Background , the race track where the race was held.
Martinsville Speedway is one of five
short tracks that holds
NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a long, four-turn, short
oval track. 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 zero-degree banking.
Matt Kenseth and
Clint Bowyer were eleventh and twelfth places with 5,587 and 5,543 points, respectively . In the
Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet led with 230 points, forty-five points ahead of their rival Toyota.
Ford, with 145 points, was twenty-three points ahead of
Dodge in the battle for third place. Hamlin was the race's defending champion after winning it in
2009.
Practice and qualifying won the
pole position, after having the fastest time of 19.518 seconds. Three practice sessions were held before the Saturday race—one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted ninety minutes, the second session lasted forty-five minutes, while the third and final session lasted sixty minutes. During the first practice session, Stewart, who was racing for the
Stewart–Haas Racing team, was the quickest ahead of Hamlin in the second position and
Juan Pablo Montoya in the third position. Biffle came in fourth and
David Reutimann finished fifth. Hamlin clinched the ninth
pole position of his career with a time of 19.518 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the
grid by
Marcos Ambrose. Allmendinger was the fourth quickest, and Ambrose finished fifth. Burton and Bowyer followed in second and third places with times of 19.866 and 19.867 seconds respectively. Eddie Barton of Raceway Ministries began the pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Next,
Winston-Salem State University's Marching Band performed the
national anthem and each of the race teams'
pit crews gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Before the
pace laps, Robby Gordon replaced
Kevin Conway in the 7 car. On the next lap, Harvick passed Reutimann for the third position. Seven laps later, Harvick passed Newman for second as Jeff Gordon moved past Biffle for the eighth position. On lap 151,
Clint Bowyer passed Biffle for the tenth position. Two laps later, Truex Jr. made an unscheduled pit stop that put him multiple laps down. On lap 170, the fifth caution of the race came out for Truex, who stopped at the entrance of the pit road. Tony Raines won the free pass for the third time under this caution. Most cars made pit stops under the caution to refuel and get fresh tires. Tony Stewart was caught speeding on the pit road and restarted at the back of the field while Greg Biffle had to make two pit stops to replace a
lug nut that was missing from his car. Burton won the race off the pit road and led the field back to the green flag on lap 176. By lap 181, Newman had fallen to the sixth position as Reutimann and Johnson passed him. Four laps later, the sixth caution came out for
Regan Smith, who spun out and hit the wall. Ken Schrader won the free pass under the caution. Most of the cars opted to stay out while McMurray, Stewart, Scott Speed,
Sam Hornish Jr., and Mears made pit stops under caution. Burton continued to lead as he led the field to the green flag on the lap 200 restart. Hamlin moved past Harvick for the second position on the next lap. Two laps later, the seventh caution came out for Bowyer, who spun and hit the wall in Turn 4.
Hermie Sadler won the free pass under the caution. Biffle, Ambrose, Hornish, and Robby Gordon made pit stops as most of the cars opted to stay out. Burton restarted in the lead on lap 200. Three laps later,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed Newman for the sixth position. On lap 205, Harvick re-passed Denny Hamlin for the second position. Four laps later, the eighth caution of the race came out for
Paul Menard, who spun after he was bumped by Aric Almirola. Hermie Sadler again received the free pass and went back onto the lead lap. Several drivers including Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards made pit stops under caution. Greg Biffle received a penalty for having too many men over the wall and restarted at the back of the field. On lap 305, Ambrose got loose, spun, and hit Sam Hornish Jr., sending both cars into the outside wall. The caution did not come out because both of them safely returned to the pit road. On the same lap, Robby Gordon had a flat tire and made a pit stop. By lap 312, Burton had moved up to the third position. Five laps later, he passed Jeff Gordon on the backstretch for the second position. On lap 331, Hamlin passed Johnson for the eighth position. Two laps later, Kyle Busch passed Stewart for the fourth position. On lap 348, the twelfth caution came out for Biffle, who spun out with a flat tire. The leading cars made a pit stop to refuel and replace their tires. Earnhardt Jr. led the field to the green flag for the restart on lap 356. Two laps later, the thirteenth caution came out for Sam Hornish Jr., who spun and hit the wall. Earnhardt Jr. continued to lead as he led the field to the green flag on lap 363. Five laps later, Harvick passed Burton for the second position. On lap 373, Hamlin passed Edwards for the seventh position. Five laps later, Harvick passed Earnhardt Jr. for the lead in turn 1. By lap 382, Earnhardt Jr. had fallen to the fourth position because he had been passed by Burton and Johnson. Two laps later, the fourteenth caution came out for Jeff Gordon, who had bumped Kurt Busch, who retaliated by spinning Gordon out on the front stretch on the next lap. Mark Martin won the free pass under caution and got back onto the lead lap. Ken Schrader stayed out and assumed the lead as the lead cars made a pit stop. He led the field to the green flag on lap 393 but Harvick on fresh tires quickly passed him on the next lap. The fifteenth and final caution of the race came out on lap 396 when Tony Raines had a flat tire and spun in turn four. Jeff Gordon got the free pass under caution and got back on the lead lap. Gordon, Allmendinger and Hornish made pit stops under caution as Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag on the lap 402 restart. On the next lap, Burton passed Hamlin for the second position. On lap 422, Mark Martin passed Kurt Busch for the twelfth position. Two laps later, he passed Montoya for 11th. By lap 437 Martin had moved up to the ninth position. Four laps later, he passed Edwards for the eighth position. On lap 456, Hamlin re-passed Burton for the second position. Eight laps later, Martin passed Earnhardt Jr. for the seventh position. On lap 472, Hamlin took the lead by passing Harvick. By lap 481, Martin had moved up to the fourth position, passing Kyle Busch. Five laps later, he passed Burton for the third position. On lap 492, Ambrose had a flat tire but made it safely to the pit road. With four laps remaining, Martin passed Harvick for the second position as Hamlin had built a two-second advantage over the second place that he retained to the end and won his third consecutive race at Martinsville, and his seventh of the season. == Results ==