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>> there's no time to mess around. you got to raise your game. everybody is going to and you've got to raiseit more than the other person. >> welcome to the oldest track in nascar. it's nascar sprint racing for martinsville.

Old Navy Credit Card Center, telecast provided by nascar heat evolution. only 12 still have a shot at the championship,and today one driver could achieve their shot for the final four. i'm rick allen.

what makes this style of racing so difficult? >> there's no banking on the corners whatsoever. there's just no place to hide. two of the best racecar drivers in the serieshad this happen. then denny hamlin, a five-time winner here,has the same problem, gets into the wall. a very difficult car to drive. >> look at the restart. three wide doesn't work, jimmie johnson upthe track backwards. then last year the complexion of the chasecompletely changed when matt kenseth gets

spun around. >> short track racing is so unpredictable,so who can we expect to do well here today? >> i look at the master of martinsville, jimmiejohnson. he had eight wins at martinsville. while he hasn't won the last four races, howgood that 48 car is, i think that changes today. he punches his ticket to miami. >> with the success he's had in the past,he's always been very good here. but do not count out martin truex jr.

they made a mistake last week, did not transfer,but they have an exceptional car. >> pre-race ceremonies are next. let's go trackside now. >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, at thistime please rise and remove your hats as the virginia state police colorguard reveals ournation's colors. please remain standing as students from theboeing fifth grade class lead us in the pledge of allegiance. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of theunited states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, onenation, under god, individual, with liberty

and justice for all. >> here's today's invocation. please welcome mike hatfield. >> let us pray. god, of all creation and source of all grace,we thank you for this day. you have freedom in you, so challenge us toexercise that freedom next week so we will remember those who sacrificed to offer thatfreedom of the ballot. be with our teams and drivers today and grantyour presence to the men and the women who defend the liberties that you wish for allhumanity to have.

and remind us, oh lord, to seek your faithin everything we do. in jesus' name, amen. >> here today to honor us with the singingof the national anthem, the spirit of the old gold and black marching band. >> your track racing just around the corner. when we come back, they'll fire the enginesat martinsville. >>> welcome to nbcsn's coverage of sprintcup racing at martinsville. today's telecast presented by nascar heatevolution. as we get ready for the round of h for someof the stories today.

>> already a little bit of drama for this11 is team. the car slid off while the right tires wereon the ground, causing damage to the left side panel. crew chief telling me it's purely cosmetic. they got it back in place and intact. he does not expect it to be an issue in therace. >> jimmie johnson himself has eight wins herefor hendrick, and he told me, i hope this is an old school martinsville race. jimmie johnson hopin recapture some of themartinsville magic.

>> he knows there are no guarantees of a championshipamong homestead before he picks up a victory in the round of eight. to do that, he's going to use the first 400laps today to dial in to the racecar. the other day he left martinsville with dreamsshattered, but today both are intact for joey logano. he hopes for a miami sending chase win today. let's get the engines fired. >> announcer: it's time for the most famouswords in motorsports. here to give the command, please welcome thegrand marshal from the hiucifer."

>> drivers, start your engines! >> very enthusiastic command there to firethe engines. as mike losaro mentioned, three drivers inthe round of eight still without a championship. that means the other five are looking to repeat. one can make it into the championship fortoday. i'm not hiding. i am. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com[train horn] [engine roaring][engine roaring]

[engine roaring] the performance speaks foritself. pennzoil synthetics. made from natural gas. make the switch. >> announcer: nascar on nbcsn is brought toyou by nascar heat evolution. made for xbox and ps 1. >>> and by sprint. proud sponsor of the nascar sprint cup series. >>> i don't know what the hell happened there.

>> it's an absolute crap shoot. >>> welcome back to martinsville speedway. i want to take a look at today's startinggrid brought to you by nascar heat evolution. that will roll across the bottom of the screen. a gorgeous day for racing at martinsvillespeedway. could be one of the warmest in over a decade. cars still sitting on pit road, warming up,as they wait to roll out onto this half-mile racetrack. interesting times now.

we heard, listening in to some of the radiocommunication, crew chiefs telling the drivers to make sure to warm your brakes up. something they want to think about early evenbefore the start of the race. >> you want to try to bring that brake tempup slowly, get the rotors heated up in a nice, orderly fashion. you mentioned how warm it was today. that's going to be a factor not only for thecars but the drivers. it's very hot inside for the racecars andthat will play a role at some point. >> let's see if we could chat for one of thechase contenders.

carl edwards allowed us to listen in to hisradio and chat with us. jeff? >> hey, carl, it's jeff in the nbcsn booth. you with us? >> i've got you, jeff. >> carl, we've been talking all morning aboutthe difficulty of this racetrack. tell us why it is so difficult. >> i don't know how much time you have, butthere's about every difficulty you can have here.

the good news is i'm sitting in the best car,the best equipment with this toyota, and i've got the best team. if we get in all 500 laps like we know howto do it, there's no reason we shouldn't win this race. but yeah, you got to put a lot together towin. >> it's very warm today. it's as hot as it's ever been, in the 90s. how will that affect you in the racecar? >> it's going to be hard.

it will be stressful, physical and mental. but the guys, this is what we train for. they help me get prepared for this. i think the main thinis being able to communicatewith dave all day. >> carl, good luck today. >> thanks, jeff. >> we do have an opportunity to ride alongwith a few drivers. you see we have a camera inside the 19 ofcarl edwards. we're also riding alongside others, guys.

that gives you an idea of how short, how smalland how tight the corners are here at martinsville speedway. let's take a look at the race analysis frommartinsville. 500 laps will be just over 263 miles. the pit road speed, 30 miles per hour. that's going to be a very interesting numberto keep our eye on today. the fuel number between 100 and 150 laps,steef. >> all day we'll have to make decisions. if a crew chief sticks around a couple timesand then have to straighten up.

they put these down on the pit stalls to make sure the driver has maximum grip when leaving. most of the pits use some coke or other kindof sticky soda syrup. >> it's definitely interesting. but it will give not only the the cars grip,but it also gives the crew members grip. >> that's really the biggest issue, i think. when you talk about concrete surfaces, theycould be treated different ways but they seem to have less traction than asphalt. sometimes that has more to do the car thanthe grip.

>> you look at martin truex jr. and you know he really wants to show everyonethat he's a caliber championship driver. >> it's huge for these guys to sit out fromthe pole and recover this week. but all these guys on the outside, jay allmendinger. >> you have to remind your driver to be patient. there are times in this race where. >> at the same time you have to be very aggressive. >> we saw aggression a year ago at this race. as i see joey logano in the front row forthe fifth straight race at martinsville.

how aggressive do you get? as we take a look at this week's ford driveto the championship. >> rick, i think these numbers speak for themselves. look at that, 13 combined wins for danny andjimmie. only four for the other chase competitors. how about last led, jeff? only four last led by denny and jimmie. >> they're great at this racetrack the but. >> you see the king, 15-time winner at thisrace.

i'm sure he took his cowboy hat off becausewhen these cars come flying by, there will be a lot of wind there. >> almost didn't know who he was with hishat off. >> martin truex jr. as they come out of turn 4. the king waves a green flag. ing in martinsville. >> j.j. allmendinger habgood at martinsville.

he starts on the bottom of the track now downinto the. >> and that's the key. if you're on the bottom, don't allow that14 to get in line. 14 has a little bit of a hole behind 19. he needs to slow up to try to get in, buthe gets behind the 14, obviously. >> they're nose to tail. all the way back to the 88. jeff gordon subbing for dale earnhardt jr. today.

>> he's got to fight hard today, because whenhe sees that line coming, gets a good launch. allmendinger is not going to be patient! >> allmendinger already putting his rightfender to the 48th. >> that's what he's got to see. a little give and take. he may not need to hit the 40. .>> look at denny hamlin. does he have a problem? >> denny hamlin?

it looks like the teammates are maybe helpingeach other out here early in this race. >> i think the 11 saw the 18 coming, and insteadof passing them, i think they want that creation wrergs that prevented being pushed back. there's no air to get in. >> and denny hamlin just really tight on thethrottle. i mean really tight like something is wrong. >> this is where denny has to make a decision. because a2 srm. >>. it is just the car.

he could go so much faster around the cornerbut then accelerate sooner. denny is doing a really nice job of holdinghim off and he needs to. we talked about that long line of cars behindhim. >> already put the bumper to him just a littlebit, but one way you'll be able to tell if he's holding someone up is the gap in frontof the car. there is a gap in front of the 11 and thatmeans the 11 is holding up the 42. >> that's where denny hamlin is so good here. watch how patient he is on that curbing. his car doesn't turn and he knows that, sohe stays ff the gas until his car turns the

corner, then when you hear him accelerate,look how patient he is going to the throttle. >> the only way he's going to get by the 11is to move him. if you leave on the bottom with enough speed,the 42 is going to pass you. a slower car can block here so there is nooutside lane. >> 11 laps already have clicked off in martinsville. 78, martin truex jr., has been up front forall 11. >> denny hamlin talked about being very tight. that's not completely uncommon, steve, ina short run where the car just will not turn. you have very low air pressure, and sometimesthat's built into the setup of the racecar.

the 11 car may have a better run on long runsversus short runs, and when you have that situation, it will not run well to start. >> now he's stuck in the predicament of ishe on offense or defense? offense, mayhe wants to run a little higherhere, get a straight shot off. but the car will be able to take advantageof that. >> he doesn't have a lot of time to be lookingin the mirror when you're at martinsville. >> here in the afternoon in martinsville,team penske trying to foster greatness. this is not the first nascar race he's beento. he's been to a couple brickyards, but thisis his first short track.

what a unique experience for today. he'll spend a few laps down here and thenhead up to the suite where he might be served a martinsville hot dog. >> good to have the 2016 indy car championhere with us. out in front, martin truex jr. leading at martinsville. surprise!!!!! we heard you got a job as a developer! its official, i work for ge!!

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he had a problem qualifying on friday. >> it's a pretty heavy contact for martinsville. that thing is shorted up a few feet in theback. >> he's in the middle of the corner rightnow. >> he's trying to find an opening so he canget down on the racetrack and get back to the garage we just heard on the communicationthere. >> you see he's already backwards up out ofthe groove carrying quite a bit of speed. to your point, jeff, he either had an issuelike a wheel hop issue or had some help at the end of the backstretch, but he gets spunaround really early.

he's high on the groove, i don't see anyonebehind him. that would be a wheel hop issue, wouldn'tyou assume? >> yeah, that's the same problem he had inpractice. he worked hard to get out of turn 3. obviously he had some sort of break-in issue. >> it was friday qualifying that the wheelhop issue, right there. >> that shows right there. you see that right rear tire, a ton of movementinside the wheel. he goes around and you see a little bit lightercontact right there.

hear the engine making a ton of noise. it was hopping up and down, and then theyunloaded the backup car, and unfortunately the backup car only lasts 22 or 23 laps. >> it's going to be interesting. has decided to come and he's out on the racetrack. pit stops, let's go down to mike. >> he was pretty happy with his racecar, thoughhe had some concerns coming in because the second practice yesterday they were a littleoff. the balance has felt pretty good over thecourse of this run.

air pressure adjustment, four tire changeand sunoco race fuel for carl edwards. meantime, his teammate kyle busch also veryhappy with his racecar for the most part. when he felt like his car was getting a littlelucid, tightened up as the race went on. >> no panic in their voices. it's just the standard four-tire stop forthe 78. >>> first on pit road, first off pit roadfor martin truex jr., but several cars stayed out. and, sprint saves you 50% on most currentnational carrier rates. if you got 1% more haircut than me today,would you really pay twice as much?

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we went from seven timing lines in april to12 timing lines here in the fall, and already it has caught two drivers. the 19 and the 11 both caught for speedinggetting off of pit road. >> it's very difficult here with the slowpit road speed. the cars don't run very smooth as we see loganostay on the racetrack. tony stewart a the outside. logano grabs the lead. tucked in beside him, will tony stewart makethat outside line work again? >> he has to try to create an opening.

i think he's going to do it. can he get a good run? no, he can't. >> he clears the 48 as they go into one. >> this is the time in the race where thedrivers have to be very careful not to have damage. as those drivers try to fill that bottom lane,it really stacks cars up in the corner. >> aggressive run for the 14 of tony stewartall the way up to 2nd for tony. now it's two wide and the 24, chase elliott,blocking the 78 of martin truex jr.

doesn't work. >> he's got to try to fill that hole. he has new tires, so you'll see he's goingto try to take advantage of the 24 and the 3. >> he didn't quite get down hard enough. he needed to be crazy aggressive on that block. but j.j. allmendinger, he is going into that hole. he's going to be aggressive.

>> he's aggressive. so is the 42 right now. all over the back bumper of that driver, carllarson, now looking for his first short track win. >> we mentioned some don't stay on the racetrackas we see the 42 of kyle larson. the 47 pitted, kyle larson pitted. they're trying to use those fresh tires togain track position back. >> he said he was in fact hit with a speedingviolation. he said, i wasn't trying to get anything there.

my bad, you guys, i need to be more aware. >> he had a higher penalty to go on and winthis race. mike? >> carl edwards also hit with a speeding penaltyas well on that last pit stop. he and his crew chief dave rogers had thisto say afterwards. >> it's in the section between the 20 andthe 18. >> yes, it is. >> all right. yeah, i think what we discussed, i eithermisunderstood it or just wasn't thinking there.

>> and immediately following that, rogerscame over the radio and said, hey, bud, that's on me. to which carl said, no, i thought it was toogood to be true. we're both in this together. but it happened early, we can make up forit. >> what i heard there, with these curves,you can play a little game and up the rpm because the radius of the corner, the waythe math works out, it sounds like he was given some instructions. he would perhaps be running a little differentrpm.

the crew chief tries to take the responsibilitybut carl wouldn't let him do it, tried to jump into the life boat with him. >> it was two j.r. cars. that was his tenth speeding penalty of the2016 season. >> we look at two hendrick teammates, the24 chase elliott and the 88 of jeff gordon. they're the last two cars on the racetrackwith old tires. so now jeff, a very difficult situation. this, too, he has fresh rear tires. he'll accelerate off the corner and continuingto put pressure on the 88, and he has to,

because behind him, the ford is looking topass him. what happens with these old tires, they haveto stack everyone up. >> you made a good point earlier in the racethat keselowski has to make his move at the right time, and if it doesn't work out, kevinharvick is right there to take advantage of it. you never want to be the last guy with newtires. sometimes the strategy just works out thatway. >> here's where it comes into you. can brad look fcompletely clean way -- nowhe's looking outside the 88.

this isn't going to be one spot, this is goingto be at least four or five spots before the 88 gets back in line. he's already looking for information fromt.j. majors, where can i get down? no hole behind the 4, no hole behind the 41. they're looking way back to that 43 car perhapsletting him in. >> jimmie johnson. >> in second is jimmie johnson. it's been two years since they had a top fivehere at martinsville.

i talked to jimmie before the race and i said,i hope today is old school martinsville. it gets hot, sunny and slick out here andwe lay a lot of rubber down. to me that's been the difference in the lastfour years. he said the practice hasn't seen rubber. it's a little different today than it wasin the past. even though they're bringing it rubber backto the track. >> while new tires make a difference, we stillhave logano out with old tires and jimmie johnson running third. the 78 is driving away and running the 22down.

>> he's a second faster than logano, so tiresare mattering and that's going to set the strategy for the rest of the day. it's a balance between track position andhow new the tires are. the 24 car, we saw he did not pit, and he'sall the way down to 15. >> joey logano has it right now, but freshertires on martin truex jr. has brought the 78 right up to the tires. >> let him clear him and get right back tohis rear bumper. there's no reason to fight t. he knows the78 is going by. gave up the lead to come to pit road to getfour fresh new tires.

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i am ready to put hep c behind me. i am ready to be cured. are you ready? ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is rightfor you. people know me as dale earnhardt jr., racecardriver. but there's more to me than that. at my office, they call me boss man. i scout the talent, close the deals, do itall with a firm handshake. (loud clap noise) gentlemen.

(loud clap noise) to others, i'm water coolerdale. man we got those tiny trash cans in our offices. somebody keeps putting their lunch in mine. (all) what? everyday. smells like mac n' cheese. ew. (dale) lobster mac n' cheese, maybe? so weird...

so weird. have any of y'all seen who it is? no. (dale) for protecting my small business andmore... >>> martin truex jr. looked to be one of the favorites for thechampionship. ah week ago at talladega, his hopes for thetitle go away. but that doesn't eliminate the drive as hewon the pole at martinsville and once again back out front.

after coming to the road early, he makes itback out in front. the official app of nascar puts the road rightat your fingertips. you can hear communications between driversand hear the team discuss strategy. >>> 500 for martinsville speedway. >> carl starting to catch up with the 48 car. full contact right there. that's just martinsville. you'll see a lot of that. the 48 is trying to get in behind the 4, harvick.

>> a wrinkle on jimmie johnson. that left front, we'll want to keep an eyeon that. >> it will be a good-looking car in about300 laps if that's the only damage on the 48. he's back in it tonight, and there's no questiontires are going to matter. >> remember, jimmie johnson restarted in thefront row. >> guys, you can imagine how frustrating itis for jimmie johnson. jeff, all we hear on the radio is the spottersaying, inside, inside. he can clear him but he's got to get therequickly.

he doesn't have enough time. awfully frustrated behind the wheel. i can't imagine, jeff, what that's like behindthe wheel. when you're on the outside, it's tough toget down in martinsville. >> it's especially tough. the 41 car does not appear to have a reallygood racecar. he's having trouble getting by the 48. the car just won't turn on corner exits. jimmie johnson is almost able to clear him,but there's really nothing you can do, marty.

you have to keep battling and battling andfight your way down. this is where jimmie johnson is good. he knows how to be patient, he knows how todeal with situations, deal with problems. it's lap 59. a long way to go. just be patient but don't do something that'sgoing to put himself in jeopardy. >> the 23, we see a lot of smoke in the backof his car. i don't know if it's tire smoke or mechanicalissues. i don't see a fender wrinkled but he'll haveto come to pit road and find out what that

issue is. >> we saw the 23 duck onto pit road quickly. they thinkre's potentially fluid on the track. >> it looked like fluid smoke to me. it's still smoking heavily which tells methere's fluid leaking from somewhere. he will be disappointed. his team was very good in practice. he actually led the team to final practice. a little update.

we saw denny hamlin and carl edwards. they both got penalized for speeding on pitroad. carl edwards is working himself back to 20. >> and to counter that, chase elliott hasfallen all the way back to 23rd on those old tires. >> now that everybody realizes that, and whenyou lose your spot, everybody is coming on pit road. >> joey logano hung in second position. will lead the lapped cars onto pit road.

apparently there's only four cars not on thelead lap. and we'll go to kelly. >> you'll see the 4 car of kevin harvick whowas working his way through the field after starting this one from the 20th position,kevin just reporting that his car is too tight center, and he said it just continues to gettighter and tighter. four tires, mike. >> another one complaining the car is a littletoo tight, sliding the nose coming off the corner. they'll make a four-car tire change there,also air pressure for joey logano, dave.

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uh, this one? oh yeah, that's good. toyota. let's go places. all right dude you got this. you gotta stick the landing. carl! hey man, you want a wing? >>> he doesn't want to be on the outside.

there's nobody there to take advantage ofit. >> we're getting ready to see how much thatpays off one way or the other. starting on the outside, this 22 is goingto look for the bottom as soon as possible. >> probably games are already being playedhere as somewhat teammates. the 78 was the control car. shows the outside line but he does have alittle bit of assistance with the 18 of kyle busch holding up that inside line. >> rick, you're exactly right. that was a deal they worked out outside thegreen.

>> early on we see that work early in therace, but the last pit stop and the last restart a year ago, no games were being played. >> a.j. allmendinger, i wondered if that was goingto happen. the 22 drove them all the way to the bottomof the front stretch. i don't think allmendinger appreciated it. he had to run and moved the 22 out. >> that's a great example. we talk about cars that are in the chase.

a.j. allmendinger doesn't care about the chase. he cares about trying to win this race. he's going to do everything he can, and we'veseen already how aggressive he is. expect that to continue. >> one thing we haven't seen yet is someonehit the curb. we know that will happen sometime in thisrace. >> it's happened, we just missed it. there's no way with 48 cars, someone hasn'trun over the curb yet.

>> that's another unique thing about martinsville,that pink curb on turn 2, 3 and 4. >> we talked about the 22 trying to restarton the bottom, and the reason is the bottom is such a preferred lane. you can see right here, the 47 car runningdown the racetrack. the 47 has to lift. the 47 feels like he has that spot. he drives up and takes the position. that is a risk you take if you block on thestraightaway. >> he could go to turn 1 and say, you knowwhat, i'm not putting up with it.

instead he slowed up a little bit and thenmoved him just a little out of the way instead of spinning him out. >> now if joey logano gets to the 47, he knowsthe 47 raced him that way and he will race the 47 that way if he needs to. >> he probably won't remember the part aboutnot wrecking, he'll just remember the part about getting hit. >> i spoke with a.j. allmendinger's crew cheer this morning, andone of the questions i asked him was, it's got to be a fine balance, one of the competitorslooking for a win and at the same time knowing

they're competing for a championship. he said, look, we're out there for ourselves. we're going to race as aggressively as wepossibly can to get the victory. right now kyle larson stalking martin truex,jr. >> kyle larson will take the lead from martintruex jr. >> i think that was martin truex jr. saying, go ahead, young man. funk that's the pace you need to run, i'mgoing to give you the lead. he was probably abusing his equipment to thelimit.

>> we know kyle larson will give 100% everysingle lap. that's what makes him so fast. he's having to learn the priorities of managinga 500-lap race. >> will that come back to bite him, beingthis aggressive early, running those aggressive laps. will that run his tires out early? >> kyle larson had tons of speed, and we said,you know what, he has to have a good car here and run up front to learn these things. this is how jimmie johnson became so good,denny hamlin became so good.

maybe he'll drive up to the front and disappear. if not, he wears those tires, maybe he'lldrive a little bit different later in the race. >> jimmie johnson, his crew chief told merunning this spring up front against the leaders did teach kyle larson a lot, and you can'tmanhandle the racecar. we'll take care of it. we'll change it when he needs t but he hasto be careful about the input he has, and running up front taught him a lot. >> there is always question about how aggressiveyou need to be.

the 22 car trying to block him. the 22 is coming down. murray just puts the bumper to him and moveshim up the racetrack. we've seen joey logano early in this racetrying to block the protective position, but no one is allowed. everyone said, i'm not going to allow it andthey just moved him out of the way. that 79, only how aggressive do i need tobe to protect these spots? >> our guts and glory from earlier as thebattle of the lead once again takes place, and martin truex jr. takes the lead back fromkyle larson.

earlier you guys mentioned the words "patience"and "aggression." we have clearly seen both early in this race. >> you've seen this early in this race. you can see the guy bump one in the cornerand fill a hole. that's what we mean. there's no script to how these 500 laps aregoing to go. these drivers have to decide. jeff, you said it before, every race is different. >> and every lap is different and the levelsof aggression.

it's not, i'm going to be aggressive and knockthe guy away, or i'm going to be aggressive and try to get the car in a certain position. you have to determine at what turn in therace, what position you're in and how aggressive you want to be. you don't have to be somewhat aggressive orcompletely aggressive. there are differences between the two andyou have to understand where you are in the point of the race. has never won at this racetrack. in fact, fifth is the best he's ever finishedtwice here at martinsville.

