Tony Stewart Earns Third Chase Win in Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville

Tony Stewart earned his 42nd career win and his third in the Chase for the Cup on Sunday in passing Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps to go in the Tums Fast Relief 500.

Stewart came into the race on Sunday 19 points behind the lead in fourth place and came out of the race second in the standings, only eight points behind points leader Carl Edwards heading into next Sunday's race in Texas.

The day wasn't all rosey for Stewart, who within the last 200 laps was on the verge of going a lap down to leader Denny Hamlin.

The No. 14 crew worked hard and got Stewart in position for the win.

Edwards had a tough day after starting on the pole in the No. 99 Ford.  He was lapped on two occasions but managed to gain a great run in the end and get on the lead lap to finish ninth.

Johnson, who finished second, moved up from seventh to sixth in the points and now is 43 points behind Edwards with three races to go.  He needs some serious luck if he wants to grab his sixth consecutive championship.

The race today was a sloppy one.

There was a season-high 18 caution flags for 108 laps.

Many fellow Chase drivers were involved in the incidents. 

On lap seven Dale Jr. hopped the curb in turn one and got into Kurt Busch.  The incident caused everyone to check up, and Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin wound up with damage as well.  Both crews worked on the cars great and kept the two in the running all day.  Gordon finished third while Hamlin finished fifth.

That was just one of many early incidents.

There were eight cautions in the first 200 laps of the race.

Matt Kenseth came into the day second in points, but he got caught up with Kyle Busch in an incident with 36 laps to go.  Kenseth was running in eighth at the time.  He wound up 31st in the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford while Busch finished 27th.

Brad Keselowski, who was third in the points, got caught up in some late race trouble and finished 17th.

Kevin Harvick capitalized on the other Chase drivers' misfortunes and finished fourth, moving to third in the points and 21 points behind leader Edwards.

Finishing Order:

1. 14 Tony Stewart

2. 48 Jimmie Johnson

3. 24 Jeff Gordon

4. 29 Kevin Harvick

5. 11 Denny Hamlin

6. 31 Jeff Burton

7. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

8. 56 Martin Truex, Jr.

9. 99 Carl Edwards

10. 39 Ryan Newman

11. 43 A.J. Allmendinger

12. 13 Casey Mears

13. 78 Regan Smith

14. 22 Kurt Busch

15. 16 Greg Biffle

16. 38 Travis Kvapil

17. 2 Brad Keselowski

18. 20 Joey Logano

19. 33 Clint Bowyer

20. 00 David Reutimann

21. 32 Ken Schrader -1 Lap

22. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya -3 Laps

23. 36 Dave Blaney -3 Laps

24. 27 Paul Menard -3 Laps

25.  4 Kasey Kahne -5 Laps

26. 71 Hermie Sadler -7 Laps

27. 18 Kyle Busch -7 Laps

28.  5 Mark Martin -9 Laps

29.  9 Marcos Ambrose -12 Laps

30. 83 Brian Vickers -16 Laps

31. 17 Matt Kenseth -23 Laps

32. 47 Bobby Labonte -36 Laps

33.  6 David Ragan -56 Laps

34. 34 David Gilliland -143 Laps

35.  1 Jamie McMurray  OUT

36.  7 Reed Sorenson  OUT

37. 46 Scott Speed  OUT

38. 30 David Stremme OUT

39. 66 Michael McDowell  OUT

40. 55 J.J. Yeley  OUT

41. 87 Joe Nemechek  OUT

42. 51 Landon Cassill  OUT

43. 37 Mike Skinner  OUT

2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup Standings

1. 99 Carl Edwards 2,273

2. 14 Tony Stewart  -8

3. 29 Kevin Harvick  -21

4. 2 Brad Keselowski  -27

5. 17 Matt Kenseth  -36

6. 48 Jimmie Johnson  -43

7. 18 Kyle Busch  -57

8. 22 Kurt Busch -68

9. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -73

10. 24 Jeff Gordon -76

11. 11 Denny Hamlin   -80

12. 39 Ryan Newman  -89