Jimmie Johnson was able to stay out front and kept his car clean all day to capture his third straight win at Martinsville Speedway and seventh win of the 2007 season.

Johnson held off Penske Racing’s Ryan Newman on a Green/White/Checkered Finish that ended under the yellow flag, the final of a record twenty-one caution flags.

In another strong run, Ryan Newman kept the Alltel Dodge off the wall this week, earning his fifth top-five of the season. Newman, who stayed out of trouble and towards the front of the pack all day, was definitely hungry to break his 76-race winless streak.

Racing hard with Jeff Gordon, Newman was able to power underneath the DuPont Chevrolet for second with less than ten laps to go. Lined up behind Jimmie Johnson on the final restart of the day, Newman was threatening for the lead when David Ragan spun in Turn One, bringing out the final caution flag and ending the race.

“I know I would have had a shot at him [if the yellow hadn't waved]. I had my nose at his left-rear tire at the start/finish line getting the white flag. I would have liked to have said that ‘Yeah, I could've passed him on the inside.’ He went into turn three and drifted up and over-braked and got loose and drifted up and gave me an opportunity. I didn’t think that was going to happen. He was really strong. I think he struggled a little more on restarts. I thought mine was really good on restarts, but it just never happened.” (PenskeRacing.com)

Jeff Gordon had one of the most dominant cars of the day, leading a race-high 168 laps. After being routed out of second by Newman, Gordon was able to bring his ride home in third spot. Gordon was not happy with the way Newman had gotten around him, but knew it was just the product of short track racing.

On the whole, a good day for the No. 24 team, Gordon maintained his points lead – now only 53 points ahead of teammate and race winner Jimmie Johnson. Clint Bowyer was able to stay in contention at Martinsville and now finds himself 115 points out of first. While many Chasers struggled throughout the day, all with the exception of Kurt Busch fought back to finish in the top-twenty.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a strong car for much of the afternoon, leading twenty-four laps in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. Junior began to notice a miss in the engine around lap 250, radioing to his crew, “I wish it would just blow.”

Never one to give up though, approaching the 300 lap mark, Junior began working his way through traffic and again radioed his crew, “Throw me to the wolves and let me do battle.” Dale Jr. continued to battle his way to the front, yet was left with a disappointing twenty-third after his DEI/RCR powered engine finally gave way under the twentieth caution that set up the Green/White/Checkered finish.

Sunday’s Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway again showed Hendrick Motorsports is the team to beat. Not only has HMS swept the last three races at Martinsville, there have only been two winners outside the Hendrick stable to win at Martinsville since 2003 (Tony Stewart – 2006, Rusty Wallace – 2004).

The team has adopted the Speedway as a sort of ‘home away from home’ ever since the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of ten people including Rick Hendrick’s son Ricky, brother John and head engine builder Randy Dorton, among others. The team was able to move forward in the days, months and years after the incident and continued that tradition this weekend, with three cars in the top five.

This week the series heads to the fast high-banks of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta has produced some of the series’ best finishes and always promises to be a great show. Jeff Gordon will look to continue his hot streak and extend his points lead over the competition, while Jimmie Johnson hopes to make it two in a row as he tries for his second straight season sweep (Johnson won the Spring race at Atlanta).