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farxiga. we are everyday people. visit farxiga.com and ask your doctor howyou can get farxiga for free. welcome hi today we're gonna be comparingthese two truck beds. let's start over here with this aluminum bed. you put your toolbox up here... whoa! that's a big hole. that is unbelievable.

now let's check out the roll formed steelbed of the silverado. same angle,same empty tool box. took it way better. the steel held up. it's truck month! make a strong decision. find your tag and get over eleven thousandtotal value on this silverado all star. silverado proved it is the toughest truckhere. >> it looks like we're losing it due to anaccident, too, right now.

we're better off at 4 than we are at 2. that's what it looks like to me right here. i'm having him open up his entry a littlebit. >> that was spotter coverage by liberty mutualinsurance helping drivers worry less. >> he was talking to the crew chief tellingthem what he's seeing. kurt is not hearing that conversation. they're letting kurt drive, but they're morethan just spotting for that racecar, they're also helping the crew chief understand wherethe car needs to be better. >> the problem with 41, if you look, there'sprobably 5, 10, 15 car lengths in front of

him to the 32. no room behind him. now the 48 is going to jump beside jeff gordonin the 88. they know they're getting held up in the 41. he got back in line. i didn't think he would be able to get backin line. >> he let the 48 go, and i thought how areyou going to do that with keselowski behind you? i thought he might be better off to move tothe left and let keselowski move to the outside.

>> these drivers are pretty impressive. >> rick, don't encourage him. >> a nine-time winner in the 88 and an eight-timewinner in the 48. >> left side of the screen, you see the 42of kyle larson being touched down by the 4 of kevin harvick. we saw larson go up and take the lead frommartin truex jr., but since then he's lost about two seconds in the 78, and i wonderif he didn't just go a little hard and put a little bit of wear on the tires. the 41 does a nice job and gets back in line.

>> he started way back in 20th and has alreadyworked their way up. what didn't look like a very good weekendfor that team, there wasn't very much positive coming in as far as how his car drove, wasn'thappy with it, but right now they've made the right changes going into this race. >> i'm going to use cars like kevin harvick'sas an example. when the race is over, someone will say theynever had track position. if they could have got it, they could haverun up front. my argument is always the good cars find theirway to the front. the 4 kevin harvick has proven it.

he started in the back and got up front. >> he's in the racetrack running in the secondline. he's got a good launch off the corner. this is the first guy we've seen do this. kevin harvick gets underneath him, but watchwhat happens on corner exit. kyle larson, imagine that. kyle larson going to the outside. i would not have thought it at martinsville,though. >> using the second lane is the 42 of kylelarson.

>> there was a lot of conversation. nascar did a test here two or three weeksago, and they put a chemical on the racetrack on the top lanes to see if they could makethe top lane work well. all the drivers felt like it wasn't thereany more, it was all gone, but you have to wonder if that chemical had a little effectto let kyle larson run up there. >> the reason the 4 can't get underneath,he can't get to the gas as quickly. >> he's trying to turn the wheel and go tothe throttle at the same time, and it's just hard to get the car to turn and make goodgrip. >> the 20, matt kenseth, quick study as well.

he'll go up the racetrack, turn in the middle,look at this straight run. i think he had enough momentum to get insidethe fourth. just too early in the race to do that, butwe'll see how matt kenseth learned something from 42, as you mentioned. >> we just keep seeing kenseth run to thetop. >> longest green flag stretch that we haveseen. this one over 37 laps now. take a look at this vantage point from dennyhamlin's car. >> this is going to show you this big curbing.

it doesn't look as big from the outside ofthe car. but if you touch that, just like that, itmoves you up the racetrack. but the 11 of denny hamlin, another car thatrecovered. running fourth in the race. >> denny hamlin now has 10 speeding violationson the year. he was hoping the one he had last week attalladega would be his last. he said he probably studies pit road as muchas anybody. he always knows what lane he wants beforehe even shows up at the racetrack. but he would like being one of the fastestrather than the most penalized.

you have a restart from the rear, but thecar just a little bit tight, mike. >> penalties aside, denny hamlin is a hugeasset for joe gibbs racing, especially when you consider his record here at the speedway. he's run over 1300 laps at this track, soyou can't blame his teammate carl edwards trying to mimic what he's doing out thereright now. let's listen in. >> this car is good. we'll pay attention to that when we go forward. >> he's driving around out there right now.

>> so edwards tracing the line of denny hamlin. nothing new this weekend. in practice yesterday, denny hamlin intentionallyfollowed carl for a good 20, 25 laps, and after that run they debriefed where edwardswent to hamlin and hamlin gave him a little critique on how he ran this racetrack. very much a team player for joe gibbs racing. hamlin spreading the wealth. still out in front. kyle busch, matt kenseth chasingbehind now second and third.gilman: go get

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they've completed 115 laps. this is the longest stretch we've gone undergreen flag conditions. martin truex jr. out in front. for a moment and for a couple laps, kyle buschwas able to pass the 78, but the 78 has gotten backed by the 18 and kyle busch running second,matt kenseth third, kevin harvick fourth and allmendinger still running in the top five. >> that pass by the 1. >> they started this race all with 4,000 points,so they have separated themselves from the

rest of the competitors, still running forthat championship. >> well, you know, rick, one of the feel-goodmoments of this season transpired right here at martinsville after kyle busch won the race. kyle found a fan in traffic afterwards. she got very excited. her name marian brazil. i spoke with her on the telephone last nightto get her firsthand experience what that was like. she said, i was going to protect that hat,not let anybody touch it.

that went out the window. she made eight races since and wearing thehat ever since. she's in the grandstands wearing that hathoping it brings kyle some good luck. >> a lot of them live under two hours fromhere, maybe a little bit north of charlotte. this racetrack just north of the north carolina-virginiaborder. >> 54 laps into it. remember at the beginning of this run, kylelarson pressured that 78 for the race lead. it only took about 35 laps from when the 42was leading to fall all the way back. now he's outside the top ten running in the12th position.

conversely right in front of the 42 is dennyhamlin. he restarted in the 21st and he has movedhimself to the 11th position. >> what is it about this racetrack that somedrivers like denny hamlin, like the 48 of jimmie johnson, do they stay at a consistentpace, do they not run their equipment too hard? >> i think the 4 is managing, in my opinion. we talked about some cars going forward, someback. matt kenseth sitting here running third. did a very good job on that last charge tothe front.

he started in 17th place, so a move to thefront for matt kenseth. >> chasing aftheir teammate, kyle busch. >> he's running down pretty close right now. >> look at him right down along the curb,very patient on corner entry, saving the rear tires, doesn't put his car in harm's way. >> now, jeff, i want to ask you -- i'm sorry,go ahead. >> here's the issue right here. look at these lap cars. now the 78 car, he's got to get by all thesecars.

they don't want to go a lap down, they'regoing to fight him. once the other guys get to him, it will probablybe a little easier. the 78 is letting the 18 go. last cars on 18 runs always have a huge barrieras to who can end up with the lead. >> a little contact and the 32 gets into thewall, so jeffrey earnhardt will have a little damage to the right side of the car. >> still coming inside. making a pass. you see the 18 up a little bit higher.

the 20 tried to take that second spot away. >> it creates an opportunity. these lapped cars get an opportunity as driverstry to pass each other. look at this contact. gets loose, gets inside six. they got tagged from behind by the 95. >> all day friday we talked about the differencebetween a good lap time and the race at this little tight half mile. not only how fast can your car be, but howis your car driving through traffic when you

only have one lane on the corner. >> you're talking about championship contenderstrying to pass lapped cars. they're not just blowing by them. it's difficult to make these passes. >> some damage to the right side of that car. that will probably bring him to pit road. >> yeah, this is the second time we saw the44 go around. they were able to repair it, but it lookslike he has another pretty good contact with the wall.

>> the lettering has rubbed off that leftside tire and the right side rear tire. obviously he's got some tire rub and has hadsome contact. last week, career best finish for the 44,brian scott, finished setalladega. now a lot of smoke still rolling out frombehind that 44. the tire continues to rub the fender. jeff, the question i was going to bring upto you and you pretty much answered it, but as the guy who is in front of the leader,how hard do you race them early in the race? we're only 131 laps in. do you try to hold that position, or do youfind a spot where you're not going to lose

too many positions by giving him the spot? >> you do your best to hold him behind you,and then you race him to be the first car a lap down. you just have to judge who is behind you. if the guy behind you is one lap down, thenyou race accordingly. if the guy behind you is three laps down,you rafferently. we have a caution coming out now, i believe. >> a caution flag. danica patrick has just gone a lap down.

she will receive the free pass on this caution. just one caution on the day at lap 133. >> it looks like a rear bumper pretty highup. we just saw4 near the wall. nascar has to collect a piece of the bumper. looking at the 44 getting into the corner. you can see the left rear tires bouncing upand down on the asphalt. that is wheel hop. makes contact with the wall.

i would bet that rear bumper must be fromthe 44. >> we talked about wheel hop. it seems to be happening more today than ithas in the past. you'll see that tire starts shaking. you can almost see it stop and then it bounces. that's wheel hop, and all you can do at thatpoint is turn the wheel. if you don't, it's going to completely spinout. >> once again, we see martin truex jr. leave the cars onto pit road.

they will get ready for service. kelly? >> the 4 of kevin harvick who worked his wayall the way up into the top five. he said he needs a little more bite. it's a four-tire stop for kevin harvick. >> matt kenseth saying he's very tight goinginto the corner. they're going to make a four-tire change alsoand a wedge adjustment. meanwhile the 18, kyle busch, says it feelsa little rough in the front. >> they will get just a little bit.

>> truex jr. holding his position as do all the top four. >>> coming up next, dale earnhardt jr. will join us here in the booth. so i got this new chair, had it for a coupleof weeks. somebody keeps lowering it. ah, dang it! i mean i reset it to where i want it and igo back to my office, and i sit down and it's lower.

do you have a warranty on the chair? no! someone is lowering it! you look out that window and see cars andstreetlights. want to know what he sees? opportunity. different lines, and again, the tire managementis so key here. >> and you have been so good, as all the hendrickdrivers here, but we mentioned the words patience and aggression early.

what kind of driver were you when you wereat martinsville. >> can i answer that? i'm not sure it's fair for him to say, because'seen him both. very patient, and there was a race here wherehe lost his fender at 100 laps. >> i've definitely learned a lot of lessonshere, that's for sure. >> and another driver that has been caughtfor speeding on pit road, the 4 of kevin harvick. so now, denny hamlin, carl edwards and kevinharvick have all been caught for speeding. as we get ready for the restart, it's truexjr. and kyle busch.

truex jr. on the outside. a deal has been worked. will go to the bottom of the racetrack. kyle busch gives him that opportunity andkyle busch will stay there in the second spot. joey logano in the high spot, trying to fightfor a spot, hoping someone will open up so he can dive into a hole. right now he's stuck on the outside. >> rick, you mentioned those speeding penalties.

they're always painful. but as we farther into the race and less andless the pain of these penalties will become more and more. >> late in the race or even right now, thatcould really be difficult on the driver. he's going to have to make up a lot of spotson the racetrack. there's not much strategy they can do on pitroad to get those spots back. >> denny hamlin got caught speeding on pitroad early and worked his way up to 6 or 7 on the restart. he got hung up on the outside and he's desperatelylooking for a way to get to the bottom.

you see that hole right there? it's just not quite big enough. the timing wasn't right for him. >> it's a difficult decision to make. you race as hard as you can and hope a holeopens up, or do you go back a little bit and find a hole that's possibly behind the 41here? >> like right now, he's got to aggressivelyget in there. good job. >> you heard his father tell him, there'sa quick hole, get down.

now they're going to try to tell jeff gordonwhen to get down. right here he's going to squeeze him down. the 41 i'm sure is going to fill the hole. the question is, how about the teammates? is chase elliott going to let the 88 in? >> he's trying to prevent him from being onthe outside. denny hamlin just lost five spots only becahewas on the outside. >> the outside just isn't as competitive comparedto the bottom. it makes it very challenging to find gripas you go through that concrete on the outside

lane. they start to use that outside lane as thetires start to wear. you can get in the corner wide and high andmake a straighter run off the bottom to save that for your drive. early on the run you need to be in the bottom. >> you try to make that track as short asyou can possibly make it. when you lose your grip, you try to open thetrack a little bit. >> back to kurt busch. he has jeff gordon right behind him in the88.

>> this is when it's so difficult to be ableto be patient and know that if this goes 80 laps, i've got to have some rear tire lefton my car to get in the corner. right now you might have a fast car. the 88 is looking hard to get past this 41. but you don't want to use it too much. this could go long green, and it's still earlyin the race to where the tires are very critical. >> the other thing you pay attention to earlyin the run is where are you? you're going to restart fifth, seventh, ninthon the outside, and then you don't push so hard.

but if you have a position that will put youon the outside, you aggressively try to take that spot. there is a strategy involved in that as well. >> it's one thing for the 41 and the 88 toworry about their tires. they're in 13th and 14th, but what about kevinharvick? had to restart at 26th, currently runningat 25th. how hard does he push? it's not just about tires. brakes, gearings.

the harder you push your car, this is likea marathon. you only have so much life in this racecar,and if kevin harvick abuses it, do the brakes work as good as the ones that possibly havea little cleaner air? >> i can't speak for kevin, but as a driver,i actually felt like i was pushed harder when i was running inside the top ten. theeeds are up, there's competitive cars there,and you want to maintain that track position so you probably run it a little harder. >> matt kenseth taking the lead away frommartin truex jr. we'll see if kenseth will potentially letthe 78 back by.

he will. it looks like that might have been a littlebit of i'm going to help you out here move. >> we wondered how long the joe gibbs carsand the toyotas could work together, and so far they're working together really well. but remember, truex jr. isn't in the chase. he's working well with the cars that are tryingto win a championship. we'll see if the 20 or the 18 can make itto the lead if they continue to play nicely. on a completely different agenda now.

now that he's been eliminated from the chasehopes and the championship run, now martin wants to go out and prove to everybody, hey,i think i could have won this championship. if i hadn't had this engine failure, i'llshow you guys. i'll win this race if i have to. >> there's another year coming, there's anotheropportunity coming and i think that with great disappointment, if you can still bring somethingout of it that's positive, that's what you do. and the team winning as much as they did inthe regular season and then coming in and having that problem last week, it had to breaktheir hearts.

but the only way to get over that is to goget another trophy. >> we take a look at of the short track races,four of the five races that joe gibbs racing has won this season, presented by sprint. sprint's network reliability now within 1%of verizon. switch today. save 50% on verizon, t-mobile or sprint today. and that number 18 in alliance with joe gibbsracing, so they have been strong at all the short track races this year. >> it's quite a bit different mentally whenyou're out of the chase race picture.

a lot of worry and tension is gone from thetruex team. they can just let it all hang out. they can win these races and just dominate,like you see them do today. the guys in the chase are running every lapthey've run. they're trying to take care of their cars. it's a totally different mindset. >> junior, when you say that, the pressure. you experienced it a year ago. being in the chase, what kind of pressureare you feeling?

what are these eight guys feeling right now? >> you just don't want to be one of the guysbumped out. every lap you run, you take a chance are risksyou're willing to take, not getting dumped by somebody not in the chase and not worriedabout your situation. it can be really difficult mentally throughoutthe race, particularly when it comes down to those late yellows. you know this place has a tendency to throwa lot of curveballs late in the race to these crew chiefs with strategy, and the tires,when to stay in, when to stay out. you can be running great in the top threeall day long, and something strategywise can

take you out of that top ten finish to whereyou're wanting to get today. >the 32 others fighting for a win here atmartinsville. look, anyone who thinks you gotta make a truckheavier to make it stronger, has been working' too long without a hard hat. meet the all-new 2017 ford super duty. they cut weight with a high-strength, militarygrade, aluminum alloy body and reinvested a big chunk of it to beef up the high-strengthsteel frame. forging the most capable heavy-duty pickupin america. time to punch work in the face.

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no, i was just showing him how easy it isto save with snapshot from progressive. you just plug it in and it gives you a ratebased on your driving. does she have insurance for being boring? [ light laughter ] laugh bigger. [ laughter ]>>> we're on lap 167. sprint cup series ace-- race in martinsville. coverage brought to you by liberty mutual. 40 guys keeping an eye out for the 40 driverson the track. >> here is the spotter on the inside givingdirection about where to go.

it's important to commute with the driver,equally important because the track is so small. >> it's important to give him informationabout cars around him, but giving him opportunities to get back in line. a good spotter is a spotter that knows there'sa hole there and knowing it's not going to close up before they get to the breaking zone. >> is there a way you can create a hole? >> drivers can create holes. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

you saw it today not work for joey loganoa few times. it just depends, really, on how you race throughoutthe season. this racetrack has taught me more lessonsthan any other racetrack on how to race, how to take care of your car, when is it criticalto make that hole or not make it. >> because the penalty of making a mistakehere is that you hit something or you lose track position. and the price here bigger than anywhere else. >> 31, ryan newman. the 11th of denny hamlin once again had aspeeding penalty but he worked his way up

to 7th now. >> i think denny as good as the top three. toyota is in the top three. i think denny is as good as they are, if notbetter. >> martin truex jr., kyle busch, jeff gordon,the first three positions. allmendinger and denny hamlin, four and five. >> you see him on the same strategy with tiresthat everybody else has. you see him moving back starting to inch forward. >> that justves to me as chaotic as some ofthese short tracks are, there's nothing that

happens by chance that jimmie johnson haswon a -- that denny hamlin continues to win. it looks like it locks out of your control. i think they've proved otherwise. >> it really doesn't happen by chance. i talked to kevin harvick about not maybehaving a career if it wasn't for this racetrack he had a race team and he was struggling. he told harry hyde that he didn't think hewas traveling. they said they should go to the next race. jeff bodine won that race.

they got northwestern security life to comeon board and the rest is history. the reason you guys are sitting up here andhaving worked for rick hendrick and all the successes he has had right there when jeffbodine won at this racetrack. >> it's funny how almost every success storyhas a point, when they had to decide whether to continue or not. a difficult, challenging sport. >> we have matt kenseth on the bumper of that78. kenseth has led a lap. has led the most.

144 laps he has been out front. i would call that a dominant performs. but can he keep it up? that will be the big question, can he maintainthat. we still have 223 laps to go. and we have cars on the 48, and this is allon the front bumper of denny hamlin. you get to see how you pass at martinsville. he enters a little bit high. look how he turns down right to the curve,gets on the corner.

not quite as good as the 48. they have to continue to work that, though,try to enter, get the car turned and exit straight. now turn and go below the 48 on exit. >> i was a little surprised that the 48 openedthe racetrack up so much. he kind of opens the track, turns late, kindof gives the 11 a little bit of a look at the bottom getting into the corner. >> i love the shot that you can see how muchthose rear tires work. you can see matt kenseth finally getting aroundthe 78 for the second time.

>> now matt kenseth, i think, fought his wayup front. there was no, i'm moving out of the way andgetting you a bonus point. we'll see how dominant the 28th would be. you're at martinsville. >>> superstar california chrome is back insanta anita to try to cap off the season with one more championship. breeders cup world championships. coverage begins friday on csn. we have a classic building here at martinsvilleas the 78 of martin truex jr.

no longer up front. it's matt kenseth that is leading the wayand kyle busch has been able to get to martin as well. kenseth and busch running 1 and 2. jr. has run to third, joey logano and hamlin 4and 5. >> he's going to be looking for some adjustments. he's obviously fallen off on the 20 and 18. >> this has been a falloff for the 48 andthe 11 for probably 15 laps now.

>> all right, this is the racing i like todo. >> that's denny knowing that the 48 is listening,letting him know, hey, as we see the 48 get in the left rear of the 47. >> a little smoke there. >> big damage to the right front of the 48. i don't think it will affect the handling,but -- >> right front damage. >> right front damage for sure. it's caved in a little bit.

i haven't seen much smoke on the right front,so maybe not a lot of tire rub. >> as long as it doesn't rub the tire, damagehere will not alter the way it handles. what's interesting right here, you heard dennyhamlin saying, okay, chad, now you know why i race you. he's been on the 48 but can't clear him. keselowski is working the outside to get bythe 11. is surprises me that jimmie is trying to getinto contention this hard. every point counts. i have a tremendous amount of respect becausedenny hamlin has yet to make any contact with

the 48. >> he's been underneath him. multiple times he can't complete the pass. >> two of the best at this racetrack battlinglap after lap for one position. >> this is the same thing we saw in the lastlong run. the inside better in the middle but the 48is such a launch that he can't keep the position he gains in the middle. marty? >> jeff, even as experienced as jimmie johnsonis with eight wins, they've been guiding him.

we reminded him today, if you need to usethat high line, use it. another thing he said earlier, when we hitoff 44, we have a little extra that everyone else doesn't have. i don't know about you, but i'm going to beshocked as well as it is today here in martinsville. >> it seems like jimmie moves up the middle,moves up the racetrack, but he's ready to be in the outside lane. >> i think hamlin is upset because he wasn'texpecting it, either. >> just hit him. poor contact.

two chase drivers and a lot of contact there. >> sparks flying. >> that's exciting. i was so surprised the 48 contested that hard. he finally lost patience and tracked him downhere. >> now we're seeing a little tire smoke offthe 48. was he racing denny hamlin a little too hard? there's the bumper. >> i don't blame him.

11 couldn't get away. the 48 came down, i think, with a little purposeto try to get to the bumper of that 11. >> a caution now comes out, so a restart willbe coming. we'll see what happens as far as the 48. >> we have to beat it out, all right? >> how much damage they will have to workon under this pit stop. >> i love short track races. it's what it's all about. battling for position.

that outside line started to work. denny hamlin saying, hey, that's not how werace at martinsville. got him out of the way. >> jimmie with the tire rub and so forth,that's not very serious, they can get that out pretty easily. might lose a spot or two on pit road to dothat. lucky for him, he's got this caution to workon it. >> you were wearing a goodies shirt earliertoday. >> we came out here with our sponsor.

goody sponsoring a lot of good products. >> danica patrick was on the lead lap, buttrevor bayne was in the free pass position so trevor bayne will get the free pass. >> what if that came off and got on somebody'sgrille? just in the interest of fairness to everybody,there's another caution to go in and fix it. >> here they come down pit road again. we'll go to kelly. >> denny hamlin wanted to show jimmie johnsonthat he wasn't bluffing when he made that move.

he said he was struggling a little bit inthis car. >> i got the outside to work but then the 11 just knocked me out of the way. they'll concentrate on the. >> tire change, wedge adjustment on the rightside. overall, much better. he said i can point the car now. >> they're going to spend a little. matt kenseth and kyle busch, they hold theirpositions off pit road.

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>>> great view of martinsville speedway, coverageprovided by our partners at smithville foods. looking down on a full martinsville speedway. your live race day companion. social conversation all in realtime. you won't miss a lap when you visit nascar.com/driveon your personal computer now. and welcome back to the goody's fast relief500. gorgeous day in martinsville, virginia. temperature trying to climb up into the 80s. and such a historic racetrack, the train tracksrunning just down the backstretch here.

this racetrack has been active since 1949. i know you're a historian of the racetrackin all of racing, so i'm sure a place like this holds a special place in your heart. >> we love to short track race but we don'tdo a lot of it. very exciting. >> they're coming out of turn number 4. it's kenseth, kyle busch. kenseth on the outside, the race leader. once again we'll see how the teammates worktogether.

kenseth will be able to slide just in frontof the 18 of kyle busch, but the 22 of joey logano, what will he do? >> he's got no choice but to race these guyspretty hard on the outside here and hope that he can find a hole. he's going to try to work in here and seewhat happens. truex having none of it. >> brad keselowski currently in the eighthspot, and he has a tough position that he is in after he restarted on the outside. let's listen in to the spotter of the two.

