TUMS Fast Relief 500 2012 Results: Reaction, Leaders and Post Race Analysis

A one-year losing streak is too long for Jimmie Johnson.

The 2012 TUMS Fast Relief 500 resulted in the five-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion taking a huge step towards ending that streak on Sunday. He crossed the finish line first at Martinsville, and as a result, he leapfrogged Brad Keselowski in the Sprint Cup Standings.

In the pole position, Johnson started ahead of the pack and he took full advantage of it. According to the Associated Press, he said prior to the competition (via ESPN):

"

I'd much rather race towards the front rather than qualify towards the front if I had to pick between the two. I feel like we'll be capable of pulling that off once the race gets started. Just ready to keep going, you know, feeling the season wind down and really feel good about our opportunities in front of us.

"

Johnson and Clint Bowyer controlled the majority of the race. Johnson led a whopping 191 of the 500 laps, while Bowyer led 154. At the end of the final lap, though, it was Johnson in the lead while Bowyer was forced to settle for fifth.

Right behind Bowyer was Keselowski, who now stands two points behind Johnson in the Race for the Cup. He had held the lead for the past couple of weeks, but his performance on Sunday afternoon wasn’t strong enough to hold it once again.

Johnson, who had no trouble holding the Sprint Cup lead in the past, didn’t sound intimidated by being chased prior to Sunday’s action. He said (via ESPN): “There's this friend of mine that has this joke that there's two types of pressures: pressure applied and pressure felt. And there might be pressure applied, but I don't feel it, how about that.”

Here are the race results and updated Chase for the Cup leaderboard.

TUMS Fast Relief 500 Results

Check out the full results here.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Manufacturer
1	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet
2	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota
3	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet
4	Aric Almirola	43	Ford
5	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota
6	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge
7	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet
8	Brian Vickers	55	Toyota
9	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota
10	Greg Biffle	16	Ford
11	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet
12	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet
13	Sam Hornish, Jr.	22	Dodge
14	Kurt Busch	78	Chevrolet
15	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford
16	Joey Logano	20	Toyota
17	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet
18	Carl Edwards	99	Ford
19	Landon Cassill	83	Toyota
20	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet

Chase for the Cup Standings

Rank	Driver	Trailing
1	Jimmie Johnson	---
2	Brad Keselowski	-2
3	Clint Bowyer	-26
4	Kasey Kahne	-29
5	Denny Hamlin	-49
6	Jeff Gordon	-54
7	Martin Truex, Jr.	-63
8	Matt Kenseth	-66
9	Greg Biffle	-69
10	Tony Stewart	-71
11	Kevin Harvick	-88
12	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	-140

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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