NASCAR Martinsville: Stewart-Haas's Clint Bowyer ends win drought
Clint Bowyer dominated the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville for Stewart-Haas Racing, to end his 190-race victory drought
Short track specialist Bowyer took the lead just after half distance, having started ninth on the grid - set by driver owner points after qualifying was cancelled due to snow.
He then remained calm with Kyle Busch's Toyota close behind for much of the remainder of the race.
With his maiden win for Ford, and his first since 2012, Bowyer became the first driver to take a Cup victory with all three current manufacturers: Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet.
Busch failed to make an impression on Bowyer and ended up second for third time in four races.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is now the points leader, after 2017 title rival and reigning champion Martin Truex Jr ended the race fourth.
Ryan Blaney held the lead through most of the second stage thanks to a rapid pitstop early in the second stage that vaulted him back into the race lead.
But Bowyer would go on to depose Blaney, with the Penske man falling to third at the flag ahead of Truex.
Kevin Harvick then improved throughout the race to move from outside the top 10 early in the race to end up fifth.
Harvick was caught up in controversy after he was accused of brake testing by JGR's Denny Hamlin.
The SHR driver nudged stage one winner Hamlin several times with just over 100 laps to go, forcing his rival into the pits twice under caution to be taped up, eventually dropping down the order to 12th.
That contact came moments before the only non-competition caution of the race after Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon's Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet nudged Jamie McMurray's Ganassi Chevrolet into a spin and contact with the outside wall.
Joey Logano finished sixth for Penske followed by Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports in seventh and AJ Allmendinger took a season-best of eighth for JTG Daugherty Racing.
Penske's Brad Keselowski finished 10th, having started the race in fourth.
A moment to forget came during the competition caution when Chris Buescher hit his jackman in a pitstop, and the JTG Daugherty Racing crew member was taken to hospital at the end of the first stage.
Race result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 500 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 500 |
| 5 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 500 |
| 7 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 |
| 8 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 500 |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 500 |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 500 |
| 13 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 500 |
| 14 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 500 |
| 15 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 499 |
| 16 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 499 |
| 17 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 497 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 497 |
| 19 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 497 |
| 20 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 497 |
| 21 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 497 |
| 22 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 496 |
| 23 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 496 |
| 24 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 496 |
| 25 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 495 |
| 26 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 495 |
| 27 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 493 |
| 28 | D.J. Kennington | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 493 |
| 29 | Ross Chastain | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 493 |
| 30 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 493 |
| 31 | J.J. Yeley | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 493 |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 488 |
| 33 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 486 |
| 34 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 486 |
| 35 | Harrison Rhodes | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 482 |
| 36 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 481 |
| 37 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 481 |
| 38 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 211 |
Drivers' standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 257 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 249 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 233 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 232 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 226 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 217 |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | 212 |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | 210 |
| 9 | Kyle Larson | 195 |
| 10 | Kurt Busch | 177 |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 171 |
| 12 | Erik Jones | 152 |
| 13 | Austin Dillon | 148 |
| 14 | Alex Bowman | 145 |
| 15 | Paul Menard | 139 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 135 |
| 17 | Jimmie Johnson | 121 |
| 18 | Chase Elliott | 115 |
| 19 | A.J. Allmendinger | 110 |
| 20 | William Byron | 108 |
| 21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 108 |
| 22 | Daniel Suarez | 100 |
| 23 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 97 |
| 24 | Chris Buescher | 96 |
| 25 | Michael McDowell | 91 |
| 26 | Jamie McMurray | 84 |
| 27 | Kasey Kahne | 78 |
| 28 | David Ragan | 78 |
| 29 | Trevor Bayne | 72 |
| 30 | Ty Dillon | 62 |
| 31 | Matt DiBenedetto | 54 |
| 32 | Cole Whitt | 37 |
| 33 | Gray Gaulding | 31 |
| 34 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 28 |
| 35 | D.J. Kennington | 28 |
| 36 | Mark Thompson | 15 |
| 37 | Harrison Rhodes | 6 |
| 38 | Reed Sorenson | 3 |
| 39 | Corey LaJoie | 2 |
| 40 | Danica Patrick | 2 |
| 41 | Landon Cassill | 1 |
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