>> going to be an open behind that 47 whenyou exit, i think. no, 88 on the inside. 88, 3 left corner. this should be a no brainer behind the 88. inside. i'm sorry, bud. 22, no openings there. opening behind the 1, opening behind the 1,opening behind the 1. there you go. >> what a helpless feeling.

that was spotter coverage presented by libertymutual. helping drivers worry less. when you're stuck on the outside, you've gotto be worrying. >> driver patience but also spotter patience. it would be easy for a spotter to create ahole that isn't there. joey logano making that hard move. joey did a good job of getting in there. >> once again the 2 is on the outside, thistime because the 42 of kyle larson moved outside of it.

>> he got to the bottom, did what he had todo. dale. >> 2 of brad keselowski kind of choked upand allowed 32 in. keselowski said, no, not going to happen. >> it can be frustrating. >> brad still struggling on the outside. >> kasey kahne just got to the back of thetwo as they were exiting turn 4. >> i mentioned the two had gotten to the bottomof the racetrack, but he won't let him in. >> the 32 knows he's going to check out very,very good.

pull to the left, force the 2 into the corneron the top, gained a position. kyle busch running second, martin truex 3,denny hamlin fourth. >> number 88. >> still, toyotas have a pretty good leadon them. >> i think that might be one of the most famouscelebrations i haven't seen in some time. may be the most excited i've seen him withouta win. >> they're still in a great position to winthat championship, but that wind kind of pushed him into homestead with a chance to win atitle. but he loves racing here.

this is a driver's track. you feel like when you're a driver and yourace here that you really can make a difference behind the wheel as much as the car is importantand the driver and the crew. it's important with the success you mighthave here. >> i remember when i won my clock, it wasas if i won the daytona 500 again. it's so hard to win here. the clock is such a unique trophy. all the drivers out there want to get oneof those clocks. >> that's the key, the fact it is so difficulthere.

that's why you cherish so much the hthe heritage. all those different things make you want theclock that much more. >> and a win, and you're on to miami. >> you saw him put the bumper to the 48. i'm sure he doesn't want to race that way,but it's time to go, and his two teammates, matt kenseth and kyle busch, they better lookin the mirror and start making adjustments. they don't have the wheels right now to makeit up to the 11. >> jimmie johnson has been unbelievable intexas. then you look in phoenix.

kevin harvick would not make it in phoenix. this may be your best opportunity. they may be saying this is the only opportunitythey have of winning a race and be able to advance. >> they have to come down pit road. he's worked his way up to. >> our contact again, see right here he'son the very bottom. when he leaves he's not on the bottom anylonger. he gets inside the 43.

so continue to bang that car up marty? >> there was a panic here at the 48 camp afterthat happened with jimmie johnson. they let it run for a few laps and said, nomore smoke, we're good to go. earlier, though, they had to make severalrepairs on the 48 car. here they are on the radio after those repairsto the left front of the car. >> have we fixed it? >> to me it been the same. >> and that's chad saying the car is fineafter repairing we really haven't made much progress.

it will be interesting to see what happenson this run. >> if we get this run, it will be interestingto me next time the f. the. there will be a when the 48 and the 11 willbe near each other. >> does jimmie johnson feel he's been wrongedor did denny hamlin have the right to put the bumper to him? >> we already saw the 11 push the 42 out ofthe way. they have shown themselves to. without the right tools, a five minute jobcan turn into a five hour job. so when it comes to your tools, choose wisely,grasshopper.

for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com>>> we talk a lot about brake bias, well something the driver can use inside the car right there. that knob is basically the brake adjuster. it can be turned to the right to put somefront brake in it, turned counterclockwise to put some rather brake in it. >> and the brake bias changes. as the race goes on, the brakes run hotterand hotter. you gain rear brakes and you actually getthat wheel hot. it can help in handling but it also preventsyou from getting in a wreck because of that

wheel hop. >> i want to look at toyota driver update. as i mentioned earlier, the top four driversall driving toyotas. a look at carl edwards currently in 10th. one, two, three, four, for kenseth, hamlin,busch, truex jr. and carl edwards back there in 10th. >> they have the adjuster in the front rear,and one thing that's critical is you'll make a lot of changes on the brakes throughoutthe run as the car is changing and entering the corner and so forth.

but also when they come out to reset all that. >> were you doing that yourself, or was gregtelling you to do things differently to handle the car? >> i always tell greg if he has an idea onhow to handle the car, tell me. he can spur me to making changes to the car,but the key thing is resetting all that at the pit stop. if you have new tires and you forget to resetthat stuff, you can get the car going. you'll put rear brake in it. >> you'll hear those drivers from time totime say one round to the front.

they're telling the team that so that whenthe caution comes out, we forget how many rounds we put to the front or the rear. you have to have somebody remind you. >> we look back at carl edwards and it showscarl edwards working. you see how smooth he tries to be on the wheelbut you see his right hand right here on this side of the steering wheel. this doesn't look like a radio switch to me. it has kind of an up and down toggle to it. not only can you adjust all the brakes youtalk about, but you can move the track bar

up and down. >> i love the track bar adjuster and whatit can do for the driver inside the car. if you get behind, your setup is a littlebit off, it can make a difference for the track bar adjuster. i've probably passed more cars having a trackbar adjuster as a tool. i can adjust it when i get in traffic, i canadjust the track bar to help me with that handling issue. >> you have to know where to set it back to,right? >> absolutely.

we have it on the dash and know where we'reputting it as we're moving it. >> the 1 and 2 car worked that out. they're almost three wide. >> it's just so unusual to see racecars runningup there, but i think he moved up there on purpose. >> chase elliott running back to the 13 spot,and we continue to see 1 and 2 fighting for that ninth position. keselowski trying to get it. kenseth on one of his winningest tracks.

he's out in front here. >>> nascar on nbcsn is brought to you by libertymutual insurance, helping drivers worry less on the track and on the road. >>> gorgeous day in martinsville, virginia. normally we don't like to show you the radar,but this is an instance where we're actually proud of what the radar looks like right now,because there is no precipitation anywhere on this radar. steve, the other thing is, we have two shorttracks relatively close together. >> they're only 173 miles between bristoland martinsville speedway, so the opportunity

to show two -- and i was worried when we weregoing to show the radar. every time i've seen it this year it's beengreen, but it looks perfect today. >> ideal conditions. >> only 180 miles from richmond, so threeshort tracks all close together. >> matt kenseth put a lap down and they havestruggled with that 41 car all day long. just a couple statements he made about thecar. the car is numb and does nothing. it's like there is no sway bar on the car. he said, i cannot hang onto this thing anylonger.

we talked for a while about how consistentthis 41 team has been in this chase. in fact, their worst finish is 13th so farin the chase, and they rely on that consistency. but it was also talked about the lack of seed,and they did not expect for martinsville to be a stop. the 41 needs to pick tup a little bit in dangerof going down. >> they just haven't had the speed. they've only had four top ten finishes inthe last 11 races. the speed has gone away from this team. >> another driver doesn't seem to have foundsomething.

the 4 of kevin harvick. >> he was running when he got hit with thatspeeding penalty. he's running 13th, but right now he's sayinghe lost his turn and his rear drive, so he has dropped back several positions running19th right now. he has actually been one of the best trackdrivers this season with three top five finishes, more than any other driver. when i talked to his crew chief about that,he said, the only thing is we're super fast about the first 300 laps. but as the track rubbers up, we tend to waytoo tight.

he was hoping with the warmer weather, theywould be able to adjust for this race, but right now he's already struggling and they'reat lap 261 of 500. >> this racetrack has been a tough racetrack. if we look at the chase drivers, the situationthe track put them in. this year we've will had three. >> there's more trouble coming as well. >>.>> kurt busch in the 41 looking like he might be going a lap down here soon as matt kensethlooks to the inside. >> we talked a lot about penalties, we talkedabout cars running in the front.

look at the average of that. 41, kurt busc. tony stewart back in 25th, so none of the. >> you wonder how hard curt. push this issue and try to keep in distanceof the 20. first car a lap down. that's what the goal is now. >> he's got a pretty good distance untilmentnext car, aircraft swim like he should. >> that intensity to say the first car a lap down,

that is huge, isn't it? >> it's important in a place like this. you want to be able to get back and get thatopportunity as soon as you can or get to wait around. there's just not many opportunities. this race is halfway over, and these guysare already just short of a lap down, and you have to think about getting back to areasonable finish. >> another car that i think has made improvementsis this 88. this 88 has been very quick the last 20 lapsor sochlt.

>> it's no surprise, jeff gordon here. he's been the fastest car on the track inthe last 20 laps. >>> we talked about dominic, the 88 driver,has been. nine career wins at martinsville. that's the most active drivers he has beendominant at this racetrack. spritz network reliability, now 1% driverswitch today. save on driver rates at the sprint networktoday. kenseth still out front. i mentioned earlier this is one of the trackshe has not won on.

trying to change that statistic today. can you feel it? oh, coca-cola. eh, i should probably go. before taking his team to state for the firsttime... gilman: go get it, marcus. go paperless, don't stress, girli got the discounts that you need safe driveraccident-free everybody put your flaps in the air for mego paperless, don't stress, girl

i got the discounts that you needsafe driver accident-freeeverybody put your flaps in the air for me i can't lip-synch in these conditions. savingsoh, yeah >>> tonight sunday night football. live from arlington, texas. the eagles visit the cowboys. tan patrick hosts beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern only on nbc.

this telecast presented by nascar heat evolution. >> rick, can you imagine being in jeff gordon'shouse when it strikes noon? he has nine grandfather clocks. as you guys were mentioning a moment ago,today is his 805th career start. he thought homestead last year was the laststart. he said i definitely think this is the laststart for me, but it has been fun getting his car ready for dale earnhardt next year,continuing to progress the team, continuing to make them better. he said, sure, i'd like to progress but i'velearned a lot this year.

so junior, trying to make your car ready fornext april when he gets back to it. >> we need to continue to compete and runwell. just an amazing driver. one of the best substitutes i could have,especially martinsville. we're not going to miss a beat with martinsville. when we get back in the car in february, itwill be like we never left. >> you've done a great job watching, and youseem comfortable watching. is it weird to see your car go around theracetrack? >> i didn't know whether i'd like it or not,but i can't stay away.

i obviously want to be here with jeff's success. he may win this race. to be able to see my guys enjoy that, we havea great group of guys. so for them to get a win, it's like when youget knocked out of the chase early. if you can get a win late in the race, it'sa big boost to the morale of the team going into the off season. this will be great for the guys if they canget a win here at any of the remaining tracks on the schedule. >> again, knowing this will be the last racefor jeff gordon, another one that's making

his last martinsville start in the race isthe 14 of tony stewart. as we watch the 4 of kevin harvick continueto fall back. >> rick, i know the 4 has probably the mostimpressive streak of any racetrack when they go to phoenix, wining five of the last six. but they cannot continue putting themselvesbehind. racing in this round, running where they don'tneed to. there is still a lot of racing left. 217 laps to go. jeff, at some point they'll put themselvesin a hole they can't dig out of.

>> you can't keep making the last race comeback. it will catch up to you. this is the longest run of the day at 77 laps. right now he's a first car lap down, but rightin front of the 20 car is michael mcdowell, and that's lap number 195. the minute he puts the lap down, kevin harvickwill no longer be the most laps down. >> you have to give mcdowell credit for running120 right now. >> matt kenseth out in front of the kenseth,the 24-year-old from cambridge, wisconsin. but, there's another side to this car.

oh, wow. i love it. this is the first-ever chevy cruze hatch. well, that's pretty impressive. wow. so check it out. yeah, that's awesome. i do like it a lot. now that you know it's a hatchback, what doesit make you think of?

young professional slash weekend warrior. the whole business in the front, party inthe back sort of thing. >>> you're up with the pit crew and get thelatest t-shirts. visit the nascar.com/superstore today forthe latest gear. welcome back to the martinsville speedway. >> i thought matt kenseth was moving overto let the 11 car by, but actually he's just trying to protect his position. this is a true battle for position here, 20car trying to get around these lap cars. harvick still the lucky dog.

meares going down a lap here. that will make him a lucky dog. >> meares' track belongs to him just as itdoes the leader. >> how do you race the chase guys when you'reout there trying to perform? i think the guys not in the chase have a chipon their shoulder. there's not one of the guys getting specialtreatment. see the 38 hit the wall? almost came across and got the 20. >> cassill has some damage to the right side.

denny hamlin is trying to fight for the outsideof that 38. hamlin will also try to get by casey mearesin the 13. look what happened to the 38 here. >> i think he just drove it into the fence. i don't think he was out of shape coming offthe corner. >> mcdowell also right up against the wall. >> maybe trying to give those leaders a littleagainst him. >> trying to put him behind him. i want to listen in to carl edwards' radio,the 19, just moments ago.

>> this is crazy. this may be completely crazy. but i see in front brake lights on the rightside. we just have to monitor it. it's hard to believe. i just want you to know it looks different. >> he mentioned this being the longest greenflag run. they've already gone 92 laps of green flagracing. they talked about the brake dust.

we want to look at the nascar heat evolutionanimation and talk a little bit about brakes. >> we talk about the braking system on thesecars of the they have so much work to do to slow down from 126 miles an hour to 26 milesan hour. the brake pads get pressed onto that disk. that presents a tremendous amount of heat,and that rotor pulls the heat out of it. that can be a concern. >> that can be a major concern, and i cantell you what the drivers are worried about because that heat goes directly to the rightside of the tire, and you can actually melt the beads.

this car melts to someone. but it can actually melt the tire and thetire blows out and obviously that's a major problem. >> lots of smoke. that nascar heat evolution is in stores today. as we look at the damage of number 3, takea look at what happened. >> it was a combination of coming off thecorner. this happens all the time but this is a severerub. i don't think this will last too long.

this actually looks like it's getting worse. . one thing they don't want to happen is thetire goes into the wall and spins out of control. >> it's so tough to know when to pit and notto pit. >> if you pit under green here at martinsville,you don't lose a lap, you lose multiple laps. >> how far are we under green? we've run 137 laps. you're 40 away from seeing green vault. >> it's been a long since -- aluminum alloybody heavy duty pick-up. it takes first place in every measure of tough:best-in-class towing.

best-in-class payload. best-in-class horsepower. and best-in-class torque. winner, winner, chicken dinner. (sloshing)(twist cap sound) unleash a refreshing citrus kick. do the dew. the performance speaks for itself. >>> matt kenseth has had success at shorttracks, but not at martinsville.

he has six career short track wins, but noneof those have come at this racetrack. sprint network reliability now within 1%. switch today and get near verizon reliabilitywith sprint rates. let's listen in with matt kenseth's radio. >> looks like it's from about 10:00 to 2:00,a little rub on the lettering on the right rear tire. >> talking about a little bit of tire rub, especially on the right rear. >> that damage has been there for quite awhile.

i don't think this is a real issue for the20. definitely tight. tight on that quarter panel. >> martin truex jr. led 147 laps and now kensethhas led 126 and counting as kenseth continuing to pace the field. we had talked a little bit, as we take a lookat this little bit of contact here between kenseth and ryan newman. talked a little bit about the possibilityof green flag pit stops. 109 green flag laps currently.

we mentioned the pit window for fuel is goingto be around 140 to 150 laps. i'm sure teams right now are starting to think,we better start planning for green flag pit stops. >> i had some guys already having troublewith the tires that you talked about. >> he wasn't going to be patient. it was time for him to get by the 21. >> those younger guys, you can do that ifyou're a veteran. you can move these younger guys out of theway without any repercussions, as you can see.

>> let's take a look at the mcdonald's all-daypit strategy. >> jeff, you and i are up here. we're discussing what are the options forpit strategy here on a green flag pit stop. normally on the big track we say, yeah, cometo the pit early, you're in risk of the racetrack. but going multiple laps, i think, is a higherrisk. >> ken harvick 20th. could they come in earlier, get themselvesout of the league. >> currently a lap down. as you mentioned, harvick running 21st a lapdown.

kurt busch running 23rd, also a lap down. >> he's going two laps down. this is getting to the point why they're goingto have to do something. they've gotten through this chase by beingconsistent. and by doing all those small things right. but this speed they've lost is really hurtingthem in this racetrack. his crew chief, tony gibson, he's going tohave to get out of his comfort zone and do something he doesn't do, which is pit early. >> and why will he have to pit early?

the 7th of reagan was off earlier, but heneeds to dispose of him and drive. he's currently four-tenths faster. because i don't think i have. right now running 23rd, i'm afraid of digginga hole i can't get out. that is not tony's personality, he's not agam. if they don't have the speed to advance, they'llhave to do something to earn their way into we were born brothers. competition made us friends. wish bold in the 2017 camry.

let's go places. gps: turn right. gps: turn right here. gps: casey, go right. for a racecar driver, turning right is hard. gps: come on casey. no daddy! turn right! >>no daddy!

but saving money with geico is easy. geico, see how much you could save. >>> toyota, let's go places. credit 1 bank. the official credit card of nascar. and by nascar heat evolution, now $49.99 forps 4, xbox 1 and ps 3. >>> 332 complete. that leaves 168 to go. if you do the math and they stay out, theycould split this in half.

we could continue green the whole way withonly one more pit stop. >> well, these gibbs cars, they have so muchmore pace than everybody does. it's 167 laps to go and it's only 14 carsin the lead lap. give a shoutout to greg biffle. this team has struggled all year long. had a very solid run, they've continued torun in the top 10, if not the top 5 for most of the day. allmendinger in this 7th position. he's been second here twice, so if you takeaway his road course victory, this is statistically

his best track, especially when it comes toovals, running really well here again today. >> it isn't oval, but his crew chief quickto point out that it drives a lot like a road course. when he compares it to what he's talking aboutis the fact that he's able to manage his brakes so well. i know when to push them, i know how to coolthem, i know how to take care of my tires at the same time. when he said was, what we need to see heretoday is long runs. he got that.

>> when you get a little time, get a littlegas between you and the cbehind you and in front of you, you're saving the car, savingthe brake. when i first came here, i had a lot of raceswith racecars but never finished good races with them. that's because i ran 110% at the beginningof the race. at the end of the race, i didn't have brakes,stopping power and my car wouldn't turn well. >> you actually start going faster. more than. kasey kahne going to find a way to run towardthe front.

>> matt kenseth and denny hamlin, the distancebetween the two has shrunk. it's about half a second separating the two. >> marty? >> we're in the mode of giving out a callto drivers. 132 laps to go in 25th. they have ridden up and been the fastest carrun, so we're now 123 laps into this run and we can go about 133 laps all told to aboutgreen flag pit stops. four years since we've seen. when it's hot here at martinsville like this,it gets muggy there.

>> yes, it does. i think the thought of winning. all the rear end temps, they're hotter herethan anyone else, and then it soaks into the. what would he do? we saw earlier what denny hamlin would do. denny hamlin moved the 48 out of the way.. you don't own medon't try to change me in any way ohdon't tell me what to do just let me be myselfthat's all i ask of you the new 2017 corolla

with toyota safety sense standard. you don't own me toyota. >>> you're watching racing in martinsville. telecast presented by nascar heat evolution. kenseth, hamlin and kyle busch. three joe gibbs racing drivers that have almostlooked as though they know exactly what the other is going to do. kenseth and hamlin, kyle busch all runningin the top three for most of this race. jeff gordon holding onto the fourth spot,martin truex jr.

in fifth. the battle for the fourth position heatingup here between jeff gordon and martin truex >> these guys really lost a ton of time. over this long green flag period you expectthe gap to change a lot more, but jeff's car is pretty competitive compared to the othertoyotas. jeff's car seems to be competitive as well. just behind them, he's actually closing inon this battle. it looks choreographed how they're running. there's a couple guys behind them that stillhas a shot to upset this.

>> they had to have a long pit stop to beatout the 11. closing in on carl edwards for 9 position. with 147 to go, they better keep it in mind,and as soon as we have the first car coming into pit road, kyle larson comes into pitroad. this must be a scheduled pit stop. >> i believe green flag pit stops are gettingunderway here as the 16 of greg biffle also has come to pit road. a great battle heating up here, the 78 andthe 88. >> kevin harvick struggling on that last longgreen flag run.

he said he went through his right rear tiretoo quickly. he had a flat back there. he also says he was tight to the center. we'll see what happens there. >> 88 locked his tires upcoming into pit road. maybe coming in a bit hot. >> joey logano running 8th on this one. lost a couple spots, picked up a couple spots. he said the.

with all these pictures on these race cars,he finally rolls into the pit stall. they have led over 170 laps so far this afternoon. they will. >> and just like that, the caution has comeout. >> he has a flat right front tire. >> he didn't hit the commitment line, buthe knew he had to go down. he was running ninth right before they startedthe pit under green flag conditions. >> he bent up the fender. he has a lot of fender damage.

>> that's a lot of damage. you have an instant replay. that looks like a melted piece for sure, itjust goes straight. that is some heavy contact. i don't think that's just heat metal damage. that is heavy, heavy contact. >> one of the chase drivers now having anissue. his teammate denny hamlin was seated earlier. yeah, you see the sparks coming out the right.

>> we talked about he has this gamble. mcmurray, hamlin, kyle busch, none of thoseguys had hit. don't get if the koesh. one of the things the dlooifrlt. if they hadn't come to pit road yet, everybodywill have to come to pit road because, of course, fuel, and that was the longest greenflag we've had for a long time. >> perhaps if he beats everyone on pit roadhe'll be the leader. many.

he's already serviced i see r us his car. it's going to come down to where the caution. they're behind some of the other cars, sowe're going to have to let pit road open, let the car come on through and then we'llbe able to explain who takes the wave around and who doesn't. >> we need to get things in order and thenopen pit road. the 19 car going behind the wall. as you mentioned, steve, that was big damage. >> two guys that really suffered for thisyellow that were actually on the lead lap

before they pitted, kasey kahne and chaseelliott are now two laps down. so when they take the wave around, they'llonly get one back of the two. >> you know right now that carl edwards andhis team, they're almost going to have to go and win one of the next races if they'regoing to advance. >> again, only one driver, potentially, wouldget in based on points into the championship 4 if during these three races you have a chasedriver win. >> so the other big issue you have right hereis we have allmendinger, johnson, murray left to pit. big break for him.

but other ones, denny hamlin fourth. he will be the leader of the race. because the cars in front of limb will achievethe race lead. . a good break for denny hamlin. >> but if they take the waiver out, they'llhave to be at the back of the field. >> the 47 car is all pit road. >> i was watching jack canal and his eyeslit up. mendinger going by me. he is out of fuel as well.

add a fuel here for the 48 of jimmie johnsonwho had worked his way back to the top 10. now you can see his car is refired. he missed pit road so he'll have to come backaround once more and pit. >> and the 48 was racing around one of thesafety vehicles that was on the track, and i think that was probably the reason why hecouldn't come to pit road at that time. >> fuel pressure came back. >> a solid 76. >> the problem is pit road -- pit road isstill closed. they don't want to be on pit road while pitroad is closed.

so these teams. >> there's still confusion on the radio withthe 48. chad and jimmy are trying to diagnose theissue. >> i'm not taking any chances. >> so even if pit road is not open, whichright now it still. >> jimmie just said, i'm managing it wellthe best i can inside the car. i think i can manage it here. i made a mistake inside the car.

it's my fault. they have a reserve switch. they can flip a reserve switch and get a littlemore fuel inside the engine. he has told him. >> he says, i think pit road should be openright now. you see jimmie trying to manage that fuelsituation, shutting off the car when he can trying to keep pace speed as well. >> the reason the pits aren't open is becausenascar wants to settle this scoring situation beforehand.

>> he might be waiting for cars to go by, though, if nasr is telling you. >> if i'm the. . . you can have one run versus. but what he's telling them is, it's on me. it's on me. i fixed the issue. he dent need any more detail than that. he knows what he's doing.

he stayed on the racetrack but he has venup track position. >> pit road is open. the ones who haven't gotten to pit road yet,we'll see them dive onto pit road now that pit road is open. >> there's not that many anymore. >> the lead lap cars are allowed to come topit road once pit road opens, and those will include -- see as they dive down to the bottomhere. >> 48 by staying out. >> jamie mcmurray.

