RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
Breaking down the full field for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway:
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson’s veteran savvy enabled him to overcome a tire smoking and damage after contact with Denny Hamlin (Lap 198), 40 seconds on pit road for repairs from the contact (Lap 202) and nursing his car back to pit road on fumes during the decisive fifth caution. Now, Johnson has a clear shot to a seventh championship. Grade: A
2. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Back-to-back 38th-place finishes — his only DNFs this season — stopped Keselowski from moving on in the Chase, but his second-place finish Sunday showed he’s as strong as ever. Grade: A
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin’s eventful day included his 10th speeding penalty of the season, a dust-up with Jimmie Johnson and battling teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch down the stretch, which enabled Johnson to open a big lead. Bottom line, though: Hamlin’s sitting pretty on the Chase front. Grade: A-
4. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth led a race-high 176 laps and, like teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, had a great points day. But the bigger issue is whether there will be any spillover from how the three raced each other late in the race. Grade: A
5. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. We can always count on Kyle Busch to put events into perspective. “We worked so good together we gave (Jimmie Johnson) the win today; that’s how good JGR is.” Grade: A
6. Jeff Gordon, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. If this indeed was Gordon’s last race — no one anticipated the events of 2016, so who knows what 2017 will bring? — it was a good one. Grade: A
7. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex led six times for 147 laps after winning the pole. No surprise. Even without a shot at the championship, this has been Truex’s season. Grade: A
8. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Timing was on McMurray’s side when the fifth caution happened, and he turned it into his 11th top 10 of the season, one more than 2015. Grade: A
9. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. This year’s Goody’s race sure turned out better than last year’s for Logano, didn’t it? Grade: A
10. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger, along with Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray, were the big winners of the timing of the fifth caution, but unlike Johnson, Allmendinger didn’t have enough fuel to make it until pit road opened, and he pitted early. That dropped him to the last car on the lead lap, and that’s where he finished. Grade: A
11. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne was in position to get the free pass after the fifth caution, but the final 114 laps were run under green and Kahne could do no better than finishing just outside the top 10. Grade: B
12. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott had his best finish at Martinsville in three starts (38th, 20th, 12th). Grade: B
13. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle felt he had a top-10 car — if not for the nose of the car splitting early in the race. Grade: B
14. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson led six laps, his first laps led at Martinsville in six starts. Grade: B
15. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola posts back-to-back top-15 finishes for the first time since the first two races of the season. Grade: B
16. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Long green-flag runs worked against the No. 31, which Newman said was tight through the corners. Grade: B-
17. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon did a good job to move up from starting 32nd, but the long green-flag run to end the race helped pin Dillon one-lap down at the finish. Grade: B-
18. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family. McDowell overcame dehydration and burns on his feet to post his best finish at Martinsville in 12 starts. Grade: B+
19. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney has finished 19th in both of his starts at Martinsville, and he knows what ails him: inexperience. “I need to get a lot better here, and that’s probably the biggest thing,” he said. Grade: B-
20. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick was running in the top five when he was penalized for speeding on pit road during the third caution. He was never a factor after that. Grade: C-
21. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears posted his best finish since also finishing 21st at Richmond on Sept. 10. Grade: C
22. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. When you describe your car as “numb” during a race, that’s not a good sign. Busch finished three laps back and is seventh in the Chase standings. Grade: C
23. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne started 31st and never progressed past 21st. Grade: C
24. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Brake issues kept Patrick in check Sunday. At least her beloved Cubs didn’t make Sunday a total loss. Grade: C
25. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard said, “The car just wouldn’t turn today,” and at Martinsville, that’s a deal-breaker. Grade: C
26. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart’s final race at Martinsville was stymied by handling issues, especially in Martinsville’s infamous tight corners. Grade: C
27. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher improved on his 33rd-place finish in April at Martinsville, but better yet, “lots learned,” the rookie said. Grade: C-
28. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer suffered his worst finish since coming home 40th at Michigan two months ago. Grade: C-
29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Landon was 29th midway through the race, had an average running position of 29.4 and finished 29th for the fourth time in the past seven Sprint Cup races and for the third time at Martinsville. Twenty-nine, nice? Grade: C-
30. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith finished six laps off the pace. Grade: D
31. Dylan Lupton, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. Lupton finished 10 laps back in his third Sprint Cup start. Grade: D
32. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 93 Toyota, BK Racing. Look for DiBenedetto to finish 33rd or 28th at Martinsville in April. In his first four starts there, he has finished 31st, 30th, 29th and 32nd. Grade: D
33. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. Earnhardt finished four laps off the pace in his first Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. Grade: D
34. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott had a problem with wheel hopping in practice, and the same thing happened in the race. Grade: D
35. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. The heat took its toll on Annett, who finished 21 laps back and was in the infield care center after the race. Grade: F
36. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. An all-around bad day for Edwards, who was caught speeding during the first caution and then smashed into the wall on Lap 358 when his right-front tire gave out. He’s last in the Chase standings. Grade: F
37. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan’s smoking car brought out the second caution on Lap 62. The culprit: a small hole in an oil line. Grade: F
38. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. In his 16th start at Martinsville, Sorenson completed his fewest laps (407) in a race he finished. He has been running at the finish in 11. Grade: F
39. Gray Gaulding, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. An issue with the rear gear ended the 18-year-old’s debut after 360 laps. Grade: D-
40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse started at the rear of the field because he wheel-hopped, spun and hit the wall in practice. On Sunday, he did the same on Lap 22 in his backup car. Grade: F