The 2011 Tums Fast Relief 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 30, 2011, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.526-mile (847 m) oval, it was the 33rd race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the seventh race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Tony Stewart for the Stewart–Haas Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Jeff Gordon clinched third.
Report Background
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has s zero degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 63,000 spectators.
Before the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 2,237 points, and Matt Kenseth stood in second with 2,223 points. Brad Keselowski followed in third with 2,219 points, one ahead of Tony Stewart and eight ahead of Kevin Harvick in fourth and fifth. Kyle Busch with 2,197 was ten points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, as Kurt Busch with 2,185 points, was 22 ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and 30 in front of Jeff Gordon. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman was eleventh and twelfth with 2,153 and 2,149 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 217 points, 44 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 164 points, was 14 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Hamlin was the race's defending champion.
Practice and qualifying Two 90 minute practice sessions were scheduled to be held on Friday in preparation for the race. However, wet track conditions postponed and combined the sessions into one practice session on Saturday. Afterward, the only session was delayed because of the wet track conditions. Once the first and only session of practice began, Michael McDowell was quickest with a time of 19.747 seconds in the first session, 0.023 seconds faster than Clint Bowyer. Johnson was just off Bowyer's pace, followed by Carl Jamie McMurray, Scott Speed, and Paul Menard. David Stremme was seventh, still within a tenth of a second of McDowell's time. Also in the session, there was a collision involving Harvick and Greg Biffle. Neither car was severely damaged from the incident.
Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Wet track conditions before the scheduled starting time canceled the session, causing the grid to be created by Owners' Championship points. Edwards was given the pole position. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Kenseth. Keselowski started third, Stewart took fourth, and Harvick fifth. Kyle Busch, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon completed the top ten. The two drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Dennis Setzer and Derrike Cope. Afterward, Edwards commented:
Race
The race, the 33rd in the season, began at 2:00 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on ESPN. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race with the air temperature around . Tony Beach, associate Pastor at Ft. Trial Baptist Church in Stanleytown, Virginia, began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. Next, North Carolina A&T State University marching band performed the national anthem, and Ashley Young, winner of the Tums Sweepstakes, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. A late race caution set up a restart with 3 laps remaining, with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart on the front row. Johnson chose the heavily-favored inside line, but Stewart had a great restart and cleared Johnson off of Turn 4 coming to 2 to go. Brad Keselowski was spun out on the restart, but was able to get back going and NASCAR decided not to throw the caution. Stewart would go on to win the race, his 3rd race victory of the 2011 season, all of them coming during the Chase.
Results Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer1 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 4 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 11 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 15 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 16 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 17 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 18 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 21 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 24 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 25 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 26 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 27 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 29 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 30 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 31 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 32 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 33 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 34 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 35 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 71 Hermie Sadler TRG Motorsports Ford 37 7 Reed Sorenson Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 38 37 Mike Skinner Max Q Motorsports Ford 39 46 Scott Speed Whitney Motorsports Ford 40 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 41 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 42 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 43 55 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford Failed to Qualify 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Chevrolet 75 Derrike Cope Stratus Racing Group Dodge
Race results Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points 14 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 500 47 27 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 43 310 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 42 45 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 41 511 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 40 623 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 38 79 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 37 824 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 500 36 91 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 36 1012 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 500 35 1116 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 500 34 1233 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 500 32 1326 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 500 31 148 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 500 30 1515 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 29 1635 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 500 0 173 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 500 27 1822 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 26 1913 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 25 2028 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 500 24 2134 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 500 23 2220 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 497 22 2332 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 497 21 2421 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 497 21 2514 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 495 19 2636 71 Hermie Sadler TRG Motorsports Ford 493 0 276 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 493 19 2819 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 491 16 2917 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 488 15 3025 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 484 14 312 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 477 14 3229 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 464 12 3318 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 444 11 3431 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 357 11 3527 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 85 9 3637 7 Reed Sorenson Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 77 0 3739 46 Scott Speed Whitney Motorsports Ford 74 0 3842 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 52 6 3940 66 Michael McDowellHP Racing Toyota 45 0 4043 55 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 4 4141 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 33 0 4230 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 27 0 4338 37 Mike Skinner Max Q Motorsports Ford 7 0
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carl Edwards 2,273 2 Tony Stewart 2,265 3 Kevin Harvick 2,252 4 Brad Keselowski 2,246 5 Matt Kenseth 2,237 6 Jimmie Johnson 2,230 7 Kyle Busch 2,216 8 Kurt Busch 2,215 9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,200 10 Jeff Gordon 2,197 11 Denny Hamlin 2,193 12 Ryan Newman 2,184
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 226 2 Ford 177 3 Toyota 170 4 Dodge 153
Note: Only the top twelve positions are included for the driver standings.
References