>> he will be starting with the leaders. he won't have to start at the tail end ofthe lead lap. that's why they're trying to wait. denny hamlin stays on the track, does notelect to pit. the guys behind him will be trapped a lapdown. >> after all that, jimmie johnson will makeit to pit road in fourth position under his own power, how about that? they'll come in and take four fresh new tireshere, obviously pack it with sunoco fuel. as well for johnson.

he said, again, the car very good in the longrun. it was too tight early in the run and thatwas the problem. because it's one of the few cars on pit roadtaking their time, making sure the left front and the right front are good. now they send the 48 back out. >> an eventful few minutes. >> the 48 making its way off of pit road. denny hamlin really setting the pace now. >>> welcome back to mart ins fill speedway.

we were listening in to the 28 radio, mattkenseth. everyone right now is a little bit confusedon where they are either on the lead lap or maybe the tail end of the lead lap. listen. >> can you explain how he can be the luckydog if 47 was the leader and i was right behind him? >> i cannot. i cannot. i think we're third looking at it right now.

that's my judgment. we're third. >> so a few cars were on pit road under greenflag conditions. while they were on pit r getting their servicedone, the caution comes down. so some were trapped a lap down. others feel like they're still on the leadlap. they're going to be 21 wave around cars totry to get back on the lead lap or get a lap back if they were two laps down. >> so it's very complicated, but basicallywhen the caution comes out, you have to be

scored either the start finish or pit out. >> the 20 of matt kenseth, the 18 of kylebusch. there's kyle busch. he pit out. allmendinger beat matt kenseth to the pitout, therefore putting the 20 down a lap. that's forcing him to take the wave around. it became more complicated with the 47 pittedwhen pit road was closed. that's going to be a penalty on the 47. but fortunately for the 20, he's going totake this wave around.

the big winner in all of this, in my mind,it's still the 48. he did a great job of not needing to pit whenpit road was closed. didn't get the penalty, and because of that,he will line up outside second row. >> remember kenseth was leading when he pitted. and the 11 and the 18 left pit road. it was slow for kenseth and that allowed the18 and the 20 to get ahead of him. >> the chase continues next weekend on nbc at texas motor speedway. the xfinity speedway returns to the trackon saturday.

the sprint cup series moves to race 2 in theround of 8 coverage next sunday. this lap is being done without the luxuryof the pace car, at least a portion of it. the pace car had gone to pit road expectingthe restart there. >> so it's very complicated because cars arein different positions. there are lap down cars in the way. you have denny hamlin and kyle busch in thefront row, jimmie johnson and allmendinger in lap 2. kenseth 6th, truex 7th, logano 8th. they'll be starting back of the pack behindlapped down cars.

>> nascar still doesn't like the lineup. the pace car has pulled off the racetrack,but they're waiting to start because they still don't like the lineup. you can see the lap down cars are in frontof the lead lap cars, they just have to get it sorted out. >> here's how it works. lead lap cars move out first, then the 88of jeff gordon. then behind him, that should be all the wavearound cars. the problem is that's very, very confusing,and it's important because you see jeff gordon

right here on the 88 trying to get forwarda row. he should line up there. they've got to get the 78 in the right position. this is where jeff gordon says, no, no, thisis where i've got to be. >> i applaud the car leaving the racecar out. with 127 points to go, there can be no questionmark. it's not just about the winner. you have to make sure everyone on the fieldis where they need to be of the points are so important.

>> let's let the guy who most recently wasin the cartel us -- jimmy, tell us why this is all happening. >> i agree with steve that nascar is doingthe right thing here, taking time to get it sorted out. when we don't like the lineup and nascar allowsus to race, i like the fact they're going to get it sorted out, get this thing correctbefore we go back to green. there's too much at stake here. >> i think the 20, matt kenseth, they thoughtthey were third. he's still not giving up positions havinga wave around.

>> nascar is telling him where to go. nascar is talking, spotters are listening. 20 car, you should be the fourth car on theoutside. we told you about the 20-car game. did you see the cars he was racing on the23rd. the difference is the 20 car was. >> let's go into the garage and mike masari. >> the entire joe gibbs racing team, includingmembers from kyle busch and denny hamlin here in the pits trying to work on the 19 car.

right side nose to tail, not just body butalso chassis. they made some adjustments. as kyle sat in the racecar, they're readyto lose as few laps as possible and gain as many points as they possibly can here today. kyle did say over his radio, hey, guys, keepyour heads up. we'll go win in texas. >> rick, we talk about opportunities and thingsthat have to fall your way. nothing is more evident to me than the 48and the 47. when the caution came out, the 47 was leadingthe 48 by seconds.

they both run out of gas. carl edwards stays on the track and does notgo to pit road. >> he pits when pit road is closed. he's only intense on scoring, but he has thelineup of the entire field all the way in the back. such a big shift, marty, between two differenttails of running out of gas, the 48 versus the 47. >> also wil serving that penalty, in his opinion,the only cars on the lead lap should be the 48, the 47 and the free pass car.

he has asked nascar several times, i do notunderstand why these guys pitted under green. we pitted under caution and they're aheadof us. he said, it does not make sense to me. he said it four times on the radio politickinghis case. i'm not sure he'll get anywhere with nascar,but that's his point, anyway. >> it's really simple. the caution came out when they were on pitroad, so let's go back to the pit out camera. here's the 18. off pit road.

before we see the leader of the 47 get tothat line. the 11 and the 18 came on pit road. jeff, you said it three times. came onto pit road, serviced their cars fasterthan matt kenseth, faster than. i understand chad's confusion, but that camerashot kwinsz me nascar has a right. kyle busch and denny hamlin should be frontrow. >> there was a huge gap from the 47 in thegibbs cars. that and when that caution came out, that'sthe difference between being in the lead lap and not being in the lead lap.

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lower your blood sugar with invokanaâ®. imagine loving your numbers. there's only one invokanaâ®. ask your doctor about it by name. stopping and saying, okay, let's get it right. because if you get it wrong, it could haveimplications. >> they have to figure out who the leaderis. i think they can determine the 47 was theleader, but where was he at the time of caution when he decided to slow down, and who wasin pit road and who wasn't.

we have the 18 who pitted, but i think that'sthe confusion for the competitors. i think that's how the opposition is real. because 18 and 11 were on the road when thepit road came up, that gave them an opportunity to service their cars and not lose a lap. it's basically like hitting the short tracklottery, being on the road at martinsville when the caution comes out and yet being justperfect enough on the lead lap. >> we focus on the chase drivers, we focuson the drivers who have a chance to win the race, but these positions matter to everybodyin the race thechlt don't have to make sure it's right for five, six, or seven people,it's making it right for everybody on the

racetrack, and it just takes a certain amountof time. >> well, they look like they're all in thecorrect order. we went from high above, the aerial coverageprovided by smithfield foods. but nascar, as you guys mentioned, wants tomake sure this is right before they throw the green flag. >> catching up with adam stevens, the crewchief for kyle busch. can you make heads or tails of what's goingon here? >> i can promise you the front row is correct. beyond that, i talked with the guys in thebooth and the guys upstairs.

i'm a little confused how the 20 did not getthe lucky dog, and there's two or three guys who seemed like they gained a lap in the cycle,so i'll be anxious to watch it back tonight to see what the heck is going on. >> a lot of people still trying to figurethis all out. >> i just looked at timing and scoring andi felt the 22 car score tonight. are you where you're supposed to be, do youthink? >> yeah. it's kind of a confusing situation but the47 was the leader so the pace car picked him up.

and he ran out of gas, so then we're behindthe pace car but then we have to take the wave around to get there. by wave around, you just end up in the ordercoming back by the pace car. >> he has a pretty good racecar, maybe notthe best that he's had here at martinsville, but maybe enough to pick it up. >> i think everybody is hoping they're inthe right position. there was a position people were in. the 47 was the race leader. when he ran out of fuel and came to pit road,he actually then got a penalty.

with that penalty, that put him at the backand it changed the way everyone thinks that the lineup is supposed to be. >> especially when you're in the lead lapand you have 10 rows of cars that are a lap down in front of you, you're like, wait, thisdoesn't make any sense. because you take the wave ound and all thatchanges, it gets very complicated. it shouldn't take over 20 minutes to sortthis out, to be quite honest. >> the lights are still on on the pace car,but they're showing one to go. >> very quickly here is mark wheeler on thenumber 11 car. what is your confusion about this lineup now?

>> i'm hoping to see an in-car camera. a bunch of cars passed when they shouldn'thave passed. we got a free lap in the process, it's justhopefully we can replay the in-car camera and see those cars behind that are a lap back. >> they think it's the number 4 car that gaineda lap back that they should not have, rick. >> that is definitely a possibility that the4 car of kevin harvick now just a lap down. and a lot of people thought they should betwo laps down. well, the pace car has pulled off. that puts the fuel back in the hands of the11 who has chosen the outside line.

i guess once again we'll see joe gibbs teammatesworking together. denny hamlin on the outside, kyle busch onthe inside as they enter the restart zone. back in the air. >> you see that teamwork where the 11 is onthe outside again, getting the lead from the 18 car on the restart. they've been doing that all day long as theycontrol the top three positions for most of the day. the 48 in the one racing really hard here. side by side for third.

>> the 48 takes the third spot away from thewall, able to use that outside line and get by jamie mcmurray. currently on the lead lap 10 cars. allmendinger in the 47, the last car on thelead lap. first car a lap down, kasey kahne in the 5. hamlin, kyle busch, jimmie johnson, jamiemy mcmurray, matt kenseth, martin truex jr., allmendinger the ten cars on the lead lap. >> he's two laps down. if he's going to get one lap back here, he'sgot to do it on the racetrack right now.

>> he's going to have to fight for that positionand fight by the four other cars in front of him as we see the 48 making an aggressivemove going into turn number 3 and he's going to take second away from 18. >> we talked about patience, we talked aboutaggression. i think it's time for aggression. with only 110 to go, only 110 in the leadleft. >> kyle busch was sitting there running second. he has them lined up underneath him. he'll have to find a way to get to the bottom.

if not, he's going to go way back. right there, that's his opportunity. >> guys, remember the 48 is on his way tothe field a couple times. matt kenseth trying to get to kurt busch. the 11 car will be interesting to see howthey race each other. they had a little run-in earlier in the race. will that play a factor later in the race? we'll find out. >> we saw the 11 move the 48 out of the wayvery early in the race.

will the 48 remember that and maybe use thesame moves when he gets to the back bumper of the 11? >> i don't think we have to question if heremembers it. the only question is if he can return thefavor. >> remember jamie mcmurray ran second hereto jeff gordon, had a shot to win that race. will jamie who is not in the battle of thechase turn that around? >> i wonder if the pace is just a little fastfor the 18, faster than he wanted to go. he fell in line behind jamie and seems quitecontent to be right there. there's still 107 laps to go.

>> 107 to go, the 19 back out on the racetrack. we saw him go a little bit slower. dale earnhardt jr., thank you so much forjoining us. we appreciate you being here in the boothand enjoy the rest of the season. >> thank you, buddy. i appreciate it. thank you for having me. >> we go nascar nonstop. is he gone??

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but when you get the job done right, that'swhen you earn it. that's when a busch beer never tasted better. rewarding hard work, since 1955. here's to earning it. >>> following race coverage on nbcsn, turnit to the nascar post race show. for more comprehensive nascar coverage, besure to catch "victory lap" at 5:30 p.m. eastern. let's listen in to jimmie johnson's radio. >> i think he might.

>> i'll let you know shortly. >> there you go. they remember. >> denny hamlin is driving him like he doesn'tfeel he's owed anything. he's really protecting this lead. running the bottom of the racetrack hasn'tallowed jimmie johnson any room in the bottom of the racetrack. >> jimmie johnson entered that last corner. he entered high, turneand tried to leave onthe bottom.

he's trying to open that entry up and turnhis corner better. he was trying to find a way to make his cornerexit. >> at the very beginning of this show, wementioned two drivers who had outstanding records at this racetrack and thought theywould be the favorites. those two drivers just happen to be dennyhamlin and jimmie johnson. >> isn't it amazing at the green flag pitstop and we get a caution in the middle? that goes back to the point that there ismore to control. there is a reason these two get to the front,and right here jimmie is going to have a run. will he be defensive or let jimmie have thebottom?

>> he's not going to lay over. jimmie johnson didn't lay over for him andhe's not going to lay over for jimmie. >> three now side by side once again. once again denny hamlin fighting on the outside,not wanting to give up an inch. jimmie johnson trying to take the lead awaythrough 1 and 2. this time the 11 fights back on the outside. >> harvick up in front, that will play a factor. where is the lap car going to go? jimmie clears him.

>> the crossover move by the 11. he's back inside the 48. >> and can he keep that position? so tight, the two, racing off the turn. the 48 clears it. now back into 3. the bumper almost goes into the back of the48 from the 11 once again. >> denny hamlin wisely decided, i did thatonce. maybe this isn't the time to go.

he's going to try to work to the back bumperof the 48. >> he drove aggressively but he's very cleanin driving. the 11 really had no choice. if he went up there and just knocked the 48out of the way, guess what? the next time the 48 got to him, whateverhappened would happen. by jimmie johnson racing clean, it puts dennyhamlin's position there. >> coming back into the picture now in the20. kenseth running third, kyle busch is fourth. jamie mcmurray running fifth, martin truexjr. sixth, jeff gordon seventh, brad keselowski,

joey logano and a.j. allmendinger in the 10th. first car a lap down is kasey kahne. jimmie johnson looking to get the guaranteedspot in the championship four and also looking for his ninth win at martinsville. only one other driver in the field has a numberthat big. that's jeff gordon as we go nascar nonstop. most dependable. means a lot to me.

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oh, coca-cola! you're gonna show this whole world. you're gonna shine! >>> the 48, jimmie johnson, still leaningat martinsville, has about a 28-second lead over denny hamlin, martin truex jr. only 10 cars on the leading lap. running tenth is a.j. allmendinger, about 10 car lengths behindleader jimmie johnson. >> his first chance at martinsville in twoyears.

he told me earlier today, i have to changemy mentality in how i approach this race. it was always big picture racing. this one is so different. i have to focus race to race. he's trying to get himself a ticket to miamiand win a seventh title today. >> denny hamlin one of the four cars leftin the field. i spoke to him about the atmosphere and hesaid, yes, it's been awesome. there's been a lot of happiness knowing wehave a 50-50 chance at winning the championship. on the other hand, we also know if someoneelse wins one of these races, at least one

of our cars would be eliminated. denny hamlin has had a better car. let's see if he can make a move back on theone ahead of him. >> matt kenseth right on his rear bumper. kenseth has already led 176 laps this afternoon,looking for his first career martinsville before the race began, kenseth said one ofthe reasons he's been better at martinsville the last few years is since he's come to j.r.,he's had very equipment, and denny hamlin has allowed teammates into his head, so tospeak, allowing them to learn how to get around this racetrack.

looking to sweep the martinsville race, though,he said the handling isn't near where it needs to be. so far nothing has corrected the problem. >> anybody's bracket busted after martin truex'smotor blew last week? when cole got back to the shop and lookedat those beautiful cars lined up, he said to himself, we are so much better preparedthis year. that's why that loss last week hurt so bad,marty. >> what we think will be his final sprintcup series. his crew chief today told me, it's so coolto me and such an honor.

i grew up a jeff gordon fan. to work with him is neat but to be his crewchief this final race is really cool. i want to send him out one way. jeff gordon looking pretty good in the number6 spot. >> when i asked him why he's so good at thistrack he said he's not really sure why, it was a track he figured out early on. he had a message. he said think of these last four as layingbricks. we're building for next year.

we won a lot of practices, now we need topractice winning. rick? >> practice winning is what they want to do. they want to get to victory lane. again, he was second in this race a year agoto jeff gordon after gordon was able to get that win, that big win that catapulted himinto the championship 4. jimmie johnson wants to do the same thingtoday. he wants to make it a guarantee that he goesto the championship 4 in miami as we go nascar non-stop.

>>> just 60 laps to go for martinsville. the sprint cup racing at martinsville broughtto you by nascar heat evolution. it's been a difficult day for the 4. kevin harvick has run as high as third butright now scored a lap down and running 20th. kurt busch kind of in a similar situation,except it's been a little bit worse of a day for the stewart hoss racing teammate, kurtbusch 21st but two laps down. >> it's only the third race in this round. they're losing points. carl edwards has an issue.

he's back at 36th. three drivers in trouble, two of them fromthe stewart hoss camp. >> the top four, hamlin, kenseth, kyle buschrunning third and fourth, jimmie johnson still out in front. >> they've been running hard. very respectful. a few touches here and there, not necessarilytrying to move somebody but getting to the back of each other. jimmie johnson just driving away.

the 18 car working really hard to try to getby kenseth. just touches the wall a little bit at 2. at martinsville it's barely a touch. if you were on a big track, it would be anissue with the sheet metal. here it's really nothing. >> cosmetic as we see the 46. making his way to pit road but not reallyaffecting the 11, 12 and 15. >> he ran them down really quickly, and oncehe got there, he couldn't do anything with this is just competition.

these cars are so equal at how fast they cango around the racetrack, it's very hard to pass a car unless you're a lot faster thanhe is. matt kenseth got to the 11. he's only a little faster and not able todo anything with him. >> with 55 to go, i think it's important togo back and just reassure everyone how the lineup was created with that timely caution. denny hamlin on the left, the leader on theright. that makes 47 the leader, but the 11 of dennyhamlin is still in the lead lap. now they're under caution.

the 11 still only has to race to start-finish. he crosses the start-finish line. the 47 is obviously way over in turn 3 pickingup the pace car. right there it's very clear, the 11 of dennyhamlin basically hit the short track lottery. in his pit stall when the caution came out,that proves notice the 11 and the 18 scored correctly. they should start on the front row. that was a big break for them. >> you saw the 20 car go up and pass the 47because he thought he should have been in

front of him also. he wasn't supposed to be in front of him. you saw that at the end of pit road so theyput the number 20 behind the 47. >> and a lot of people were questioning thefree pass. the free pass goes to the driver that is thehighest scored driver a lap down when the caution comes out. when that caution came out, matt kenseth wasnot a lap down. he was a lap down after the 47 was able toget by him, so he would not have been eligible for that free pass.

>> it's complicated but nascar has workedthrough it. i know there is some frustration on pit road. i would be frustrated because i don't haveall the answers. but it was very clear to me when this racerestarted 63 laps ago, all the lineup was correct, all these cars were in position,and denny hamlin has since pulled ahead of these race cars for a two-second lead. >> there was a great point brought up we justheard moments ago as far as a report from the joe gibbs camp. the joe gibbs racing teams know that if oneof the four besides joe gibbs racing wins

this race, one of the teams will not win thechampionship. if jimmie johnson wins this, one of the fourjoe gibbs racing teammates will not be eligible to win a championship in 2016. listen in to kyle busch's radio. >> you got to be kidding me. >> letting 48 win this race. >> i believe when he says letting him win,he means he's taking over this race. >> why can't the 11 just drive away and runthe 48 down? nobody is holding up the 11 car.

the 48 has driven away from these guys. >> it sounds to me like the 18 thinks he'sbetter than his teammates but can't get by. the clock is ticking at joe gibbs racing. they know the door is closing. featuring best-in-class torque? why do we give it industry-leading towingand hauling capabilities? and why do we make it clever with versatilecargo solutions and much more? well, why do you put so much effort at everythingyou do? because a job worth doing is worth doing right.

can-am defender: tough. capable. clever. c carar.. >> there's no time to mess around. you gotto raise your game. everybody is going to and you've got to raise it more than the otherperson. >> welcome to the oldest track in nascar.it's nascar sprint racing for martinsville. telecast provided by nascar heat evolution.only 12 still have a shot at the championship, and today one driver could achieve their shotfor the final four. i'm rick allen. what makes

this style of racing so difficult?>> there's no banking on the corners whatsoever. there's just no place to hide. two of thebest racecar drivers in the series had this happen. then denny hamlin, a five-time winnerhere, has the same problem, gets into the wall. a very difficult car to drive.>> look at the restart. three wide doesn't work, jimmie johnson up the track backwards.then last year the complexion of the chase completely changed when matt kenseth getsspun around. >> i look at the master of martinsville, jimmiejohnson. he had eight wins at martinsville. today. he punches his ticket to miami. >> with the success he's had in the past,he's always been very good here. but do not

count out martin truex jr. they made a mistakelast week, did not transfer, but they have an exceptional car.>> pre-race ceremonies are next. let's go trackside now.>> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, at this time please rise and remove your hats as thevirginia state police colorguard reveals our nation's colors. please remain standing asstudents from the boeing fifth grade class lead us in the pledge of allegiance.>> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republicfor which it stands, one nation, under god, individual, with liberty and justice for all.>> here's today's invocation. please welcome mike hatfield.>> let us pray. god, of all creation and source

of all grace, we thank you for this day. youhave freedom in you, so challenge us to exercise that freedom next week so we will rememberthose who sacrificed to offer that freedom of the ballot. be with our teams and driverstoday and grant your presence to the men and the women who defend the liberties that youwish for all humanity to have. and remind us, oh lord, to seek your faith in everythingwe do. in jesus' name, amen. >> your track racing just around the corner.when we come back, they'll fire the engines at martinsville. >>> welcome to nbcsn's coverage of sprintcup racing at martinsville. today's telecast presented by nascar heat evolution. as weget ready for the round of h for some of the

stories today.>> already a little bit of drama for this 11 is team. the car slid off while the righttires were on the ground, causing damage to the left side panel. crew chief telling meit's purely cosmetic. they got it back in place and intact. he does not expect it tobe an issue in the race. is an old school martinsville race. jimmiejohnson hopin recapture some of the martinsville magic.>> he knows there are no guarantees of a championship among homestead before he picks up a victoryin the round of eight. to do that, he's going to use the first 400 laps today to dial into the racecar. the other day he left martinsville with dreams shattered, but today both areintact for joey logano. he hopes for a miami

sending chase win today. let's get the enginesfired. >> announcer: it's time for the most famouswords in motorsports. here to give the command, please welcome the grand marshal from thehiucifer." >> drivers, start your engines!>> very enthusiastic command there to fire the engines. that means the other five are looking to repeat.one can make it into the championship for today. i'm not hiding. i am. for people withhearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com [train horn][engine roaring] pennzoil synthetics. made from natural gas.make the switch.

>> announcer: nascar on nbcsn is brought toyou by nascar heat evolution. made for xbox and ps 1.>>> and by sprint. proud sponsor of the nascar sprint cup series.>>> i don't know what the hell happened there. >> it's an absolute crap shoot.>>> welcome back to martinsville speedway. that will roll across the bottom of the screen.a gorgeous day for racing at martinsville speedway. could be one of the warmest in overa decade. cars still sitting on pit road, warming up, as they wait to roll out ontothis half-mile racetrack. interesting times now. we heard, listening in to some of theradio communication, crew chiefs telling the drivers to make sure to warm your brakes up.something they want to think about early even

before the start of the race.>> you want to try to bring that brake temp up slowly, get the rotors heated up in a nice,orderly fashion. you mentioned how warm it was today. that's going to be a factor notonly for the cars but the drivers. >> let's see if we could chat for one of thechase contenders. carl edwards allowed us to listen in to his radio and chat with us.jeff? >> hey, carl, it's jeff in the nbcsn booth.you with us? >> i've got you, jeff.>> carl, we've been talking all morning about the difficulty of this racetrack. tell uswhy it is so difficult. here. the good news is i'm sitting in thebest car, the best equipment with this toyota,

and i've got the best team. if we get in all500 laps like we know how to do it, there's no reason we shouldn't win this race. butyeah, you got to put a lot together to win. >> it's very warm today. it's as hot as it'sever been, in the 90s. how will that affect you in the racecar?>> it's going to be hard. it will be stressful, physical and mental. but the guys, this iswhat we train for. they help me get prepared for this. i think the main thinis being ableto communicate with dave all day. >> carl, good luck today.>> thanks, jeff. >> we do have an opportunity to ride alongwith a few drivers. you see we have a camera inside the 19 of carl edwards. we're alsoriding alongside others, guys.

