SB Nation Philly - NASCAR At Martinsville: Kevin Harvick Wins Goody's Fast Relief 500https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48987/philly-fave.png2011-04-03T17:36:30-04:00http://philly.sbnation.com/rss/stream/18523692011-04-03T17:36:30-04:002011-04-03T17:36:30-04:00NASCAR At Martinsville: Kevin Harvick Wins Goody's Fast Relief 500
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<p>Kevin Harvick earned his 16th career NASCAR win, his first at Martinsville after passing Dale Earnhart Jr. with four laps to go. His win today marks the second time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career that he's earned back to back wins. Today was Harvicks third short track win and the seventh at Martinsville for Richard Childress Racing.</p>
<p>After the race Harvick was asked what kind of statement this sent winning back to back races so early in the season.</p>
<p>"I think it just shows what we're made of" Harvick said, "We crashed, we fell back to the last car on the lead lap just about there and just everybody on this RCR Budweiser Chevrolet team has done a great job. We just keep fighting and we had something left to race there at the end. I didn't believe them when they told me we were faster when we when got up there at the front, so it was pretty cool"</p>
<p>The most exciting battle at the end was for second when Dale Earnhart Jr held off Kyle Busch by less than two one hundredths of a second for second place. Junior, who had led 17 laps and was only passed at the end apologized to his crew as he crossed the finish line. He was asked after the race whether he had any regrets or whether there was anything he could have done different.</p>
<p>"I don't know what I could have done different" Earnhart said, "We didn't have that great of a car, we weren't fast all day. We had a top 10 car, but not a race winning car. We worked on it real hard but we really didn't make any gains really"</p>
<p>He credited the teams' pit strategies for keeping the car in the race.</p>
<p>Kyle Busch took over the Sprint Cup points lead after leading 151 laps and finishing third. Carl Edwards, who finished 18th, fell to second.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/2011/4/3/2088922/nascar-at-martinsville-kevin-harvick-wins-goodys-fast-relief-500Jason Brewer2011-04-03T11:27:22-04:002011-04-03T11:27:22-04:00Goody's Fast Relief 500: NASCAR At Martinsville
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<p>Jamie McMurray will lead the field today as NASCAR comes to Martinsville for the Goody's Fast Relief 500. McMurray scored his first pole of the year in a race that's traditionally one you want to start up front for. Three of the past six winners at Martinsville were won from the front row, it has been won 18 times by the driver in the pole position including last October when Denny Hamlin won from the pole.</p>
<p>Sprint Cup series leader Carl Edwards figures to have his work cut out for him today having never even led a lap at Martinsville and starting from the 23rd position. Jeff Gordon, who starts just ahead of Edwards in the 21st position has won this race seven times, the most of any active driver.</p>
<p>However, no discussion of the favorites at Martinsville can exclude Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, who between them have won the last nine races at the track. Johnson has six wins at Martinsville while Hamlin has been victorious in the past three races. This week, Kyle Busch<a target="_blank" href="http://www.nascar.com/news/110402/jjohnson-dhamlin-martinsville-dominant/index.html"> almost seemed resigned</a> that those two would be fighting for the win.</p>
<p>"You can almost guarantee the top two spots will be the 11 [Toyota of Hamlin] and the 48 [Chevrolet of Johnson], so everybody else is racing for third," <a name="kbusch01" id="kbusch01Link" href="http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kbusch01/cup/index.html">Kyle Busch</a> said.</p>
<p>Remarkably, Jimmie Johnson has never finished out of the top 10 at Martinsville. The fact surprises even him.</p>
<p>"I would think those first two or three years that I would have been outside the top 10," Johnson said. "I heard that stat before I came up here this week and was pretty shocked to hear that myself."</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/2011/4/3/2332664/goodys-fast-relief-500-nascar-at-martinsvilleJason Brewer