Jimmie Johnson Wins But Greg Biffle Biggest Mover at Martinsville

It was another ho-hum Sunday drive at Martinsville Speedway for Jimmie Johnson.  The points leader yet again cruised to Victory Lane with the team that is so good at this particular track.

But the one who gained most at Martinsville was Greg Biffle.  His twelfth place finish at the short track moved him into the second place position in the points.

Biffle is now just 149 points back from leader Jimmie Johnson.  He leap-frogged over Jeff Burton, who admittedly had a tough day at the track.

Burton started in the front thanks to the qualifying rain out, but struggled for most of the race.  He then got on the outside of Jeff Gordon trying to get to the pits at the end of the race.

Not only did Burton lose time there, but he then pulled awkwardly into his pit stall.  In fact, it was so awkward that some of his car, and the work that the crew did on it, was outside the pit box. 

Burton was penalized and finished the race in the seventeenth position.  As a result of this finish, he is now third in points, 152 points behind leader and race winner Jimmie Johnson.

The rest of the points standings pretty much stayed the same, with the exception of deeper in the top 12.  Jeff Gordon advanced one position to seventh, thanks to his fourth place race finish at a track where he has been so dominant in the past.

Tony Stewart lost a spot to the eighth position, thanks to his 28th place finish.  He struggled all day with tire issues, losing positions having to pit for tires.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. advanced to the ninth position, gaining a spot in the points.  Junior had a great Martinsville race, finishing second right behind his teammate Jimmie Johnson.

Although Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin did not have the best of races at the "paper clip," they both advanced a position each, thanks to the truly awful race that Kyle Busch had.  Busch had troubles throughout the race, almost as bad as his brother Kurt, who was basically ready to park his car.

Even though it was Jimmie Johnson’s turn to claim the checkered flag yet again at Martinsville, Greg Biffle was in the highest celebration mode.  In fact, one of the pit reporters said that Biffle looked like he had won the race instead of Johnson.

Biffle was indeed in high spirits, as he now has Johnson directly in his sights.  And he positively exudes excitement as he heads off to the final four races of the Chase.

Those four tracks, Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead, are the tracks that the Biff likes best.  And that's where he excels most in finishes as well.

While many may be saying that Jimmie Johnson has clinched, Greg Biffle is lurking just in the wings, waiting for his favorite tracks to come.  This Chase should indeed be a race to the finish at Homestead.