>> kurt busch will start in the 23rd position.he'll carry the water heaters. and behind him in row 4, we have denny hamlin and thesprint car let us ride along with him all day getting some fun shots. right next tohim is carl edwards, and he has the toyota camera. when you come to martinsville, whobetter to long with than an eight-time winner, jimmie johnson. >> we're with our partners at smithfield food.that gives you an idea of how short, how small and how tight the corners are here at martinsvillespeedway. let's take a look at the race analysis from martinsville. 500 laps will be just over263 miles. the pit road speed, 30 miles per hour. that's going to be a very interestingnumber to keep our eye on today. the fuel

number between 100 and 150 laps, steef.>> all day we'll have to make decisions. if a crew chief sticks around a couple timesand then have to straighten up. they put these down on the pit stalls to make sure the driverhas maximum grip when leaving. most of the pits use some coke or other kind of stickysoda syrup. >> it's definitely interesting. but it willgive not only the the cars grip, but it also gives the crew members grip.>> that's really the biggest issue, i think. to have less traction than asphalt. sometimesthat has more to do the car than the grip. >> you look at martin truex jr. and you knowhe really wants to show everyone that he's a caliber championship driver.

>> it's huge for these guys to sit out fromthe pole and recover this week. but all these guys on the outside, jay allmendinger.>> you have to remind your driver to be patient. there are times in this race where.>> at the same time you have to be very aggressive. >> we saw aggression a year ago at this race.as i see joey logano in the front row for the fifth straight race at martinsville. howaggressive do you get? as we take a look at this week's ford drive to the championship.>> rick, i think these numbers speak for themselves. look at that, 13 combined wins for danny andjimmie. only four for the other chase competitors. how about last led, jeff? only four last ledby denny and jimmie. >> they're great at this racetrack the but.>> you see the king, 15-time winner at this

race. i'm sure he took his cowboy hat offbecause when these cars come flying by, there will be a lot of wind there.>> almost didn't know who he was with his hat off.>> martin truex jr. as they come out of turn 4. the king waves a green flag. ing in martinsville.>> j.j. allmendinger habgood at martinsville. >> and that's the key. if you're on the bottom,don't allow that 14 to get in line. 14 has a little bit of a hole behind 19. he needsto slow up to try to get in, but he gets behind the 14, obviously.>> they're nose to tail. all the way back to the 88. jeff gordon subbing for dale earnhardtjr. today. allmendinger is not going to be patient!>> allmendinger already putting his right

fender to the 48th.>> that's what he's got to see. a little give and take. he may not need to hit the 40. .>> look at denny hamlin. does he have a problem? >> denny hamlin? it looks like the teammatesare maybe helping each other out here early in this race.>> i think the 11 saw the 18 coming, and instead of passing them, i think they want that creationwrergs that prevented being pushed back. there's no air to get in.>> and denny hamlin just really tight on the throttle. i mean really tight like somethingis wrong. >> this is where denny has to make a decision.because a2 srm. >>. it is just the car. he could go so muchfaster around the corner but then accelerate

sooner. denny is doing a really nice job ofholding him off and he needs to. we talked about that long line of cars behind him.>> already put the bumper to him just a little bit, but one way you'll be able to tell ifhe's holding someone up is the gap in front of the car. there is a gap in front of the11 and that means the 11 is holding up the 42.>> that's where denny hamlin is so good here. watch how patient he is on that curbing. hiscar doesn't turn and he knows that, so he stays ff the gas until his car turns the corner,then when you hear him accelerate, look how patient he is going to the throttle.>> the only way he's going to get by the 11 is to move him. if you leave on the bottomwith enough speed, the 42 is going to pass

you. a slower car can block here so thereis no outside lane. >> 11 laps already have clicked off in martinsville.78, martin truex jr., has been up front for all 11.>> denny hamlin talked about being very tight. situation, it will not run well to start.>> now he's stuck in the predicament of is he on offense or defense? offense, mayhe wantsto run a little higher here, get a straight shot off. but the car will be able to takeadvantage of that. >> here in the afternoon in martinsville,team penske trying to foster greatness. this is not the first nascar race he's been to.he's been to a couple brickyards, but this is his first short track. what a unique experiencefor today. he'll spend a few laps down here

and then head up to the suite where he mightbe served a martinsville hot dog. >> good to have the 2016 indy car championhere with us. out in front, martin truex jr. leading at martinsville. surprise!!!!! weheard you got a job as a developer! its official, i work for ge!! what? wow... yeah! okay...guys, i'll be writing a new language for machines so planes, trains, even hospitals can workbetter. oh! sorry, i was trying to put it away... got it on the cake. so you're goingto work on a train? not on a train...on "trains"! you're not gonna develop stuff anymore? noi am... do you know what ge is? >>> and the first caution looks to be comingout issued for ricky stenhouse jr. that's a backup car. he had a problem qualifyingon friday.

>> it's a pretty heavy contact for martinsville.that thing is shorted up a few feet in the back.>> he's in the middle of the corner right now.>> he's trying to find an opening so he can get down on the racetrack and get back tothe garage we just heard on the communication there.>> you see he's already backwards up out of the groove carrying quite a bit of speed.to your point, jeff, he either had an issue like a wheel hop issue or had some help atthe end of the backstretch, but he gets spun around really early. he's high on the groove,i don't see anyone behind him. that would be a wheel hop issue, wouldn't you assume?>> yeah, that's the same problem he had in

practice. he worked hard to get out of turn3. obviously he had some sort of break-in issue.>> it was friday qualifying that the wheel hop issue, right there.>> that shows right there. you see that right rear tire, a ton of movement inside the wheel.he goes around and you see a little bit lighter contact right there. hear the engine makinga ton of noise. it was hopping up and down, and then they unloaded the backup car, andunfortunately the backup car only lasts 22 or 23 laps.>> it's going to be interesting. >> martin truex jr. has decided to come andhe's out on the racetrack. pit stops, let's go down to mike.>> he was pretty happy with his racecar, though

he had some concerns coming in because thesecond practice yesterday they were a little off. the balance has felt pretty good over thecourse of this run. air pressure adjustment, four tire change and sunoco race fuel forcarl edwards. meantime, his teammate kyle busch also very happy with his racecar forthe most part. when he felt like his car was getting a little lucid, tightened up as therace went on. >> no panic in their voices. it's just thestandard four-tire stop for the 78. out. and, sprint saves you 50% on most currentnational carrier rates. if you got 1% more haircut than me today, would you really paytwice as much? no i wouldn't. copy that!

(vo) switch to sprint and get iphone 7. plussave 50% off most current national carrier rates. don't let a 1% difference cost youtwice as much. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com. for people with hearingloss, visit sprintrelay.com. whoooo! i did not email any, um, classified material. really?the fbi said there were 110 classified emails that were exchanged... hillary lied. and anotherlie? i respect the second amendment. but behind closed doors,hillary told liberal elites...the supreme court is wrong on the second amendment. hillary will lie aboutanything to get elected.the nra institute forlegislative action is responsible for the contentof this advertising. >>> we're timing lines at martinsville speedway.we went from seven timing lines in april to

12 timing lines here in the fall, and alreadyit has caught two drivers. the 19 and the 11 both caught for speeding getting off ofpit road. >> it's very difficult here with the slowpit road speed. the cars don't run very smooth as we see logano stay on the racetrack. tonystewart a the outside. logano grabs the lead. >> he has to try to create an opening. i thinkhe's going to do it. can he get a good run? no, he can't.>> he clears the 48 as they go into one. damage. as those drivers try to fill thatbottom lane, it really stacks cars up in the corner.>> aggressive run for the 14 of tony stewart all the way up to 2nd for tony. now it's twowide and the 24, chase elliott, blocking the

78 of martin truex jr. doesn't work.>> he's got to try to fill that hole. he has new tires, so you'll see he's going to tryto take advantage of the 24 and the 3. >> he didn't quite get down hard enough. heneeded to be crazy aggressive on that block. but j.j. allmendinger, he is going into thathole. he's going to be aggressive. >> he's aggressive. so is the 42 right now.all over the back bumper of that driver, carl larson, now looking for his first short trackwin. >> we mentioned some don't stay on the racetrackas we see the 42 of kyle larson. the 47 pitted, kyle larson pitted. they're trying to usethose fresh tires to gain track position back. >> he said he was in fact hit with a speedingviolation. he said, i wasn't trying to get

anything there. my bad, you guys, i need tobe more aware. >> he had a higher penalty to go on and winthis race. mike? >> carl edwards also hit with a speeding penaltyas well on that last pit stop. he and his crew chief dave rogers had this to say afterwards.>> it's in the section between the 20 and the 18.>> yes, it is. >> all right. yeah, i think what we discussed,i either misunderstood it or just wasn't thinking there.>> and immediately following that, rogers came over the radio and said, hey, bud, that'son me. to which carl said, no, i thought it was too good to be true. we're both in thistogether. but it happened early, we can make

up for it.>> what i heard there, with these curves, you can play a little game and up the rpmbecause the radius of the corner, the way the math works out, it sounds like he wasgiven some instructions. he would perhaps be running a little different rpm. the crewchief tries to take the responsibility but carl wouldn't let him do it, tried to jumpinto the life boat with him. >> it was two j.r. cars. that was his tenthspeeding penalty of the 2016 season. they're the last two cars on the racetrackwith old tires. so now jeff, a very difficult situation. this, too, he has fresh rear tires.he'll accelerate off the corner and continuing to put pressure on the 88, and he has to,because behind him, the ford is looking to

pass him. what happens with these old tires,they have to stack everyone up. you never want to be the last guy with newtires. sometimes the strategy just works out that way.>> here's where it comes into you. can brad look fcompletely clean way -- now he's lookingoutside the 88. this isn't going to be one spot, this is going to be at least four orfive spots before the 88 gets back in line. he's already looking for information fromt.j. majors, where can i get down? no hole behind the 4, no hole behind the 41. they'relooking way back to that 43 car perhaps letting him in.>> jimmie johnson. >> in second is jimmie johnson. it's beentwo years since they had a top five here at

martinsville. i talked to jimmie before therace and i said, i hope today is old school martinsville. it gets hot, sunny and slickout here and we lay a lot of rubber down. to me that's been the difference in the lastfour years. he said the practice hasn't seen rubber. it's a little different today thanit was in the past. even though they're bringing it rubber back to the track.>> while new tires make a difference, we still have logano out with old tires and jimmiejohnson running third. the 78 is driving away and running the 22 down.>> he's a second faster than logano, so tires are mattering and that's going to set thestrategy for the rest of the day. it's a balance between track position and how new the tiresare. the 24 car, we saw he did not pit, and

he's all the way down to 15.>> joey logano has it right now, but fresher tires on martin truex jr. has brought the78 right up to the tires. >> martin truex jr. gave up the lead to cometo pit road to get four fresh new tires. it's paid off. he's back in front again. choosewisely, grasshopper. case in point: ford transit. with three roofheights, and three body lengths to choose from, transit has the most configurationsof any full-size van. so, it's the right tool, no matter what your job is. this is ford transit.during ford commercial van season, get $3000 customer cash, plus an additional $500 commercialcash, and up to $1000 in upfit assistance. treatment. i am ready. because today there'sharvoni. a revolutionary treatment for the

most common type of chronic hepatitis c. harvoniis proven to cure up to 99% of patients... ...who've had no prior treatment. it transformedtreatment as the first cure that's... ...one pill, once a day for 12 weeks. certain patients......can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. a million patients. tell your doctor if you'vehad a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv, or any other medical conditions,and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone withharvoni may cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvonimay include tiredness, headache and weakness. i am ready to put hep c behind me. i am readyto be cured. are you ready? ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is right for you. peopleknow me as dale earnhardt jr., racecar driver.

but there's more to me than that. at my office,they call me boss man. i scout the talent, close the deals, do it all with a firm handshake.(loud clap noise) gentlemen. (loud clap noise) to others, i'm water coolerdale. man we got those tiny trash cans in our offices. somebody keeps putting theirlunch in mine. (all) what? everyday. smells like mac n' cheese.ew. (dale) lobster mac n' cheese, maybe? so weird...so weird. have any of y'all seen who it is? no.(dale) for protecting my small business and more...>>> martin truex jr. looked to be one of the favorites for the championship. ah week agoat talladega, his hopes for the title go away.

back out front. after coming to the road early,he makes it back out in front. the official app of nascar puts the road right at yourfingertips. you can hear communications between drivers and hear the team discuss strategy.>>> 500 for martinsville speedway. >> carl starting to catch up with the 48 car.full contact right there. that's just martinsville. you'll see a lot of that. the 48 is tryingto get in behind the 4, harvick. >> a wrinkle on jimmie johnson. that leftfront, we'll want to keep an eye on that. 48. he's back in it tonight, and there's noquestion tires are going to matter. >> guys, you can imagine how frustrating itis for jimmie johnson. jeff, all we hear on the radio is the spotter saying, inside, inside.

he can clear him but he's got to get therequickly. he doesn't have enough time. awfully frustrated behind the wheel. i can't imagine,jeff, what that's like behind the wheel. when you're on the outside, it's tough to get downin martinsville. >> it's especially tough. the 41 car doesnot appear to have a really good racecar. he's having trouble getting by the 48. thecar just won't turn on corner exits. jimmie johnson is almost able to clear him, but there'sreally nothing you can do, marty. you have to keep battling and battling and fight yourway down. this is where jimmie johnson is good. he knows how to be patient, he knowshow to deal with situations, deal with problems. it's lap 59. a long way to go. just be patientbut don't do something that's going to put

himself in jeopardy.>> the 23, we see a lot of smoke in the back of his car. i don't know if it's tire smokeor mechanical issues. i don't see a fender wrinkled but he'll have to come to pit roadand find out what that issue is. >> we saw the 23 duck onto pit road quickly.they thinkre's potentially fluid on the track. >> it looked like fluid smoke to me. it'sstill smoking heavily which tells me there's fluid leaking from somewhere. he will be disappointed.his team was very good in practice. he actually led the team to final practice. a little update.we saw denny hamlin and carl edwards. they both got penalized for speeding on pit road.carl edwards is working himself back to 20. tires.>> now that everybody realizes that, and when

you lose your spot, everybody is coming onpit road. >> joey logano hung in second position.>> martin truex jr. will lead the lapped cars onto pit road. apparently there's only fourcars not on the lead lap. and we'll go to kelly.>> you'll see the 4 car of kevin harvick who was working his way through the field afterstarting this one from the 20th position, kevin just reporting that his car is too tightcenter, and he said it just continues to get tighter and tighter. four tires, mike.>> another one complaining the car is a little too tight, sliding the nose coming off thecorner. they'll make a four-car tire change there, also air pressure for joey logano,dave.

>> the sunoco fuel has been the leader formartin truex. rubber buildup. for that the car is not turning. he'll get four and leave.>>> the race to pit road brought to you by geico. martin truex jr. wins the race offof pit road. have fun with your replaced windows. run away![ grunts ] leave him! leave him! [ music continues ] brick and mortar, what?![ music continues ] [ tires screech ][ laughs ] [ doorbell rings ] when you bundle home and auto insurance with progressive,you get more than a big discount. that's what you get for bundling home and auto! jamie!you get sneaky-good coverage. thanks. we're gonna live forever! it's a big australiandinner party, every outback, every day. and

the fun starts at lunchtime... that's right,over 70 great combos starting at $6.99. what do you call an australian dinner party thatstarts at lunch? bloomin' great! pennzoil synthetics. made from natural gas.make the switch. if carl wins today, i'm gonna do a backflip. maybe when you're dreaming.guys, i'm telling you, i can do a backflip. i've seen carl do it a million times. wellthat's neighborly. enough. you're good, man. that is a banner. hand me one of the wings?uh, this one? oh yeah, that's good. toyota. let's go places. all right dude you got this.you gotta stick the landing. carl! hey man, you want a wing? it's a big australian dinnerparty, every outback, every day. and the fun starts at lunchtime... that's right, over70 great combos starting at $6.99. what do

you call an australian dinner party that startsat lunch? bloomin' great! >>> he doesn't want to be on the outside.there's nobody there to take advantage of it.>> we're getting ready to see how much that pays off one way or the other. starting onthe outside, this 22 is going to look for the bottom as soon as possible.>> probably games are already being played here as somewhat teammates. the 78 was thecontrol car. shows the outside line but he does have a little bit of assistance withthe 18 of kyle busch holding up that inside line.>> rick, you're exactly right. that was a deal they worked out outside the green.>> early on we see that work early in the

race, but the last pit stop and the last restarta year ago, no games were being played. >> a.j. allmendinger, i wondered if that wasgoing to happen. the 22 drove them all the way to the bottom of the front stretch. idon't think allmendinger appreciated it. he had to run and moved the 22 out.>> that's a great example. we talk about cars that are in the chase. a.j. allmendinger doesn'tcare about the chase. he cares about trying to win this race. he's going to do everythinghe can, and we've seen already how aggressive he is. expect that to continue.>> one thing we haven't seen yet is someone hit the curb. we know that will happen sometimein this race. >> it's happened, we just missed it. there'sno way with 48 cars, someone hasn't run over

the curb yet.>> that's another unique thing about martinsville, that pink curb on turn 2, 3 and 4.>> we talked about the 22 trying to restart on the bottom, and the reason is the bottomis such a preferred lane. you can see right here, the 47 car running down the racetrack.the 47 has to lift. the 47 feels like he has that spot. he drives up and takes the position.that is a risk you take if you block on the straightaway.>> he could go to turn 1 and say, you know what, i'm not putting up with it. insteadhe slowed up a little bit and then moved him just a little out of the way instead of spinninghim out. the 47 that way if he needs to.>> he probably won't remember the part about

not wrecking, he'll just remember the partabout getting hit. >> i spoke with a.j. allmendinger's crew cheerthis morning, and one of the questions i asked him was, it's got to be a fine balance, oneof the competitors looking for a win and at the same time knowing they're competing fora championship. he said, look, we're out there for ourselves. we're going to race as aggressively as wepossibly can to get the victory. right now kyle larson stalking martin truex, jr.>> kyle larson will take the lead from martin truex jr.>> i think that was martin truex jr. saying, go ahead, young man. funk that's the paceyou need to run, i'm going to give you the

lead. he was probably abusing his equipmentto the limit. >> we know kyle larson will give 100% everysingle lap. that's what makes him so fast. laps. will that run his tires out early?>> kyle larson had tons of speed, and we said, you know what, he has to have a good car hereand run up front to learn these things. this is how jimmie johnson became so good, dennyhamlin became so good. maybe he'll drive up to the front and disappear. if not, he wearsthose tires, maybe he'll drive a little bit different later in the race.>> jimmie johnson, his crew chief told me running this spring up front against the leadersdid teach kyle larson a lot, and you can't manhandle the racecar. we'll take care ofit. we'll change it when he needs t but he

has to be careful about the input he has,and running up front taught him a lot. >> there is always question about how aggressiveyou need to be. the 22 car trying to block him. the 22 is coming down. murray just putsthe bumper to him and moves him up the racetrack. no one is allowed. everyone said, i'm notgoing to allow it and they just moved him out of the way. that 79, only how aggressivedo i need to be to protect these spots? earlier you guys mentioned the words "patience"and "aggression." we have clearly seen both early in this race.>> you've seen this early in this race. you can see the guy bump one in the corner andfill a hole. that's what we mean. there's no script to how these 500 laps are goingto go. these drivers have to decide. jeff,

you said it before, every race is different.>> and every lap is different and the levels of aggression. it's not, i'm going to be aggressiveand knock the guy away, or i'm going to be aggressive and try to get the car in a certainposition. you have to determine at what turn in the race, what position you're in and howaggressive you want to be. you don't have to be somewhat aggressive or completely aggressive.there are differences between the two and you have to understand where you are in thepoint of the race. >> martin truex jr. has never won at thisracetrack. in fact, fifth is the best he's ever finished twice here at martinsville.type 2 diabetes doesn't care who you are. or where you're from. we're just everydaypeople fighting high blood sugar. farxiga

may help in that fight every day. along withdiet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. onepill a day...helps lower your a 1 c. and although it's not a weight-loss drug, farxiga may helpyou lose weight. do not take if allergic to farxiga. if you experience symptoms of a seriousallergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing... stoptaking and seek medical help right away. problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tellyour doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while youurinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, genital yeast infectionsin women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and kidney problems.

is serious and may lead to death. farxiga.we are everyday people. visit farxiga.com and ask your doctor how you can get farxigafor free. welcome hi today we're gonna be comparing these two truck beds. let's startover here with this aluminum bed. you put your toolbox up here... whoa! that's a bighole. that is unbelievable. now let's check out the roll formed steel bed of the silverado.same angle,same empty tool box. took it way better. the steel held up. it's truck month!make a strong decision. find your tag and get over eleven thousand total value on thissilverado all star. silverado proved it is the toughest truck here. >> it looks like we're losing it due to anaccident, too, right now. we're better off

at 4 than we are at 2. that's what it lookslike to me right here. i'm having him open up his entry a little bit.>> that was spotter coverage by liberty mutual insurance helping drivers worry less.>> he was talking to the crew chief telling them what he's seeing. kurt is not hearingthat conversation. they're letting kurt drive, but they're more than just spotting for thatracecar, they're also helping the crew chief understand where the car needs to be better.>> the problem with 41, if you look, there's probably 5, 10, 15 car lengths in front ofhim to the 32. no room behind him. now the 48 is going to jump beside jeff gordon inthe 88. they know they're getting held up in the 41. he got back in line. i didn't thinkhe would be able to get back in line.

you? i thought he might be better off to moveto the left and let keselowski move to the outside.>> these drivers are pretty impressive. >> rick, don't encourage him.>> a nine-time winner in the 88 and an eight-time winner in the 48.>> left side of the screen, you see the 42 of kyle larson being touched down by the 4of kevin harvick. we saw larson go up and take the lead from martin truex jr., but sincethen he's lost about two seconds in the 78, and i wonder if he didn't just go a littlehard and put a little bit of wear on the tires. the 41 does a nice job and gets back in line.>> he started way back in 20th and has already worked their way up. what didn't look likea very good weekend for that team, there wasn't

very much positive coming in as far as howhis car drove, wasn't happy with it, but right now they've made the right changes going intothis race. >> i'm going to use cars like kevin harvick'sas an example. when the race is over, someone will say they never had track position. ifthey could have got it, they could have run up front. my argument is always the good carsfind their way to the front. the 4 kevin harvick has proven it. he started in the back andgot up front. >> he's in the racetrack running in the secondline. he's got a good launch off the corner. this is the first guy we've seen do this.kevin harvick gets underneath him, but watch what happens on corner exit. kyle larson,imagine that. kyle larson going to the outside.

