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11.01.15
Goody's 500 Race-Report
Date: Nov. 1, 2015
Event: Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (Round 33 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 16th/40th (Accident, completed 391 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 24th (665 points)
Winner: Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Danica Patrick and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) left Martinsville (Va.) Speedway with a 40th-place finish in Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race after an accident ended her day early.
Patrick started the race from the 16th position, but she slipped back to 20th before the caution flag waved for the first time at lap 50 as she battled a car that was loose on entry and tight in the center of the corner. The team made air pressure adjustments and added tape to the grille when they pitted for tires and fuel at lap 53.
On the following run, Patrick remained inside the top-25, but the handling issues persisted. Crew chief Daniel Knost called for more extensive adjustments when the team pitted again at lap 104. Patrick restarted in the 27th position at lap 112, but when the field stacked up on the restart, the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet sustained damage from contact.
The team pitted twice for repairs and got Patrick back on track before the field went green. When the caution flag waved again a few laps later, Knost had Patrick stay out, and she lined up 22nd for the lap-141 restart.
At lap 155, contact from the No. 38 car sent Patrick into the wall. The No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet sustained significant right-front damage, forcing the team to pit to make repairs. After a lengthy pit stop to work on the damage, the team decided to go to the garage area to work on the car. Patrick returned to the track at lap 191 in the 41st position, 25 laps down to the leader.
With less than 100 laps to go, Patrick and the No. 38 car again made contact. Patrick brought her car to the garage area, where it was determined that the additional damage sustained was too significant, thus ending the team’s day. Patrick was credited with a 40th-place finish.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Outback Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday at Martinsville by finishing eighth. He led once for 38 laps en route to his 25th top this season and his 14th top-10 in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 10th to score his 300th top-10 result in 587 career Sprint Cup races. It was also his 17th top-10 in 33 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 34th after getting caught up in a multicar accident on lap 436.
Jeff Gordon scored a popular victory in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. It was his 93rd career Sprint Cup win, his first of the season and his ninth at Martinsville. This is Gordon’s final Sprint Cup season, and the victory punched his ticket to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Nov. 22 in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Jamie McMurray finished .335 of a second behind Gordon in the runner-up spot, while Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Stewart comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 18 caution periods for 109 laps, with four drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race around the .526-mile oval.
As the seventh race in the 10-race Chase, Martinsville served as the first race in the Eliminator Round. The original, 16-driver Chase field was whittled down to 12 following the Oct. 4 race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway for the Contender Round. The next cutoff race came Oct. 25 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, whereupon the Chase field shrank to eight for the Eliminator Round. Another two races will be run in this round, where after the Nov. 15 race at Phoenix International Raceway, only four drivers will advance to the final, winner-take-all Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Harvick and Busch continue to represent SHR in the Chase. Harvick leaves Martinsville fourth in points, 10 behind Chase leader Gordon. Busch leaves Martinsville in seventh, 36 points out of first.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Nov. 8 AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race starts at 2 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by NBC.