It was a sweet win for Jeff Gordon, who earned his eighth Martinsville Speedway win on Sunday and his first of the 2013 season.
Gordon, who broke a 32-race losing streak, passed Matt Kenseth for the lead with 21 laps to go. Gordon’s victory secured third place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship standings, 27 points behind the leader.
“Man its hard to top what it feels like to win, especially when you’ve been through all of what this team has been through,” Gordon said in Victory Lane. “I’m so proud of them for never giving up. We’ve shown it all year long and we’ve been through a lot, but this is making it all worth it.”
Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson dominated the first half of the race. Kenseth finished second and Johnson fifth, creating a tie atop the Chase standings with three races remaining.
“Jeff’s experience just got me,” Kenseth said. “I’m just not that experienced running up front here and I had something that was working, but I was hurting the rear tires and the front tires, too. It went away from me in the end. But it was a great race.”
Clint Bowyer finished third followed by Brad Keselowski. Kevin Harvick finished sixth, followed by Denny Hamlin in seventh, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in eighth, Greg Biffle in ninth and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 10.
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