>> there was a lot of conversation. nascardid a test here two or three weeks ago, and they put a chemical on the racetrack on thetop lanes to see if they could make the top lane work well. all the drivers felt likeit wasn't there any more, it was all gone, but you have to wonder if that chemical hada little effect to let kyle larson run up there.>> the reason the 4 can't get underneath, he can't get to the gas as quickly.>> he's trying to turn the wheel and go to the throttle at the same time, and it's justhard to get the car to turn and make good grip.>> the 20, matt kenseth, quick study as well. he'll go up the racetrack, turn in the middle,look at this straight run. i think he had

enough momentum to get inside the fourth.just too early in the race to do that, but we'll see how matt kenseth learned somethingfrom 42, as you mentioned. >> longest green flag stretch that we haveseen. this one over 37 laps now. take a look at this vantage point from denny hamlin'scar. >> this is going to show you this big curbing.it doesn't look as big from the outside of the car. but if you touch that, just likethat, it moves you up the racetrack. but the 11 of denny hamlin, another car thatrecovered. running fourth in the race. >> denny hamlin now has 10 speeding violationson the year. he was hoping the one he had last week at talladega would be his last.he said he probably studies pit road as much

as anybody. he always knows what lane he wantsbefore he even shows up at the racetrack. but he would like being one of the fastestrather than the most penalized. you have a restart from the rear, but the car just alittle bit tight, mike. you consider his record here at the speedway.he's run over 1300 laps at this track, so you can't blame his teammate carl edwardstrying to mimic what he's doing out there right now. let's listen in.>> this car is good. we'll pay attention to that when we go forward.>> he's driving around out there right now. >> so edwards tracing the line of denny hamlin.nothing new this weekend. in practice yesterday, denny hamlin intentionally followed carl fora good 20, 25 laps, and after that run they

debriefed where edwards went to hamlin andhamlin gave him a little critique on how he ran this racetrack. very much a team playerfor joe gibbs racing. hamlin spreading the wealth.>> martin truex jr. still out in front. kyle busch, matt kenseth chasingbehind now second and third.gilman: go get it, marcus. go get it. ...coach gilman usedhis cash rewards credit card from bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere, everytime. at places like the batting cages. and 3% back on gas. which helped him givehis players something extra. the cash rewards credit card from bank of america. more cashback for the things you buy most. school to game day and everything in between.with the best collection of styles and graphics

to choose from, it's easy to go online andcreate custom t-shirts and more for all of life's events.[ all shouting ] get free shipping and on-time delivery guaranteed. go to customink.com toget started today. >>> write nascar today on facebook at nascar.com/racecar.they've completed 115 laps. this is the longest stretch we've gone under green flag conditions.martin truex jr. out in front. for a moment and for a couple laps, kyle busch was ableto pass the 78, but the 78 has gotten backed by the 18 and kyle busch running second, mattkenseth third, kevin harvick fourth and a.j. allmendinger still running in the top five.>> that pass by the 1. at martinsville after kyle busch won the race.kyle found a fan in traffic afterwards. she

got very excited. her name marian brazil.i spoke with her on the telephone last night to get her firsthand experience what thatwas like. she said, i was going to protect that hat, not let anybody touch it. that wentout the window. she made eight races since and wearing the hat ever since. she's in thegrandstands wearing that hat hoping it brings kyle some good luck.>> a lot of them live under two hours from here, maybe a little bit north of charlotte.this racetrack just north of the north carolina-virginia border.>> 54 laps into it. remember at the beginning of this run, kyle larson pressured that 78for the race lead. it only took about 35 laps from when the 42 was leading to fall all theway back. now he's outside the top ten running

in the 12th position. conversely right infront of the 42 is denny hamlin. hard?>> i think the 4 is managing, in my opinion. we talked about some cars going forward, someback. matt kenseth sitting here running third. did a very good job on that last charge tothe front. he started in 17th place, so a move to the front for matt kenseth.>> chasing aftheir teammate, kyle busch. >> he's running down pretty close right now.>> look at him right down along the curb, very patient on corner entry, saving the reartires, doesn't put his car in harm's way. >> here's the issue right here. look at theselap cars. now the 78 car, he's got to get by all these cars. they don't want to go alap down, they're going to fight him. once

the other guys get to him, it will probablybe a little easier. the 78 is letting the 18 go. last cars on 18 runs always have ahuge barrier as to who can end up with the lead.>> a little contact and the 32 gets into the wall, so jeffrey earnhardt will have a littledamage to the right side of the car. >> still coming inside.>> martin truex jr. making a pass. you see the 18 up a little bit higher. the 20 triedto take that second spot away. >> it creates an opportunity. these lappedcars get an opportunity as drivers try to pass each other. look at this contact. getsloose, gets inside six. they got tagged from behind by the 95.>> all day friday we talked about the difference

between a good lap time and the race at thislittle tight half mile. only have one lane on the corner.>> you're talking about championship contenders trying to pass lapped cars. they're not justblowing by them. it's difficult to make these passes.>> some damage to the right side of that car. that will probably bring him to pit road.>> yeah, this is the second time we saw the 44 go around. they were able to repair it,but it looks like he has another pretty good contact with the wall.>> the lettering has rubbed off that left side tire and the right side rear tire. obviouslyhe's got some tire rub and has had some contact. last week, career best finish for the 44,brian scott, finished setalladega. now a lot

of smoke still rolling out from behind that44. the tire continues to rub the fender. we're only 131 laps in. do you try to holdthat position, or do you find a spot where you're not going to lose too many positionsby giving him the spot? a lap down. you just have to judge who isbehind you. if the guy behind you is one lap down, then you race accordingly. if the guybehind you is three laps down, you rafferently. we have a caution coming out now, i believe.>> a caution flag. danica patrick has just gone a lap down. she will receive the freepass on this caution. just one caution on the day at lap 133.>> it looks like a rear bumper pretty high we just saw4 near the wall. nascar has tocollect a piece of the bumper. looking at

the 44 getting into the corner. you can seethe left rear tires bouncing up and down on the asphalt. that is wheel hop. makes contactwith the wall. i would bet that rear bumper must be from the 44.>> we talked about wheel hop. it seems to be happening more today than it has in thepast. you'll see that tire starts shaking. you can almost see it stop and then it bounces.that's wheel hop, and all you can do at that point is turn the wheel. if you don't, it'sgoing to completely spin out. >> once again, we see martin truex jr. leavethe cars onto pit road. they will get ready for service. kelly?>> the 4 of kevin harvick who worked his way all the way up into the top five. he saidhe needs a little more bite. it's a four-tire

stop for kevin harvick.>> matt kenseth saying he's very tight going into the corner. they're going to make a four-tirechange also and a wedge adjustment. meanwhile the 18, kyle busch, says it feels a littlerough in the front. >> they will get just a little bit.>> truex jr. holding his position as do all the top four.>>> coming up next, dale earnhardt jr. will join us here in the booth. i scout the talent,close the deals, do it all with a firm handshake. (loud clap noise) gentlemen.(loud clap noise) to others, i'm water cooler dale. so i got this new chair, had it fora couple of weeks. somebody keeps lowering it. ah, dang it! i mean i reset it to wherei want it and i go back to my office, and

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regimen that's been prescribed to more thana quarter of a million patients. tell your doctor if you've had a liver transplant, otherliver or kidney problems, hiv, or any other medical conditions, and about all the medicinesyou take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni may cause a seriousslowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni may include tiredness, headacheand weakness. i am ready to put hep c behind me. i am ready to be cured. are you ready?ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is right for you. and aggression early. what kind of driverwere you when you were at martinsville. >> can i answer that? i'm not sure it's fairfor him to say, because' seen him both. very

patient, and there was a race here where helost his fender at 100 laps. as we get ready for the restart, it's truexjr. and kyle busch. truex jr. on the outside. a deal has been worked. truex jr. will goto the bottom of the racetrack. kyle busch gives him that opportunity and kyle buschwill stay there in the second spot. joey logano in the high spot, trying to fight for a spot,hoping someone will open up so he can dive into a hole. right now he's stuck on the outside.>> rick, you mentioned those speeding penalties. they're always painful. but as we fartherinto the race and less and less the pain of these penalties will become more and more.>> late in the race or even right now, that could really be difficult on the driver. he'sgoing to have to make up a lot of spots on

the racetrack. there's not much strategy theycan do on pit road to get those spots back. on the restart. he got hung up on the outsideand he's desperately looking for a way to get to the bottom. you see that hole rightthere? it's just not quite big enough. the timing wasn't right for him.>> it's a difficult decision to make. you race as hard as you can and hope a hole opensup, or do you go back a little bit and find a hole that's possibly behind the 41 here?>> like right now, he's got to aggressively get in there. good job.>> you heard his father tell him, there's a quick hole, get down. now they're goingto try to tell jeff gordon when to get down.

right here he's going to squeeze him down.the 41 i'm sure is going to fill the hole. the question is, how about the teammates?is chase elliott going to let the 88 in? >> he's trying to prevent him from being onthe outside. denny hamlin just lost five spots only becahe was on the outside.>> the outside just isn't as competitive compared to the bottom. it makes it very challengingto find grip as you go through that concrete on the outside lane. they start to use thatoutside lane as the tires start to wear. you can get in the corner wide and high and makea straighter run off the bottom to save that for your drive. early on the run you needto be in the bottom. >> you try to make that track as short asyou can possibly make it. when you lose your

grip, you try to open the track a little bit.>> back to kurt busch. he has jeff gordon right behind him in the 88.>> this is when it's so difficult to be able to be patient and know that if this goes 80laps, i've got to have some rear tire left on my car to get in the corner. right nowyou might have a fast car. the 88 is looking hard to get past this 41. but you don't wantto use it too much. this could go long green, and it's still early in the race to wherethe tires are very critical. >> the other thing you pay attention to earlyin the run is where are you? you're going to restart fifth, seventh, ninth on the outside,and then you don't push so hard. but if you have a position that will put you on the outside,you aggressively try to take that spot. there

is a strategy involved in that as well.>> it's one thing for the 41 and the 88 to worry about their tires. they're in 13th and14th, but what about kevin harvick? had to restart at 26th, currently runningat 25th. how hard does he push? it's not just about tires. brakes, gearings. the harderyou push your car, this is like a marathon. i was running inside the top ten. theeedsare up, there's competitive cars there, and you want to maintain that track position soyou probably run it a little harder. >> matt kenseth taking the lead away frommartin truex jr. we'll see if kenseth will potentially let the 78 back by. he will. itlooks like that might have been a little bit of i'm going to help you out here move.>> we wondered how long the joe gibbs cars

and the toyotas could work together, and sofar they're working together really well. but remember, truex jr. isn't in the chase.he's working well with the cars that are trying to win a championship. we'll see if the 20or the 18 can make it to the lead if they continue to play nicely.>> martin truex jr. on a completely different agenda now. now that he's been eliminatedfrom the chase hopes and the championship run, now martin truex jr. wants to go outand prove to everybody, hey, i think i could have won this championship. if i hadn't hadthis engine failure, i'll show you guys. i'll win this race if i have to.>> there's another year coming, there's another opportunity coming and i think that with greatdisappointment, if you can still bring something

out of it that's positive, that's what youdo. and the team winning as much as they did in the regular season and then coming in andhaving that problem last week, it had to break their hearts. but the only way to get overthat is to go get another trophy. sprint's network reliability now within 1%of verizon. switch today. save 50% on verizon, t-mobile or sprint today.>>> martin truex jr. and that number 18 in alliance with joe gibbs racing, so they havebeen strong at all the short track races this year.>> it's quite a bit different mentally when you're out of the chase race picture. a lotof worry and tension is gone from the truex team. they can just let it all hang out. theycan win these races and just dominate, like

you see them do today. the guys in the chaseare running every lap they've run. they're trying to take care of their cars. it's atotally different mindset. >> junior, when you say that, the pressure.you experienced it a year ago. being in the chase, what kind of pressure are you feeling?what are these eight guys feeling right now? >> you just don't want to be one of the guysbumped out. every lap you run, you take a chance are risks you're willing to take, notgetting dumped by somebody not in the chase and not worried about your situation. it canbe really difficult mentally throughout the race, particularly when it comes down to thoselate yellows. you know this place has a tendency to throw a lot of curveballs late in the raceto these crew chiefs with strategy, and the

tires, when to stay in, when to stay out.you can be running great in the top three all day long, and something strategywise cantake you out of that top ten finish to where you're wanting to get today. >the 32 othersfighting for a win here at martinsville. too long without a hard hat. meet the all-new2017 ford super duty. they cut weight with a high-strength, military grade, aluminumalloy body and reinvested a big chunk of it to beef up the high-strength steel frame.forging the most capable heavy-duty pickup in america. time to punch work in the face.this is the next level. this is the all-new ford super duty. upgrade season's here. igot my new iphone 7 from sprint. sprint? i'm hearing good things about the network. allthe networks are great now. we're talking

within a 1% difference in reliability of eachother. and, sprint saves you 50% on most current national carrier rates. if you got 1% morehaircut than me today, would you really pay twice as much? no i wouldn't. copy that!(vo) switch to sprint and get iphone 7. plus save 50% off most current national carrierrates. don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much. for people with hearing loss,visit sprintrelay.com. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com. whoooo! comingup on "look! famous people!" we catch flo, the progressive girl, at the supermarket buyingcheese. scandal alert! flo likes dairy?! woman: busted! [ laughter ] right afterwardswe caught her riding shotgun with a mystery man. oh, yeah![ indistinct shouting ] is this your chauffeur?

what?! no, i was just showing him how easyit is to save with snapshot from progressive. you just plug it in and it gives you a ratebased on your driving. does she have insurance for being boring?[ light laughter ] laugh bigger. [ laughter ]>>> we're on lap 167. sprint cup series ace-- race in martinsville. coverage brought to you by liberty mutual.40 guys keeping an eye out for the 40 drivers on the track.>> here is the spotter on the inside giving direction about where to go. it's importantto commute with the driver, equally important because the track is so small.>> it's important to give him information

about cars around him, but giving him opportunitiesto get back in line. a good spotter is a spotter that knows there's a hole there and knowingit's not going to close up before they get to the breaking zone.>> is there a way you can create a hole? >> drivers can create holes. sometimes itworks, sometimes it doesn't. you saw it today not work for joey logano a few times. it justdepends, really, on how you race throughout the season. this racetrack has taught me morelessons than any other racetrack on how to race, how to take care of your car, when isit critical to make that hole or not make it.>> because the penalty of making a mistake here is that you hit something or you losetrack position. and the price here bigger

than anywhere else.>> 31, ryan newman. the 11th of denny hamlin once again had a speeding penalty but he workedhis way up to 7th now. >> i think denny as good as the top three.toyota is in the top three. i think denny is as good as they are, if not better.>> martin truex jr., kyle busch, jeff gordon, the first three positions. a.j. allmendingerand denny hamlin, four and five. >> you see him on the same strategy with tiresthat everybody else has. you see him moving back starting to inch forward.>> that justves to me as chaotic as some of these short tracks are, there's nothing thathappens by chance that jimmie johnson has won a -- that denny hamlin continues to win.it looks like it locks out of your control.

i think they've proved otherwise.>> it really doesn't happen by chance. i talked to kevin harvick about not maybe having acareer if it wasn't for this racetrack here. he had a race team and he was struggling.he told harry hyde that he didn't think he was traveling. they said they should go tothe next race. jeff bodine won that race. they got northwestern security life to comeon board and the rest is history. the reason you guys are sitting up here and having workedfor rick hendrick and all the successes he has had right there when jeff bodine won atthis racetrack. to continue or not. a difficult, challengingsport. >> we have matt kenseth on the bumper of that78. kenseth has led a lap. truex jr. has led

the most. 144 laps he has been out front.i would call that a dominant performs. but can he keep it up? that will be the big question,can he maintain that. we still have 223 laps to go. and we have cars on the 48, and thisis all on the front bumper of denny hamlin. you get to see how you pass at martinsville.he enters a little bit high. look how he turns down right to the curve,gets on the corner. not quite as good as the 48. they have to continue to work that, though,try to enter, get the car turned and exit straight. now turn and go below the 48 onexit. >> i was a little surprised that the 48 openedthe racetrack up so much. he kind of opens the track, turns late, kind of gives the 11a little bit of a look at the bottom getting

into the corner.>> i love the shot that you can see how much those rear tires work. you can see matt kensethfinally getting around the 78 for the second time.>> now matt kenseth, i think, fought his way up front. there was no, i'm moving out ofthe way and getting you a bonus point. we'll see how dominant the 28th would be. you'reat martinsville. i did not email any, um, classified material. really? the fbi saidthere were 110 classified emails that were exchanged... hillary lied. and another lie?i respect the second amendment. but behind closed doors,hillary told liberal elites... the supreme court is wrong on the second amendment.hillary will lie aboutanything to get elected.

one more championship. breeders cup worldchampionships. coverage begins friday on csn. we have a classic building here at martinsvilleas the 78 of martin truex jr. no longer up front. it's matt kenseth that is leading theway and kyle busch has been able to get to martin truex jr. as well. kenseth and buschrunning 1 and 2. jr. has run to third, joey logano and hamlin 4 and 5.>> he's going to be looking for some adjustments. he's obviously fallen off on the 20 and 18.>> this has been a falloff for the 48 and the 11 for probably 15 laps now. in the left rear of the 47.>> a little smoke there. >> big damage to the right front of the 48.i don't think it will affect the handling,

but -->> right front damage. >> right front damage for sure. it's cavedin a little bit. i haven't seen much smoke on the right front, so maybe not a lot oftire rub. >> as long as it doesn't rub the tire, damagehere will not alter the way it handles. what's interesting right here, you heard denny hamlinsaying, okay, chad, now you know why i race you. he's been on the 48 but can't clear him.keselowski is working the outside to get by the 11. is surprises me that jimmie is tryingto get into contention this hard. every point counts. i have a tremendous amount of respectbecause denny hamlin has yet to make any contact with the 48.>> he's been underneath him. multiple times

he can't complete the pass.>> two of the best at this racetrack battling lap after lap for one position.>> this is the same thing we saw in the last long run. the inside better in the middlebut the 48 is such a launch that he can't keep the position he gains in the middle.marty? we reminded him today, if you need to usethat high line, use it. another thing he said earlier, when we hit off 44, we have a littleextra that everyone else doesn't have. i don't know about you, but i'm going to be shockedas well as it is today here in martinsville. be in the outside lane.>> i think hamlin is upset because he wasn't expecting it, either.>> just hit him. poor contact. two chase drivers

and a lot of contact there.>> sparks flying. >> that's exciting. i was so surprised the48 contested that hard. he finally lost patience and tracked him down here.>> now we're seeing a little tire smoke off the 48. was he racing denny hamlin a littletoo hard? there's the bumper. >> i don't blame him. 11 couldn't get away.the 48 came down, i think, with a little purpose to try to get to the bumper of that 11.>> a caution now comes out, so a restart will be coming. we'll see what happens as far asthe 48. >> we have to beat it out, all right?>> how much damage they will have to work on under this pit stop.>> i love short track races. it's what it's

all about. battling for position. that outsideline started to work. denny hamlin saying, hey, that's not how we race at martinsville.got him out of the way. out pretty easily. might lose a spot or twoon pit road to do that. lucky for him, he's got this caution to work on it.>> you were wearing a goodies shirt earlier today.>> we came out here with our sponsor. goody sponsoring a lot of good products. so trevor bayne will get the free pass.>> what if that came off and got on somebody's grille? just in the interest of fairness toeverybody, there's another caution to go in and fix it.>> here they come down pit road again. we'll

go to kelly.>> denny hamlin wanted to show jimmie johnson that he wasn't bluffing when he made thatmove. he said he was struggling a little bit in this car.>> i got the outside to work but then the 11 just knocked me out of the way. they'llconcentrate on the. >> tire change, wedge adjustment on the rightside. overall, much better. he said i can point the car now.>> they're going to spend a little. matt kenseth and kyle busch, they hold their positionsoff pit road. from bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. at placeslike the batting cages. [ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery storesand now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back on

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if carl wins today, i'm gonna do a backflip.maybe when you're dreaming. guys, i'm telling you, i can do a backflip. i've seen carl doit a million times. well that's neighborly. enough. you're good, man. that is a banner.hand me one of the wings? uh, this one? oh yeah, that's good. toyota. let's go places.all right dude you got this. you gotta stick the landing. carl! hey man, you want a wing?>>> great view of martinsville speedway, coverage provided by our partners at smithville foods.looking down on a full martinsville speedway. your live race day companion. social conversationall in realtime. you won't miss a lap when you visit nascar.com/drive on your personalcomputer now. and welcome back to the goody's fast relief 500.

gorgeous day in martinsville, virginia. temperaturetrying to climb up into the 80s. and such a historic racetrack, the train tracks runningjust down the backstretch here. this racetrack has been active since 1949. i know you'rea historian of the racetrack in all of racing, so i'm sure a place like this holds a specialplace in your heart. >> we love to short track race but we don'tdo a lot of it. very exciting. >> they're coming out of turn number 4. it'skenseth, kyle busch. kenseth on the outside, the race leader. once again we'll see howthe teammates work together. kenseth will be able to slide just in front of the 18 ofkyle busch, but the 22 of joey logano, what will he do?>> he's got no choice but to race these guys

pretty hard on the outside here and hope thathe can find a hole. he's going to try to work in here and see what happens. truex havingnone of it. is in after he restarted on the outside. let'slisten in to the spotter of the two. >> going to be an open behind that 47 whenyou exit, i think. no, 88 on the inside. 88, 3 left corner. this should be a no brainerbehind the 88. inside. i'm sorry, bud. 22, no openings there. opening behind the 1, opening behind the 1,opening behind the 1. there you go. >> what a helpless feeling. that was spottercoverage presented by liberty mutual. helping drivers worry less. when you're stuck on theoutside, you've got to be worrying.

