Tony Stewart led 247 of the first 400 laps. Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Sunoco Pit Move: M'ville

Pit Story of the Race

For the second time this year, Tony Stewart dominated and had nothing to show for it.

Stewart's crew left lugnuts loose on Lap 389 at Martinsville, and the wheel gave way less than 20 miles later. Stewart lost the wheel, lost the race and lost a lot of ground to points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Sunoco Pit MoveTony Stewart loses a shot at the win when his tire breaks free Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

The tire finally broke free on Lap 431, and it happened in Turn 1. It was the worst possible place for the mishap to occur, as there was no chance for Stewart to dive onto pit road, change the tire and head back out.

Instead, the 700 feet of driving without a tire severely damaged right-front of Stewart's Chevy to shreds, and he wound up seven laps down in 26th.

"No, I'm just mad that it happened. But hey, we are all human, we all make mistakes," said crew chief Greg Zipadelli. "Nobody did anything intentionally. The pressure is on them to do the best they can and get us out."

Zipadelli said the stops had been good all day long. That is what made the Lap 389 mishap all the more painful.

"We had been coming in and leaving in the lead all day long. We expect nothing less," Zipadelli said. "We feel we have the best people in this garage area and we all need to stand up and do our jobs and do it right. It is just that simple."

Just get track position, baby

Sterling Marlin has little to lose at Chip Ganassi Racing -- and he nearly got Ganassi's first top-five of the year.

Marlin short-pitted on Lap 404. Only four cars elected to go this route -- Elliott Sadler, Jason Leffler and Travis Kvapil were the others.

Sterling Marlin stayed out of the pits for the final 96 laps. Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The move helped Marlin crack the top five. Before short-pitting, he hadn't gotten higher than ninth.

It was a great decision.

Marlin knew he couldn't win without fresh tires, but he stayed out to take the lead on Lap 438. He thought he could finish second on the old tires.

"Once we got up there we were able to stay in the top 10 the rest of the day. I knew the 24 was going to be quick (on next to last restart)," Marlin said. "I thought I might could hold the rest of them off.

"The 6 (Mark Martin) got to crowding me pretty hard, and it's better to finish in the top 10 than get spun out. He had fresher tires than we did."

Marlin faded to sixth, but the top-10 finish was his second of the year. He moved to 12th in the standings, tops among Ganassi drivers and third in the Dodge camp, but Marlin will likely have to perform even better to get a contract extension.

Mayfield speeds, loses top-five finish

Mayfield has never excelled at Martinsville, but driving a brand-new car, he drove like Darrell Waltrip in his prime, leading 68 laps.

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But Mayfield was tagged for speeding on Lap 328, ruining a sure top-three finish.

Mayfield has never excelled at Martinsville, but driving a brand-new car, he drove like Darrell Waltrip in his prim, leading 68 laps.

The penalty knocked Mayfield from fourth to 19th, and he never recovered. He wound up 15th after spending the first two-thirds of the race on the top-five.

"We had the car to win today. I guess I just messed it up," said Mayfield.

Quotable

"We just stayed out of trouble and tried to maintain track position. We made a few gambles here and there and just had great calls in the pits. I mean, we had some great calls in the pits." -- Elliott Sadler, who finished ninth, mainly because he stayed out for track position with 62 laps to go