap 400 before a Dale Jarrett spin slowed the pack a few laps later.

Stewart suffered a truly strange problem when the centre of his right front wheel broke, leaving the tyre to bounce around the track alone. Busch and Martin were the quickest out of the pits, but they were behind Newman, Sterling Martin and Elliott Sadler on track, as the trio didn't stop with the former leaders.

Ten laps into the next green flag period Kurt Busch came down off the high side and into a storming Jeff Gordon, creating yet another yellow flag period on lap 447. Just back into green racing Sterling Martin tore by Newman to claim the lead, ahead of Mark Martin, a recovered Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne.

Astonishingly Gordon, who had been as many as three laps down earlier in the race, claimed the lead on lap 466, opening out a 2.5 second lead as he worked his way around the track, with Kahne and Newman moving up behind him.

With just nine laps to go Travis Kvapil blew his engine spectacularly, causing the final caution period and a breather period for the drivers ahead of a green-white, single file restart with two to go. Gordon had enough in reserve to hold off Kahne, Martin, Newman and Wallace to claim an incredible win in Martinsville.

The results of the Advance Auto Parts 500 at the Martinsville Speedway:

Pos  Driver               Team        Laps
 1.  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet   500
 2.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       500
 3.  Mark Martin          Ford        500
 4.  Ryan Newman          Dodge       500
 5.  Rusty Wallace        Dodge       500
 6.  Sterling Marlin      Dodge       500
 7.  Ricky Rudd           Ford        500
 8.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet   500
 9.  Elliott Sadler       Ford        500
10.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   500
11.  Matt Kenseth         Ford        500
12.  Jason Leffler        Chevrolet   500
13.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   500
14.  Dale Jarrett         Ford        500
15.  Jeremy Mayfield      Dodge       499
16.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet   499
17.  Casey Mears          Dodge       499
18.  Kyle Petty           Dodge       498
19.  Kurt Busch           Ford        498
20.  Robby Gordon         Chevrolet   498
21.  Scott Riggs          Chevrolet   498
22.  Jeff Green           Dodge       497
23.  Mike Wallace         Chevrolet   497
24.  Ken Schrader         Dodge       496
25.  Jamie McMurray       Dodge       496
26.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   493
27.  Travis Kvapil        Dodge       490
28.  Kevin Lepage         Dodge       489
29.  Greg Biffle          Ford        487
30.  Michael Waltrip      Chevrolet   477
31.  Scott Wimmer         Dodge       466
32.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   436
33.  Bobby Labonte        Chevrolet   435
34.  Dave Blaney          Chevrolet   416
35.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   412
36.  Mike Bliss           Chevrolet   410
37.  Hermie Sadler        Ford        340
38.  Carl Edwards         Ford        321
39.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   304
40.  Bobby Hamilton Jr.   Chevrolet   151
41.  Johnny Sauter        Dodge        55
42.  Randy LaJoie         Chevrolet    27
43.  Mike Garvey          Dodge        18