>> driver patience but also spotter patience.it would be easy for a spotter to create a hole that isn't there. joey logano makingthat hard move. joey did a good job of getting in there.>> once again the 2 is on the outside, this time because the 42 of kyle larson moved outsideof it. >> he got to the bottom, did what he had todo. dale. >> 2 of brad keselowski kind of choked upand allowed 32 in. keselowski said, no, not going to happen.>> it can be frustrating. >> brad still struggling on the outside.>> kasey kahne just got to the back of the two as they were exiting turn 4.>> i mentioned the two had gotten to the bottom

of the racetrack, but he won't let him in.>> the 32 knows he's going to check out very, very good. pull to the left, force the 2 intothe corner on the top, gained a position. him into homestead with a chance to win atitle. but he loves racing here. this is a driver's track. you feel like when you'rea driver and you race here that you really can make a difference behind the wheel asmuch as the car is important and the driver and the crew. it's important with the successyou might have here. >> i remember when i won my clock, it wasas if i won the daytona 500 again. it's so hard to win here. the clock is such a uniquetrophy. all the drivers out there want to get one of those clocks.>> that's the key, the fact it is so difficult

here. that's why you cherish so much the htheheritage. all those different things make you want the clock that much more.>> and a win, and you're on to miami. >> you saw him put the bumper to the 48. i'msure he doesn't want to race that way, but it's time to go, and his two teammates, mattkenseth and kyle busch, they better look in the mirror and start making adjustments. theydon't have the wheels right now to make it up to the 11.>> jimmie johnson has been unbelievable in texas. then you look in phoenix. kevin harvickwould not make it in phoenix. this may be your best opportunity. they may be sayingthis is the only opportunity they have of winning a race and be able to advance.>> they have to come down pit road. he's worked

his way up to. >> our contact again, see right here he'son the very bottom. when he leaves he's not on the bottom any longer. he gets inside the43. so continue to bang that car up marty? >> there was a panic here at the 48 camp afterthat happened with jimmie johnson. they let it run for a few laps and said, no more smoke,we're good to go. earlier, though, they had to make several repairs on the 48 car. herethey are on the radio after those repairs to the left front of the car.>> have we fixed it? >> to me it been the same.>> and that's chad saying the car is fine after repairing we really haven't made muchprogress. it will be interesting to see what

happens on this run.>> if we get this run, it will be interesting to me next time the f. the. there will bea when the 48 and the 11 will be near each other.>> does jimmie johnson feel he's been wronged or did denny hamlin have the right to putthe bumper to him? >> we already saw the 11 push the 42 out ofthe way. they have shown themselves to. without the right tools, a five minute jobcan turn into a five hour job. so when it comes to your tools, choose wisely, grasshopper.case in point: ford transit. with three roof heights, and three body lengths to choosefrom, transit has the most configurations of any full-size van. so, it's the right tool,no matter what your job is. this is ford transit.

cash, and up to $1000 in upfit assistance.i'm not hiding. i am. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com>>> we talk a lot about brake bias, well something the driver can use inside the car right there.that knob is basically the brake adjuster. to put some rather brake in it.>> and the brake bias changes. as the race goes on, the brakes run hotterand hotter. you gain rear brakes and you actually get that wheel hot. it can help in handlingbut it also prevents you from getting in a wreck because of that wheel hop.>> i want to look at toyota driver update. as i mentioned earlier, the top four driversall driving toyotas. a look at carl edwards currently in 10th. one, two, three, four,for kenseth, hamlin, busch, truex jr. and

carl edwards back there in 10th.>> they have the adjuster in the front rear, and one thing that's critical is you'll makea lot of changes on the brakes throughout the run as the car is changing and enteringthe corner and so forth. but also when they come out to reset all that.>> were you doing that yourself, or was greg telling you to do things differently to handlethe car? >> i always tell greg if he has an idea onhow to handle the car, tell me. he can spur me to making changes to the car, but the keything is resetting all that at the pit stop. if you have new tires and you forget to resetthat stuff, you can get the car going. you'll put rear brake in it.>> you'll hear those drivers from time to

time say one round to the front. they're tellingthe team that so that when the caution comes out, we forget how many rounds we put to thefront or the rear. you have to have somebody remind you.>> we look back at carl edwards and it shows carl edwards working. you see how smooth hetries to be on the wheel but you see his right hand right here on this side of the steeringwheel. this doesn't look like a radio switch to me.it has kind of an up and down toggle to it. up and down.>> i love the track bar adjuster and what it can do for the driver inside the car. ifyou get behind, your setup is a little bit off, it can make a difference for the trackbar adjuster. i've probably passed more cars

having a track bar adjuster as a tool. i canadjust it when i get in traffic, i can adjust the track bar to help me with that handlingissue. >> absolutely. we have it on the dash andknow where we're putting it as we're moving it.>> the 1 and 2 car worked that out. they're almost three wide.>> it's just so unusual to see racecars running up there, but i think he moved up there onpurpose. that ninth position. keselowski trying toget it. kenseth on one of his winningest tracks. on the track and on the road.>>> gorgeous day in martinsville, virginia. on this radar. steve, the other thing is,we have two short tracks relatively close

together.>> they're only 173 miles between bristol and martinsville speedway, so the opportunityto show two -- and i was worried when we were going to show the radar. every time i've seenit this year it's been green, but it looks perfect today.>> ideal conditions. >> matt kenseth put a lap down and they havestruggled with that 41 car all day long. just a couple statements he made about the car.the car is numb and does nothing. it's like there is no sway bar on the car. he said,i cannot hang onto this thing any longer. we talked for a while about how consistentthis 41 team has been in this chase. in fact, their worst finish is 13th so far in the chase,and they rely on that consistency. but it

was also talked about the lack of seed, andthey did not expect for martinsville to be a stop. the 41 needs to pick tup a littlebit in danger of going down. >> they just haven't had the speed. they'veonly had four top ten finishes in the last 11 races. the speed has gone away from thisteam. >> another driver doesn't seem to have foundsomething. the 4 of kevin harvick. >> he was running when he got hit with thatspeeding penalty. he's running 13th, but right now he's saying he lost his turn and his reardrive, so he has dropped back several positions running 19th right now. more than any other driver. when i talkedto his crew chief about that, he said, the

only thing is we're super fast about the first300 laps. but as the track rubbers up, we tend to way too tight. he was hoping withthe warmer weather, they would be able to adjust for this race, but right now he's alreadystruggling and they're at lap 261 of 500. >> this racetrack has been a tough racetrack.if we look at the chase drivers, the situation the track put them in. this year we've willhad three. >> there's more trouble coming as well. >>.>> kurt busch in the 41 looking like he might >> we talked a lot about penalties, we talkedabout cars running in the front. look at the average of that. 41, kurt busc. tony stewartback in 25th, so none of the. >> you wonder how hard curt. push this issueand try to keep in distance of the 20. first

car a lap down. that's what the goal is now.>> he's got a pretty good distance untilment next car, aircraft swim like he should.>> that intensity to say the first car a lap down, that is huge, isn't it? >> it's important in a place like this. youwant to be able to get back and get that opportunity as soon as you can or get to wait around.there's just not many opportunities. this race is halfway over, and these guys are alreadyjust short of a lap down, and you have to think about getting back to a reasonable finish.>> another car that i think has made improvements is this 88. this 88 has been very quick thelast 20 laps or sochlt. >> it's no surprise, jeff gordon here. he'sbeen the fastest car on the track in the last

20 laps.>>> we talked about dominic, the 88 driver, has been. nine career wins at martinsville.that's the most active drivers he has been dominant at this racetrack. spritz networkreliability, now 1% driver switch today. save on driver rates at the sprint network today.kenseth still out front. i mentioned earlier this is one of the tracks he has not won on.trying to change that statistic today. can you feel it? can you feel it?oh, coca-cola. can you feel it? can you feel it?oh, coca-cola. eh, i should probably go. can you feel it? can you feel it? before takinghis team to state for the first time... gilman: go get it, marcus. go get it. ...coachgilman used his cash rewards credit card from

bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere,every time. at places like the batting cages.[ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery stores and now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back ongas. which helped him give his players something extra. the cash rewards credit card from bankof america. more cash back for the things you buy most.go paperless, don't stress, girl everybody put your flaps in the air for mei can't lip-synch in these conditions. live from arlington, texas. the eagles visitthe cowboys. tan patrick hosts beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern only on nbc. this telecastpresented by nascar heat evolution. marty? >> rick, can you imagine being in jeff gordon'shouse when it strikes noon? he has nine grandfather

clocks. as you guys were mentioning a momentago, today is his 805th career start. he thought homestead last year was the last start. hesaid i definitely think this is the last start for me, but it has been fun getting his carready for dale earnhardt next year, continuing to progress the team, continuing to make thembetter. he said, sure, i'd like to progress but i've learned a lot this year. so junior,trying to make your car ready for next april when he gets back to it.>> we need to continue to compete and run well. just an amazing driver. one of the bestsubstitutes i could have, especially martinsville. we're not going to miss a beat with martinsville.when we get back in the car in february, it will be like we never left.>> you've done a great job watching, and you

seem comfortable watching. is it weird tosee your car go around the racetrack? >> i didn't know whether i'd like it or not,but i can't stay away. i obviously want to be here with jeff's success. he may win thisrace. to be able to see my guys enjoy that, we have a great group of guys. so for themto get a win, it's like when you get knocked out of the chase early. if you can get a winlate in the race, it's a big boost to the morale of the team going into the off season. on the schedule.>> again, knowing this will be the last race for jeff gordon, another one that's makinghis last martinsville start in the race is the 14 of tony stewart. as we watch the 4of kevin harvick continue to fall back.

go to phoenix, wining five of the last six.but they cannot continue putting themselves behind. racing in this round, running wherethey don't need to. there is still a lot of racing left. 217 laps to go. jeff, at somepoint they'll put themselves in a hole they can't dig out of.>> you can't keep making the last race come back. it will catch up to you. this is thelongest run of the day at 77 laps. right now he's a first car lap down, but right in frontof the 20 car is michael mcdowell, and that's lap number 195. the minute he puts the lapdown, kevin harvick will no longer be the most laps down.>> you have to give mcdowell credit for running 120 right now.>> matt kenseth out in front of the kenseth,

the 24-year-old from cambridge, wisconsin.but, there's another side to this car. oh, wow. i love it. this is the first-ever chevycruze hatch. well, that's pretty impressive. wow. so check it out. yeah, that's awesome.i do like it a lot. now that you know it's a hatchback, what does it make you think of?young professional slash weekend warrior. the whole business in the front, party inthe back sort of thing. i don't want to live with the uncertainties of hep c. or wonderwhether i should seek treatment. i am ready. because today there's harvoni.a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. harvoni is provento cure up to 99% of patients... ...who've had no prior treatment. it transformed treatmentas the first cure that's... ...one pill, once

a day for 12 weeks. certain patients... ...canbe cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. harvoni is a simple treatment regimen that's beenprescribed to more than a quarter of a million patients. tell your doctor if you've had aliver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv, or any other medical conditions, andabout all the medicines you take including specialist if harvoni is right for you.>>> you're up with the pit crew and get the latest t-shirts. visit the nascar.com/superstoretoday for the latest gear. welcome back to the martinsville speedway. trying to protect his position. this is atrue battle for position here, 20 car trying to get around these lap cars. harvick stillthe lucky dog. meares going down a lap here.

that will make him a lucky dog.>> meares' track belongs to him just as it does the leader.>> how do you race the chase guys when you're out there trying to perform? i think the guysnot in the chase have a chip on their shoulder. there's not one of the guys getting specialtreatment. see the 38 hit the wall? almost came across and got the 20.>> cassill has some damage to the right side. denny hamlin is trying to fight for the outsideof that 38. hamlin will also try to get by casey meares in the 13. look what happenedto the 38 here. >> i think he just drove it into the fence.i don't think he was out of shape coming off the corner.>> mcdowell also right up against the wall.

>> trying to put him behind him. i want tolisten in to carl edwards' radio, the 19, just moments ago.>> this is crazy. this may be completely crazy. but i see in front brake lights on the rightside. we just have to monitor it. it's hard to believe. i just want you to know it looksdifferent. >> he mentioned this being the longest greenflag run. they've already gone 92 laps of green flag racing. they talked about the brakedust. we want to look at the nascar heat evolution animation and talk a little bit about brakes.>> we talk about the braking system on these cars of the they have so much work to do toslow down from 126 miles an hour to 26 miles an hour. the brake pads get pressed onto thatdisk. that presents a tremendous amount of

heat, and that rotor pulls the heat out ofit. that can be a concern. the beads. this car melts to someone. butit can actually melt the tire and the tire blows out and obviously that's a major problem.>> lots of smoke. that nascar heat evolution is in stores today. as we look at the damageof number 3, take a look at what happened. >> it was a combination of coming off thecorner. this happens all the time but this is a severe rub. i don't think this will lasttoo long. this actually looks like it's getting worse. . one thing they don't want to happenis the tire goes into the wall and spins out of control.>> it's so tough to know when to pit and not to pit.>> if you pit under green here at martinsville,

you don't lose a lap, you lose multiple laps.>> how far are we under green? we've run 137 laps. you're 40 away from seeinggreen vault. >> it's been a long since -- aluminum alloybody heavy duty pick-up. it takes first place in every measure of tough: best-in-class towing.best-in-class payload. best-in-class horsepower. and best-in-class torque. winner, winner,chicken dinner. this is the next level. this is the all-new ford super duty.(sloshing) (twist cap sound) unleash a refreshing citruskick. do the dew. the performance speaks for itself. pennzoilsynthetics. made from natural gas. make the switch.>>> matt kenseth has had success at short

tracks, but not at martinsville. he has sixcareer short track wins, but none of those have come at this racetrack. sprint networkreliability now within 1%. switch today and get near verizon reliability with sprint rates.let's listen in with matt kenseth's radio. rear tire.>> talking about a little bit of tire rub, especially on the right rear.>> that damage has been there for quite a while. i don't think this is a real issuefor the 20. definitely tight. tight on that quarter panel.>> martin truex jr. led 147 laps and now kenseth has led 126 and counting as kenseth continuingto pace the field. we had talked a little bit, as we take a look at this little bitof contact here between kenseth and ryan newman.

109 green flag laps currently. we mentionedthe pit window for fuel is going to be around 140 to 150 laps. i'm sure teams right noware starting to think, we better start planning for green flag pit stops.>> i had some guys already having trouble with the tires that you talked about.>> he wasn't going to be patient. it was time for him to get by the 21.>> those younger guys, you can do that if you're a veteran. you can move these youngerguys out of the way without any repercussions, as you can see.>> let's take a look at the mcdonald's all-day pit strategy.>> jeff, you and i are up here. we're discussing what are the options for pit strategy hereon a green flag pit stop. normally on the

big track we say, yeah, come to the pit early,you're in risk of the racetrack. but going multiple laps, i think, is a higher risk.>> ken harvick 20th. could they come in earlier, get themselves out of the league.>> currently a lap down. as you mentioned, harvick running 21st a lap down. kurt buschrunning 23rd, also a lap down. >> he's going two laps down. this is gettingto the point why they're going to have to do something. they've gotten through thischase by being consistent. and by doing all those small things right. but this speed they'velost is really hurting them in this racetrack. something he doesn't do, which is pit early.>> and why will he have to pit early? the 7th of reagan was off earlier, but heneeds to dispose of him and drive. he's currently

four-tenths faster. because i don't thinki have. right now running 23rd, i'm afraid of digging a hole i can't get out. that isnot tony's personality, he's not a gam. if they don't have the speed to advance, they'llhave to do something to earn their way into pit road. we were born brothers. competitionmade us friends. wish bold in the 2017 camry. toyota. let's go places. gps: turn right.gps: turn right here. gps: casey, go right. for a racecar driver,turning right is hard. gps: come on casey. no daddy! turn right!>>no daddy! turn right! but saving money with geico is easy. geico, see how much you couldsave.

kick. do the dew.>>> toyota, let's go places. credit 1 bank. the official credit card of nascar. and bynascar heat evolution, now $49.99 for ps 4, xbox 1 and ps 3.>>> 332 complete. that leaves 168 to go. if you do the math and they stay out, they couldsplit this in half. we could continue green the whole way with only one more pit stop.>> well, these gibbs cars, they have so much more pace than everybody does. it's 167 lapsto go and it's only 14 cars in the lead lap. give a shoutout to greg biffle. this teamhas struggled all year long. had a very solid run, they've continued to run in the top 10,if not the top 5 for most of the day. a.j. allmendinger in this 7th position. he'sbeen second here twice, so if you take away

his road course victory, this is statisticallyhis best track, especially when it comes to ovals, running really well here again today.>> it isn't oval, but his crew chief quick to point out that it drives a lot like a roadcourse. when he compares it to what he's talking about is the fact that he's able to managehis brakes so well. i know when to push them, i know how to cool them, i know how to takecare of my tires at the same time. when he said was, what we need to see here today islong runs. he got that. front of you, you're saving the car, savingthe brake. when i first came here, i had a lot of races with racecars but never finishedgood races with them. that's because i ran 110% at the beginning of the race. at theend of the race, i didn't have brakes, stopping

power and my car wouldn't turn well.>> you actually start going faster. more than. >> matt kenseth and denny hamlin, the distancebetween the two has shrunk. it's about half a second separating the two.>> marty? >> we're in the mode of giving out a callto drivers. 132 laps to go in 25th. they have ridden up and been the fastest car run, sowe're now 123 laps into this run and we can go about 133 laps all told to about greenflag pit stops. four years since we've seen. when it's hothere at martinsville like this, it gets muggy there.>> yes, it does. i think the thought of winning. what would he do? we saw earlier what dennyhamlin would do. denny hamlin moved the 48

out of the way.. sprint? i'm hearing goodthings about the network. all the networks are great now. we're talking within a 1% differencein reliability of each other. and, sprint saves you 50% on most current national carrierrates. if you got 1% more haircut than me today, would you really pay twice as much?no i wouldn't. copy that! visit sprintrelay.com. for people with hearingloss, visit sprintrelay.com. whoooo! with toyota safety sense standard.you don't own me toyota. let's go places. >>> you're watching racing in martinsville.telecast presented by nascar heat evolution. kenseth, hamlin and kyle busch. three joegibbs racing drivers that have almost looked as though they know exactly what the otheris going to do. kenseth and hamlin, kyle busch

all running in the top three for most of thisrace. jeff gordon holding onto the fourth spot, martin truex jr. in fifth. the battlefor the fourth position heating up here between jeff gordon and martin truex jr.>> these guys really lost a ton of time. over this long green flag period you expect thegap to change a lot more, but jeff's car is pretty competitive compared to the other toyotas.jeff's car seems to be competitive as well. just behind them, he's actually closing inon this battle. it looks choreographed how they're running. there's a couple guys behindthem that still has a shot to upset this. >> they had to have a long pit stop to beatout the 11. closing in on carl edwards for 9 position. with 147 to go, they better keepit in mind, and as soon as we have the first

car coming into pit road, kyle larson comesinto pit road. this must be a scheduled pit stop.>> i believe green flag pit stops are getting underway here as the 16 of greg biffle alsohas come to pit road. a great battle heating up here, the 78 and the 88.>> kevin harvick struggling on that last long green flag run. he said he went through hisright rear tire too quickly. he had a flat back there. he also says hewas tight to the center. we'll see what happens there.>> 88 locked his tires upcoming into pit road. maybe coming in a bit hot.>> joey logano running 8th on this one. lost a couple spots, picked up a couple spots.he said the. with all these pictures on these

race cars, he finally rolls into the pit stall.they have led over 170 laps so far this afternoon. they will.>> and just like that, the caution has come out.>> he has a flat right front tire. >> he didn't hit the commitment line, buthe knew he had to go down. he was running ninth right before they started the pit undergreen flag conditions. >> he bent up the fender. he has a lot offender damage. >> that's a lot of damage. you have an instantreplay. that looks like a melted piece for sure, it just goes straight. that is someheavy contact. i don't think that's just heat metal damage. that is heavy, heavy contact.>> one of the chase drivers now having an

issue. his teammate denny hamlin was seatedearlier. yeah, you see the sparks coming out the right.>> we talked about he has this gamble. mcmurray, hamlin, kyle busch, none of thoseguys had hit. don't get if the koesh. one of the things the dlooifrlt. if they hadn'tcome to pit road yet, everybody will have to come to pit road because, of course, fuel,and that was the longest green flag we've had for a long time.>> perhaps if he beats everyone on pit road he'll be the leader. many. he's already servicedi see r us his car. it's going to come down to where the caution. they're behind someof the other cars, so we're going to have to let pit road open, let the car come onthrough and then we'll be able to explain

who takes the wave around and who doesn't.>> we need to get things in order and then open pit road. the 19 car going behind thewall. as you mentioned, steve, that was big damage.>> two guys that really suffered for this yellow that were actually on the lead lapbefore they pitted, kasey kahne and chase elliott are now two laps down. so when theytake the wave around, they'll only get one back of the two.>> you know right now that carl edwards and his team, they're almost going to have togo and win one of the next races if they're going to advance.>> again, only one driver, potentially, would get in based on points into the championship4 if during these three races you have a chase

driver win.>> so the other big issue you have right here is we have allmendinger, johnson, murray leftto pit. big break for him. but other ones, denny hamlinfourth. he will be the leader of the race. because the cars in front of limb will achievethe race lead. . a good break for denny hamlin. >> the 47 car is all pit road.>> i was watching jack canal and his eyes lit up. mendinger going by me. he is out offuel as well. add a fuel here for the 48 of jimmie johnson who had worked his way backto the top 10. now you can see his car is refired. he missed pit road so he'll haveto come back around once more and pit. >> fuel pressure came back.>> a solid 76.

>> the problem is pit road -- pit road isstill closed. they don't want to be on pit road while pit road is closed. so these teams.>> there's still confusion on the radio with the 48. chad and jimmy are trying to diagnosethe issue. >> i'm not taking any chances.>> so even if pit road is not open, which right now it still. >> jimmie just said, i'm managing it wellthe best i can inside the car. i think i can manage it here. i made a mistake inside thecar. it's my fault. they have a reserve switch. they can flip a reserve switch and get a littlemore fuel inside the engine. he has told him. >> he says, i think pit road should be openright now. you see jimmie trying to manage

that fuel situation, shutting off the carwhen he can trying to keep pace speed as well. beforehand.>> he might be waiting for cars to go by, though, if nasr is telling you.>> if i'm the. . . you can have one run versus. but what he's telling them is, it's on me.it's on me. i fixed the issue. he dent need any more detail than that. he knows what he'sdoing. he stayed on the racetrack but he has ven up track position.>> pit road is open. the ones who haven't gotten to pit road yet, we'll see them diveonto pit road now that pit road is open. >> there's not that many anymore.>> the lead lap cars are allowed to come to pit road once pit road opens, and those willinclude -- see as they dive down to the bottom

here.>> 48 by staying out. >> jamie mcmurray.>> he will be starting with the leaders. he won't have to start at the tail end of thelead lap. that's why they're trying to wait. >> marty?>> after all that, jimmie johnson will make it to pit road in fourth position under hisown power, how about that? they'll come in and take four fresh new tires here, obviouslypack it with sunoco fuel. as well for johnson. he said, again, the car very good in the longrun. it was too tight early in the run and that was the problem. because it's one ofthe few cars on pit road taking their time, making sure the left front and the right frontare good. now they send the 48 back out.

>> an eventful few minutes.>> the 48 making its way off of pit road. denny hamlin really setting the pace now.i did not email any, um, classified material. really? the fbi said there were 110 classifiedemails that were exchanged... hillary lied. and another lie? i respect the second amendment.but behind closed doors,hillary told liberal elites... >>> welcome back to mart ins fill speedway.this telecast presented by nascar heat evolution. we were listening in to the 28 radio, mattkenseth. everyone right now is a little bit confused on where they are either on the leadlap or maybe the tail end of the lead lap. listen.>> can you explain how he can be the lucky

dog if 47 was the leader and i was right behindhim? >> i cannot. i cannot. i think we're thirdlooking at it right now. that's my judgment. we're third.>> so a few cars were on pit road under green flag conditions. while they were on pit rgetting their service done, the caution comes down. so some were trapped a lap down. othersfeel like they're still on the lead lap. they're going to be 21 wave around cars to try toget back on the lead lap or get a lap back if they were two laps down.>> so it's very complicated, but basically when the caution comes out, you have to bescored either the start finish or pit out. >> the 20 of matt kenseth, the 18 of kylebusch. there's kyle busch. he pit out. allmendinger

beat matt kenseth to the pit out, thereforeputting the 20 down a lap. that's forcing him to take the wave around. it became morecomplicated with the 47 pitted when pit road was closed. that's going to be a penalty onthe 47. but fortunately for the 20, he's going to take this wave around. the big winner inall of this, in my mind, it's still the 48. he did a great job of not needing to pit whenpit road was closed. didn't get the penalty, and because of that, he will line up outsidesecond row. >> remember kenseth was leading when he pitted.and the 11 and the 18 left pit road. it was slow for kenseth and that allowed the 18 andthe 20 to get ahead of him. >> the chase continues next weekend on nbcat texas motor speedway. the xfinity speedway

returns to the track on saturday. the sprintcup series moves to race 2 in the round of 8 coverage next sunday. this lap is beingdone without the luxury of the pace car, at least a portion of it. the pace car had goneto pit road expecting the restart there. >> so it's very complicated because cars arein different positions. there are lap down cars in the way. you have denny hamlin andkyle busch in the front row, jimmie johnson and allmendinger in lap 2. kenseth 6th, truex7th, logano 8th. they'll be starting back of the pack behind lapped down cars.>> nascar still doesn't like the lineup. the pace car has pulled off the racetrack, butthey're waiting to start because they still don't like the lineup. you can see the lapdown cars are in front of the lead lap cars,

they just have to get it sorted out. >> here's how it works. lead lap cars moveout first, then the 88 of jeff gordon. then behind him, that should be all the wave aroundcars. the problem is that's very, very confusing, and it's important because you see jeff gordonright here on the 88 trying to get forward a row. he should line up there. they've gotto get the 78 in the right position. this is where jeff gordon says, no, no, this iswhere i've got to be. >> i applaud the car leaving the racecar out.with 127 points to go, there can be no question mark. it's not just about the winner. youhave to make sure everyone on the field is where they need to be of the points are soimportant.

is all happening.>> i agree with steve that nascar is doing the right thing here, taking time to get itsorted out. when we don't like the lineup and nascar allows us to race, i like the factthey're going to get it sorted out, get this thing correct before we go back to green.there's too much at stake here. >> i think the 20, matt kenseth, they thoughtthey were third. he's still not giving up positions having a wave around.>> nascar is telling him where to go. nascar is talking, spotters are listening. 20 car,you should be the fourth car on the outside. we told you about the 20-car game. did yousee the cars he was racing on the 23rd. the difference is the 20 car was.>> let's go into the garage and mike masari.

right side nose to tail, not just body butalso chassis. they made some adjustments. many points as they possibly can here today.kyle did say over his radio, hey, guys, keep your heads up. we'll go win in texas.>> rick, we talk about opportunities and things that have to fall your way. nothing is moreevident to me than the 48 and the 47. when the caution came out, the 47 was leading the48 by seconds. they both run out of gas. carl edwards stays on the track and does not goto pit road. >> he pits when pit road is closed. he's onlyintense on scoring, but he has the lineup of the entire field all the way in the back.such a big shift, marty, between two different tails of running out of gas, the 48 versusthe 47.

