Johnson dominates at Martinsville

The reigning champion started from pole and was only occasionally challenged by his teammate Jeff Gordon. However the threat from the No. 24 car vanished in the second half of the race and Johnson was able to pace the field to take an uncontested 39th career win.

"We were one of two or three cars that were really strong," Johnson said. "Great pitstall, great pitstops, kept track position on our side and I was really able to race for the lead and with the leaders.

"There were times when we overworked the brakes, overworked the tyres, so we weren't as strong as we wanted to be on the long haul but the car was really good on the short haul and thankfully it ended up that way in the end and I could get away from those guys."

The only real trouble for Johnson and his team came in the pits when the mechanic carrying the jack fell down, delaying the tyre change during a late stop. However that was the only mistake his pitcrew made all day long as most times their perfect synchronicity either maintained or gained him places on pitroad.

Johnson led 339 of the 504 laps completed, which means he got a full score and increased the gap to his closest pursuer - Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle - to 149 points in the Chase standing.

Having one of his best races ever at Martinsville was Dale Earnhardt Jr who crossed the finish line behind Johnson, although never really looking like a potential winner. He made contact with Jamie McMurray early on but had a trouble-free day for the most part.

"I didn't have good enough drive up off the corner to catch Jimmie," Earnhardt Jr said. "They had such an excellent racecar and we were good on the real long runs, like 80 to 100 laps and we needed to get one of those. I was just too loose early on, spinning the tyres, and I just had to do the best I could to keep my position."

Carl Edwards prevented a top-three sweep for Hendrick Motorsports by finishing third, putting pressure on Earnhardt Jr while trying to maintain a charging Jeff Gordon behind him in the green-white-chequered finish.

Jamie McMurray looked the best among the Roush cars at some points but transmission issues forced him to the garage in the closing stages of the race. Edwards didn't lead a lap but his third pace allowed him to gain ground on both Burton and Biffle in the Chase standing.

"For us, this is almost a win," Edwards said. "We've never run this well here, so that was good for us. It's just Jimmie is doing an unbelievable job. We obviously had some misfortune last week that really made this race important.

"I felt like we could come here and if we ran like we did today, that it keeps our hopes alive and if we didn't, it would really put us in a hole, so it's a great day for us."

For Jeff Gordon the day was a bittersweet one because for the second week in a row he looked capable of winning the race but couldn't take his first win of the season. He had to do in the end with a fourth place finish.

The seven-time winner at Martinsville got the better of Johnson a couple of times and led 57 laps - taking him to more than 20,000 laps led in Sprint Cup competition - but he dropped back during the second half of the race when he struggled for balance during a long green flag run.

"We had that long run and that was our biggest fear," Gordon said. "We had a great car, great run but I was really good on the short runs. I hate it we came up a little short there. It was actually a great call by Steve Letarte to take two tyres in the end and that got us fourth. We've got a little work to do on the long runs with this setup."

Denny Hamlin rounded up the top five as the only real contender among the Gibbs cars. Both Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch had five right front tyre blowouts between them, the pair finishing 26th and 29th respectively, several laps down.

At least another three drivers faced similar tyre issues as the Gibbs racers including Kurt Busch, who asked his team to let him park his car in the pits to avoid another crash. However the former Cup champion was told to keep racing.

Among the Chase contenders Jeff Burton also hit trouble, first struggling with the balance of his car and then having a delayed penultimate stop when he almost made contact with Jeff Gordon on pitroad and ended up parked sideways on his stall.

He only managed a 17th place in the end, marking the first time he has finished outside the top ten during the Chase.

Rounding up a great day for Rick Hendrick was Casey Mears, who finished the race in sixth place.

AJ Allmendinger was beaten by Juan Pablo Montoya to 14th place on the last lap but still made a good impression on his first race for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Scott Speed finished 30th on his Cup debut, complaining of brake issues hampering his progress. Sam Hornish Jr was the highest-finishing rookie in 34th.

Pos  Driver              Car        Laps
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet   504
 2.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet   504
 3.  Carl Edwards        Ford        504
 4.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet   504
 5.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota      504
 6.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet   504
 7.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet   504
 8.  Matt Kenseth        Ford        504
 9.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet   504
10.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet   504
11.  Brian Vickers       Toyota      504
12.  Greg Biffle         Ford        504
13.  David Ragan         Ford        504
14.  Juan Montoya        Dodge       502
15.  A.J. Allmendinger   Dodge       502
16.  Bill Elliott        Ford        502
17.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet   502
18.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota      502
19.  Travis Kvapil       Ford        501
20.  Aric Almirola       Chevrolet   501
21.  Scott Riggs         Chevrolet   501
22.  Dave Blaney         Toyota      501
23.  Ryan Newman         Dodge       500
24.  David Reutimann     Toyota      500
25.  Chad McCumbee       Dodge       500
26.  Tony Stewart        Toyota      499
27.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet   499
28.  Ken Schrader        Toyota      499
29.  Kyle Busch          Toyota      496
30.  Scott Speed         Toyota      496
31.  Tony Raines         Chevrolet   495
32.  David Gilliland     Ford        483
33.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge       475
34.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge       472
35.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge       472
36.  Kurt Busch          Dodge       469
37.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge       469
38.  Jamie McMurray      Ford        465
39.  Mike Bliss          Toyota      455
40.  Robby Gordon        Dodge       452
41.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge       436
42.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet   416
43.  Joe Nemechek        Chevrolet   115

Chase For The Cup - Points Standing:

Pos  Driver              Change  Points
 1.  Jimmie Johnson               6073
 2.  Greg Biffle           +1     5924  +149
 3.  Jeff Burton           -1     5921  +152
 4.  Carl Edwards                 5875  +198
 5.  Clint Bowyer                 5827  +246
 6.  Kevin Harvick                5817  +256
 7.  Jeff Gordon           +1     5798  +275
 8.  Tony Stewart          -1     5735  +338
 9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr     +1     5694  +379
10.  Matt Kenseth          +1     5665  +408
11.  Denny Hamlin          +1     5653  +420
12.  Kyle Busch            -3     5628  +445