Kyle Busch picked up a fifth-place finish in the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, leading 56 laps in the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Jimmie Johnson won the race, picking up the eighth grandfather clock of his career.
“I thought through the middle we had a pretty good piece and we had something to challenge them with,” said Busch following the race. “There at the end when it was go time just didn’t quite have enough in this M&M’s Camry - just not enough turn and not enough drive off. We have to work on all those things. It’s all about minimizing your time off the throttle here and we didn’t figure all that out here this weekend.”
Mark Martin, subbing for the injured Denny Hamlin, brought the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota home to a 10th-place finish. “It wasn’t that great of a result - we were capable of a little bit better, but we just kept stumping our toe on Friday and then we had a setback when we were about to get into position,” said Martin. “I just want to thank Joe Gibbs. I did not fill Denny Hamlin’s shoes, I can tell you that much. He (Hamlin) is the master. I enjoyed this opportunity - it was fun.”
Matt Kenseth, who led 96 laps in the No. 20 Home Depot/Husky Tools Toyota, finished 14th in the race. “We ran really great - that’s the best we ever ran at Martinsville and the best car I’ve ever had here by far,” said Kenseth, in his first season with JGR. “That part was all good. We just didn’t get the finish, which is disappointing - we’ve got to start getting some finishes. I had a great car and that’s the good part.”
Clint Bowyer finished second to Johnson, followed by Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne.
Busch moved up two spots in the points standings to fourth, while Kenseth moved up one to 10th place.
The Sprint Cup Series goes under the lights next Saturday, April 13th, at Texas Motor Speedway for the NRA 500; they’re joined by the Nationwide Series for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Friday night, April 12th. JGR Nationwide Series driver Brian Vickers will be subbing for Hamlin starting at Texas. Keep up-to-date with JGR at joegibbsracing.com.
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