Johnson scores ninth Martinsville win, advances to Championship 4

Jimmie Johnson earned career win No. 79 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway after topping the board for 92 circuits of the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, clinching a berth in the Championship 4 where he will vie for his seventh championship to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

This marked the Hendrick Motorsports wheelman’s ninth trip to Victory Lane at the short track, equaling him with former teammate Jeff Gordon.

Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford had a late-race surge, finishing his day in the runner-up spot. The 2012 Sprint Cup champion was eliminated from the Chase after last week’s Talladega race.

Johnson and Denny Hamlin went back-and-forth throughout the 500-lapper with aggressive racing and flaring tempers. Hamlin finished third.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and Chase contenders, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Defending race winner Gordon finished sixth.

Here’s how the rest of the Chase field fared: Joey Logano (ninth), Kevin Harvick (20th), Kurt Busch (22nd) and Carl Edwards (36th).

Logano, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Edwards are the four drivers sitting below the cutoff line.

The next Round of 8 race — the second of three in the round — is Nov. 6 at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

via NASCAR