FYI WIRZ: NASCAR's Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon Survive, Thrive at Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway is called the “pretty paper clip” because of its unique oval shape, but NASCAR’s Tums Fast Relief 500 on the O.526-mile track Sunday was more likely ugly than pretty—especially if wrecks and paybacks define unattractive bent and crushed race cars.

Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon survived short-track bumping to finish in the top three. Stewart poked his car around Johnson for the win.

During the eventful race, Brian Vickers in the No. 83 Toyota seemed be a magnet amid cautions.

Chase contenders Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch had significant damage that caused finishes at the rear of the field. Kenseth dropped from second to fifth with a 36-point deficit. Busch slipped to seventh, 57 points behind leader Carl Edwards.

Busch’s 2011 championship chances are extremely dim with three races remaining and only 144 potential points before the final checkered flag.

The point gap for the top-five contenders has grown from 26 to 36 points. The NSCS championship should be a battle among the top four—Edwards, Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

Johnson moved up to the sixth spot but is 43 points away and will likely not secure a sixth consecutive championship. The Busch brothers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman are too far from the top to expect a chance for the trophy.

Stewart, Johnson and Gordon had comments for fans before and after the exciting race. Quotes are provided by the diligent media personnel at Team Chevy.

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Chevrolet) finished first (Started fourth).

Before the green flag:

“It’s like anywhere else we go where you’re still trying to get the cars to do the same thing,” Stewart said. “You still have to make them rotate, and more so at Martinsville than anywhere else, you’re asking the car to accelerate a lot off the corner. That’s the hardest thing. You can always get it to do one or the other, but it’s hard to get them to do both. I think that’s why Martinsville is so difficult.”

After the checkered flag:

“I don’t think we had the best racecar today by any means, but we had the most determined pit crew to get it as good as they can get it, Stewart said. “I was pretty mad all day, but I was the only guy who didn’t get in a wreck with somebody, so I was kind of proud of that.

“Carl Edwards had better be real worried. That’s all I’ve got to say. He’s not going to sleep for the next three weeks.”

About cautions and paybacks at Martinsville:

“NASCAR is going to have to at some point make these drivers be responsible for their actions amongst each other and not baby sit and not protect these guys. Let them get their butt kicked. That's what used to happen in the old days. You didn't have guys dumping each other and taking cheap shots.

“I used to be as guilty of it and bad as anybody about taking a cheap shot at guys early. But you realize that it's not about the two guys driving the cars out there as much as it's there's a bunch of guys that go back to the shop. There's a car owner that spends a lot of money. There's a bunch of crew guys that spend a lot of hours and put a lot of heart and soul into what we have as a product each week with these racecars. I think at times we all forget about that.”

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet) finished second (started 10th).

Before the green flag:

"Quirky tracks have always worked for me,” Johnson said. “And this track certainly is that. When I first came here, the first year or year and a half, there was no way I thought this track would be one that I liked. But in time, and in learning how to drive it, there is just one way to really get around here. And a lot of tracks have a lot of other options but there's one very specific line you have to run and when a guy finds it, and he can set his car up to it, you go and go and go for years.”

After the checkered flag:

“I could just tell it was going to be one of those days and I could see the crashes on the big screen there at the end,” Johnson said. “I just wish we didn’t have that last caution. The last three or four (cautions) seemed to be the same cars over and over and I just wish that wasn’t the case. We would have been just fine.

“I just could not get away from him (Stewart) on the restart. He hung on strong on the outside, and I was more worried about clipping a curb when he was running me tight and not take him out of a championship situation, minding my P’s and Q’s. I just wanted to do the right thing and unfortunately got beat in the process. Thought about going in there and leaning on him, move him up but that is just not the right thing to do. I just wished that prior to that the No. 83 was a part of every caution. I wish he could have just driven around the race track and we could have won this thing, but whatever, we will move on.”

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Chevrolet) Finished third (started seventh).

Before the green flag:

“I always go to Martinsville with a lot of confidence,” Gordon said. “It’s a very challenging track, but we seem to get into a rhythm and seem to be very competitive here – no matter the cars, the tires or any other changes that we’ve had over the years. There are tracks that I like better, but there are few tracks that I feel as confident as I do than when we go to Martinsville. The key is just trying to get deep in the corners without overdriving them.”

After the checkered flag:

"You know the last two runs, I don’t know if it was just the adjustments we made or what, we just kind of lost the edge that we had at one time especially on the short runs,” Gordon said. “I really did not have much for those guys there at the end and we needed more green flag runs than we did, so hey third great, gosh we came so close to getting win 200 for Rick Hendrick, I thought Jimmie ( Johnson) had it there for a second, but great effort by Tony Stewart, when things get tough you have to watch out for that guy, and he really put one on them. I didn’t think he could pass Jimmie (Johnson) on the outside.”

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes and information were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum at Racetake.com