48, the 47 and the free pass car. he has askednascar several times, i do not understand why these guys pitted under green. we pittedunder caution and they're ahead of us. he said, it does not make sense to me. he saidit four times on the radio politicking his case. i'm not sure he'll get anywhere withnascar, but that's his point, anyway. >> it's really simple. the caution came outwhen they were on pit road, so let's go back to the pit out camera. here's the 18. offpit road. before we see the leader of the 47 get to that line. the 11 and the 18 cameon pit road. jeff, you said it three times. came onto pit road, serviced their cars fasterthan matt kenseth, faster than. i understand chad's confusion, but that camera shot kwinszme nascar has a right.

>> there was a huge gap from the 47 in thegibbs cars. that and when that caution came out, that's the difference between being inthe lead lap and not being in the lead lap. >> when the caution came out matters. youlost two laps when they're running 28-second lap times. but when the caution comes outand they're running 38-second lap time, that's where you gain your spot. despite your bestefforts. but what if you could turn things around? what if you could love your numbers?discover once-daily invokanaâ®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lowera1c. invokanaâ® is a pill used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower bloodsugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. and in most clinical trials, the majority reachedan a1c goal of 7 percent or lower. invokanaâ®

works around the clock by sending some sugarout of your body through the process of urination. it's not for lowering systolic blood pressureor weight, but it may help with both. invokanaâ® can cause important side effects, includingdehydration, which may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, lightheaded, or weak, upon standing.other side effects may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections, changes in urination,high potassium, increases in cholesterol, risk of bone fracture, or urinary tract infections,possibly serious. serious side effects may include ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening.stop taking and call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms or if you experiencesymptoms of allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing.do not take invokanaâ® if you have severe

liver or kidney problems or are on dialysis.tell your doctor about any medical conditions and medications you take. using invokanaâ®with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. it's time to turn things around. lower your blood sugar with invokanaâ®. imagineloving your numbers. there's only one invokanaâ®. ask your doctor about it by name. it's a bigaustralian dinner party, every outback, every day. and the fun starts at lunchtime... that'sright, over 70 great combos starting at $6.99. what do you call an australian dinner partythat starts at lunch? bloomin' great! stopping and saying, okay, let's get it right. becauseif you get it wrong, it could have implications. >> they have to figure out who the leaderis. i think they can determine the 47 was

the leader, but where was he at the time ofcaution when he decided to slow down, and who was in pit road and who wasn't. we havethe 18 who pitted, but i think that's the confusion for the competitors. i think that'show the opposition is real. because 18 and 11 were on the road when the pit road cameup, that gave them an opportunity to service their cars and not lose a lap. it's basicallylike hitting the short track lottery, being on the road at martinsville when the cautioncomes out and yet being just perfect enough on the lead lap. >> well, they look like they're all in thecorrect order. we went from high above, the aerial coverage provided by smithfield foods.but nascar, as you guys mentioned, wants to

make sure this is right before they throwthe green flag. mike? >> catching up with adam stevens, the crewchief for kyle busch. can you make heads or tails of what's going on here?>> i can promise you the front row is correct. beyond that, i talked with the guys in thebooth and the guys upstairs. i'm a little confused how the 20 did not get the luckydog, and there's two or three guys who seemed like they gained a lap in the cycle, so i'llbe anxious to watch it back tonight to see what the heck is going on.>> a lot of people still trying to figure this all out.>> i just looked at timing and scoring and i felt the 22 car score tonight. are you whereyou're supposed to be, do you think?

>> yeah. it's kind of a confusing situationbut the 47 was the leader so the pace car picked him up. and he ran out of gas, so thenwe're behind the pace car but then we have to take the wave around to get there. by wavearound, you just end up in the order coming back by the pace car.>> he has a pretty good racecar, maybe not the best that he's had here at martinsville,but maybe enough to pick it up. >> i think everybody is hoping they're inthe right position. there was a position people were in. the 47 was the race leader. whenhe ran out of fuel and came to pit road, he actually then got a penalty. with that penalty,that put him at the back and it changed the way everyone thinks that the lineup is supposedto be.

because you take the wave ound and all thatchanges, it gets very complicated. it shouldn't take over 20 minutes to sort this out, tobe quite honest. >> the lights are still on on the pace car,but they're showing one to go. kelly? >> very quickly here is mark wheeler on thenumber 11 car. what is your confusion about this lineup now?>> i'm hoping to see an in-car camera. a bunch of cars passed when they shouldn't have passed.we got a free lap in the process, it's just hopefully we can replay the in-car cameraand see those cars behind that are a lap back. and a lot of people thought they should betwo laps down. well, the pace car has pulled off. that puts the fuel back in the handsof the 11 who has chosen the outside line.

i guess once again we'll see joe gibbs teammatesworking together. denny hamlin on the outside, kyle busch on the inside as they enter therestart zone. back in the air. 18 car on the restart. they've been doingthat all day long as they control the top three positions for most of the day. the 48in the one racing really hard here. side by side for third.>> the 48 takes the third spot away from the wall, able to use that outside line and getby jamie mcmurray. currently on the lead lap 10 cars. a.j. allmendinger in the 47, thelast car on the lead lap. first car a lap down, kasey kahne in the 5. hamlin, kyle busch,jimmie johnson, jamie my mcmurray, matt kenseth, martin truex jr., a.j.

allmendinger the ten cars on the lead lap.>> he's two laps down. if he's going to get one lap back here, he's got to do it on theracetrack right now. to take second away from 18.>> we talked about patience, we talked about aggression. i think it's time for aggression.with only 110 to go, only 110 in the lead left.>> kyle busch was sitting there running second. he has them lined up underneath him. he'llhave to find a way to get to the bottom. if not, he's going to go way back. right there,that's his opportunity. >> guys, remember the 48 is on his way tothe field a couple times. matt kenseth trying to get to kurt busch. the 11 car will be interestingto see how they race each other. they had

a little run-in earlier in the race. willthat play a factor later in the race? we'll find out.>> we saw the 11 move the 48 out of the way very early in the race. will the 48 rememberthat and maybe use the same moves when he gets to the back bumper of the 11?>> i don't think we have to question if he remembers it. the only question is if he canreturn the favor. >> i wonder if the pace is just a little fastfor the 18, faster than he wanted to go. he fell in line behind jamie and seems quitecontent to be right there. there's still 107 laps to go.>> 107 to go, the 19 back out on the racetrack. we saw him go a little bit slower. dale earnhardtjr., thank you so much for joining us. we

appreciate you being here in the booth andenjoy the rest of the season. >> thank you, buddy. i appreciate it. thankyou for having me. >> we go nascar nonstop. what? is he gone??finally, i thought he'd never leave... tv character: why are you texting my man at2 a.m.? no... if you want someone to leave you alone, you pretend like you're sleeping.it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switchto geico. it's what you do. tv character: taking selfies in the kitchendoes not make you a model. i've made a breakthrough in bucket technology. my new kfc ten dollarchicken share. this cutting edge design is perfect for sharing with a friend. a bucketfor ten dollars? what?! this delicious chicken

share took a lot of math, quantum scienceand imagining a different sized bucket. kfc. it's finger lickin' good. whether you workon race cars, or your own car. you know what it's like to work hard with your hands there'ssatisfaction in getting the job done. but when you get the job done right, that's whenyou earn it. that's when a busch beer never tasted better. rewarding hard work, since1955. here's to earning it. >>> following race coverage on nbcsn, turnit to the nascar post race show. for more comprehensive nascar coverage, be sure tocatch "victory lap" at 5:30 p.m. eastern. let's listen in to jimmie johnson's radio.>> i think he might. >> i'll let you know shortly.>> there you go. they remember.

>> denny hamlin is driving him like he doesn'tfeel he's owed anything. he's really protecting this lead. running the bottom of the racetrackhasn't allowed jimmie johnson any room in the bottom of the racetrack.>> jimmie johnson entered that last corner. he entered high, turneand tried to leave onthe bottom. he's trying to open that entry up and turn his corner better. he was tryingto find a way to make his corner exit. records at this racetrack and thought theywould be the favorites. those two drivers just happen to be denny hamlin and jimmiejohnson. >> isn't it amazing at the green flag pitstop and we get a caution in the middle? that goes back to the point that there is moreto control. there is a reason these two get

to the front, and right here jimmie is goingto have a run. will he be defensive or let jimmie have the bottom?>> he's not going to lay over. jimmie johnson didn't lay over for him and he's not goingto lay over for jimmie. >> three now side by side once again. onceagain denny hamlin fighting on the outside, not wanting to give up an inch. jimmie johnsontrying to take the lead away through 1 and 2. this time the 11 fights back on the outside. >> harvick up in front, that will play a factor.where is the lap car going to go? jimmie clears him.>> the crossover move by the 11. he's back inside the 48.>> and can he keep that position? so tight,

the two, racing off the turn. the 48 clearsit. now back into 3. the bumper almost goes into the back of the 48 from the 11 once again.>> denny hamlin wisely decided, i did that once. maybe this isn't the time to go. he'sgoing to try to work to the back bumper of the 48.>> he drove aggressively but he's very clean in driving. the 11 really had no choice. ifhe went up there and just knocked the 48 out of the way, guess what? the next time the48 got to him, whatever happened would happen. >> coming back into the picture now in the20. kenseth running third, kyle busch is fourth. joey logano and a.j. allmendinger in the 10th.first car a lap down is kasey kahne. jimmie johnson looking to get the guaranteed spotin the championship four and also looking

for his ninth win at martinsville. only oneother driver in the field has a number that big. that's jeff gordon as we go nascar nonstop.most dependable. means a lot to me. the green car because i like fuel efficiency.what if there was a car company that received all of these awards. one company won an awardin all these? chevy. ahhhh! chevy. chevrolet is the most awarded car company of the lasttwo years. i love it! it's fierce. how would you sum this car up in one word? incredible.amazing. i can't use one word. k, , look alive.you've been saving for a big man-cave. (chuckling) good luck with that, dave.you made the most of your retirement plan, so you better learn to drive that rv, man.so many things you're doing in your life.

nationwide is on your side. i was made inthe shadows of greatness. shaped by the hands of legacy. forged in the fires of racing.(engine revving) i've been challenged, tested and proven. whether it's on that track oroff, the truth is- what you're made of... is what you're made to do.crowd: (collective cheering) joey, i don't know how you pulled that off man. what's next?can you feel it? can you feel it? oh, coca-cola!you're gonna show this whole world. you're gonna shine!can you feel it? can you feel it? oh, coca-cola! over denny hamlin, martin truex jr. in fifth.only 10 cars on the leading lap. running tenth is a.j. allmendinger, about 10 car lengthsbehind leader jimmie johnson.

>> his first chance at martinsville in twoyears. he told me earlier today, i have to change my mentality in how i approach thisrace. it was always big picture racing. this one is so different. i have to focus raceto race. he's trying to get himself a ticket to miami and win a seventh title today.>> denny hamlin one of the four cars left in the field. i spoke to him about the atmosphereand he said, yes, it's been awesome. there's been a lot of happiness knowing we have a50-50 chance at winning the championship. of our cars would be eliminated. denny hamlinhas had a better car. let's see if he can make a move back on the one ahead of him.>> matt kenseth right on his rear bumper. win. before the race began, kenseth said oneof the reasons he's been better at martinsville

this racetrack. looking to sweep the martinsvillerace, though, he said the handling isn't near where it needs to be. so far nothing has corrected the problem.>> anybody's bracket busted after martin truex's motor blew last week? when cole got back tothe shop and looked at those beautiful cars lined up, he said to himself, we are so muchbetter prepared this year. that's why that loss last week hurt so bad, marty.>> what we think will be his final sprint cup series. his crew chief today told me,it's so cool to me and such an honor. i grew up a jeff gordon fan. to work with him isneat but to be his crew chief this final race is really cool. i want to send him out oneway. jeff gordon looking pretty good in the

number 6 spot.>> when i asked him why he's so good at this track he said he's not really sure why, itwas a track he figured out early on. he had a message. he said think of these last fouras laying bricks. we're building for next year. we won a lot of practices, now we needto practice winning. rick? >> practice winning is what they want to do.they want to get to victory lane. again, he was second in this race a year ago to jeffgordon after gordon was able to get that win, that big win that catapulted him into thechampionship 4. jimmie johnson wants to do the same thing today. he wants to make ita guarantee that he goes to the championship 4 in miami as we go nascar non-stop.

the landing. carl! hey man, you want a wing?upgrade season's here. i got my new iphone 7 from sprint. sprint? i'm hearing good thingsabout the network. all the networks are great now. we're talking within a 1% differencein reliability of each other. and, sprint >>> just 60 laps to go for martinsville. thesprint cup racing at martinsville brought to you by nascar heat evolution. it's beena difficult day for the 4. kevin harvick has run as high as third but right now scoreda lap down and running 20th. >> it's only the third race in this round.they're losing points. carl edwards has an issue. he's back at 36th. three drivers introuble, two of them from the stewart hoss camp.>> the top four, hamlin, kenseth, kyle busch

running third and fourth, jimmie johnson stillout in front. >> they've been running hard. very respectful.a few touches here and there, not necessarily trying to move somebody but getting to theback of each other. jimmie johnson just driving away. the 18 car working really hard to tryto get by kenseth. just touches the wall a little bit at 2. at martinsville it's barelya touch. if you were on a big track, it would be an issue with the sheet metal. here it'sreally nothing. >> cosmetic as we see the 46. making his wayto pit road but not really affecting the 11, 12 and 15.>> he ran them down really quickly, and once he got there, he couldn't do anything withit. this is just competition. these cars are

so equal at how fast they can go around theracetrack, it's very hard to pass a car unless you're a lot faster than he is. matt kensethgot to the 11. he's only a little faster and not able to do anything with him.>> with 55 to go, i think it's important to go back and just reassure everyone how thelineup was created with that timely caution. denny hamlin on the left, the leader on theright. that makes 47 the leader, but the 11 of denny hamlin is still in the lead lap. now they're under caution. the 11 still onlyhas to race to start-finish. he crosses the start-finish line. the 47 is obviously wayover in turn 3 picking up the pace car. right there it's very clear, the 11 of denny hamlinbasically hit the short track lottery. in

his pit stall when the caution came out, thatproves notice the 11 and the 18 scored correctly. they should start on the front row. that wasa big break for them. front of him also. he wasn't supposed to bein front of him. you saw that at the end of pit road so they put the number 20 behindthe 47. >> and a lot of people were questioning thefree pass. the free pass goes to the driver that is the highest scored driver a lap downwhen the caution comes out. when that caution came out, matt kenseth was not a lap down.he was a lap down after the 47 was able to get by him, so he would not have been eligiblefor that free pass. >> it's complicated but nascar has workedthrough it. i know there is some frustration

on pit road. i would be frustrated becausei don't have all the answers. but it was very clear to me when this race restarted 63 lapsago, all the lineup was correct, all these cars were in position, and denny hamlin hassince pulled ahead of these race cars for a two-second lead.>> there was a great point brought up we just heard moments ago as far as a report fromthe joe gibbs camp. the joe gibbs racing teams know that if one of the four besides joe gibbsracing wins this race, one of the teams will not win the championship. if jimmie johnsonwins this, one of the four joe gibbs racing teammates will not be eligible to win a championshipin 2016. listen in to kyle busch's radio. >> letting 48 win this race.>> i believe when he says letting him win,

he means he's taking over this race.>> why can't the 11 just drive away and run the 48 down? nobody is holding up the 11 car.the 48 has driven away from these guys. the clock is ticking at joe gibbs racing.they know the door is closing. featuring best-in-class torque? why do we give it industry-leadingtowing and hauling capabilities? and why do we make it clever with versatile cargo solutionsand much more? well, why do you put so much effort at everything you do? because a jobworth doing is worth doing right. can-am defender: tough. capable. clever. youlook out that window and see cars and streetlights. want to know what he sees? opportunity. ccarar.. y bebeiningg abablele t to o rerecocogngnizizee a a fafairir p priricece.. o onn eveverery

y mamakeke a andnd m mododelel,, o isis sseaearcrchh fofor r ththe e cacar r yoyou u wawantnt,, ththerere e itit i is.s. i inn lelessss ththanan a a m mininutute.e. ththisis i is s trtrueuecacar.r.>>> 40 laps to go on martinsville speedway. >> are we going to have some cautions? ifwe do, the restarts will be very important, the top lane versus the bottom lane. not tomention the pit crews. they'll have to get their cars off pit road but they'll have tomanage those tires. >> jimmie johnson drives away from the gibbscars. he managed those tires early in the run. as we look at the back of the gibbs car,someone caught him. keselowski is all over the back of kyle busch right now.>> he's looking at points and points are available.

he's out of the chase but for every gibbscar he passes, that helps teammate joey logano. >> keselowski all over the back bumper ofthe 18. how aggressive will he get with 38 laps to go. the 18 has to enter a little bithigher. >> the 18 has to understand this is one spot.i know one spot is huge, but he can't put himself in too much jeopardy. he has to racehard, but turning a fifth, sixth, seventh into at 29th? that's not an option.>> four drivers will be eliminated. >> he's saying i don't want to get into asituation. at the same time he doesn't want the wholeline to be messed up, so move keselowski and i'll go around on the right.>> he's driving smart.

>> remember how he managed the season. hegot what he wanted out of his car once the season started. that's the more mature, smarterkyle busch. >> he's working hard together as we see mostracinging the 20 and the 11 of denny hamlin. >> he said on the radio, i'm doing the besti can. i'm trying the best i can to do the right thing, meaning he does not want to makecontact with the 11, but the 11 keeps turning down on him. at some point his patience willwear thin. >> now he's got the 2 on his back bumper.he's about to lose the spot to the 2 if he continues to wait on the 11.>> see the 2 enter in the top lane right here, trying to get that big drive we've seen atthe top of the racetrack. accelerate. he's

right with the 20.>> 33 laps to go. jimmie johnson has a two and a half second lead over denny hamlin.marty? >> i was going to say with 33 laps to go,we're talking 32 now. it's a hendrick motorsports car up front with jimmie johnson in positionto win. we told you at the top of the show how important martinsville is to ken -- hendrickmotorsports. jimmie johnson puts kevin harvick down another lap. he also says that firstwin, rick, that you mentioned, that kept us afloat. the win last year, number 23, a hugewin. this could be win number 24 for hendrick motorsports at martinsville speedway and itcould be equally big. jimmie johnson for the first time ever in elimination format.

the man on the left, he's reminded you a fewtimes how important it is to win here at martinsville at hendrick.>> this is a very important place for hendrick motorsports. the 48 is doing a great job totry to get that win. this battle with the joe gibbs team has heated up even more, jeff.>> it has, and the 20, matt kenseth, let him go on the outside. kyle busch is trying totake advantage of that, get by matt kenseth on the outside.>> brad keselowski continues to move forward. he's now up to third. jimmie johnson leading,denny hamlin running second, brad keselowski in third. we go nascar non-stop with 28 togo. to rejoining their families, we're helping to connect them to an even better future.from financial education and wellness programs

to job training and housing assistance, we'repartnering with military nonprofits dedicated to helping our troops succeed here at home.without the right tools, a five minute job can turn into a five hour job. so when itcomes to your tools, choose wisely, grasshopper. what a lovely home you have. is this yourfamily? yea, that's my daughter, my son, and that's my... hey, kool-aid man! ...husband.oh yeah!!! [ crashing ][ electricity crackles ] hey at least you got your homeowners insurance through progressive.by bundling it with your car insurance you saved a ton! yeah. do you want to see the rest of the house?-i can actually see a lot of it.

-oh. proud of you, son. ge! a manufacturer.well that's why i dug this out for you. it's your grandpappy's hammer and he would havewanted you to have it. it meant a lot to him... yes, ge makes powerful machines. but i'llbe writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other.i'll be changing the way the world works. (interrupting) you can't pick it up, can you?go ahead. he can't lift the hammer. it's okay though! you're going to change the world.>>> how big is next weekend going to be when the sprint cup series and the weekend seriesboth go to texas? 1:00 for the cup series. remember, jimmie johnson is great at texas.not just good, he is great at texas. if he's able to win here and then go to texas andwin again, that's another guaranteed spot

that he takes away from one of these eightdrivers. >> that's right, because we had three of thechasers today running 20th or worse just like the other chase races.>> there's jimmie johnson continuing to get by the slower traffic. 19 laps to go. what an incredible day jimmie johnson hashad already. at 198 he had the tires smoking after the contact with the 11. just a couplelaps later to fix the damage, it took him 40 seconds on that pit stop. and then he hasmethodically battled his way all the way up to the front, took the lead at lap 409. he'snot going to lead the most laps, but jimmie johnson definitely running strong when heneeded to. the first time he has ever made

it into the round of eight in this format,and jimmie johnson looking for his seventh championship, and if he wins today, he isguaranteed a spot in the championship four. the guy trying to run him down, though, isthe 2 of brad keselowski, marty. >> he told his team, let's finish this yearwith the most wins. they were eliminated from the chase last week in talladega after arguablyhaving the best car and losing. don't forget, that 2 came in pretty quick and pretty hearty.he said, listen, we got better here when we stopped trying to be fast. clearly showingup for the 2 car today, can he catch the 48 in the 15 laps to go. that's the question.>> marty, we talked about it all week. it's different from making time and coming outhere and having race craft. currently 100

laps in the three-flag run. i'm not sure we'llfinish under green. we could now see one more issue with a tire. these brakes run hot. wehave seen tires melt, especially at the end of the race when these drivers are pushingright to the limit. >> i thought kyle larson was ready to bringout the caution. he had some kind of problem and hit the wall.i thought the caution was coming out, and it would not surprise me. the final greenflag stretch has been 10 laps or less. i wouldn't be surprised at all to see a caution.>> we're getting close to that 10-lap mark as there's 12 to go. the gap now between jimmiejohnson and brad keselowski, two seconds. it was 2.5 seconds. jimmie johnson havingto work through some of the slower traffic.

now the gap between the 2 and the 48, onlyone car in between them. >> i think that's the concern is brad keselowskiis running faster laps with traffic in front of him. jimmie johnson has a clear racetrack,so the 2 doesn't have to stay behind him long. the 48 is going to catch the back of the field,in my opinion, with 11 to go. he may catch clint bowyer, the 3, the 95 and that may slowhim down more. >> giving brad keselowski the opportunityto get to the back bumper? what will he do? how will he race him if he gets there andcan he catch him? that will be the big question with 10 laps left at martinsville.>> i don't think he'll be able to run him down at two laps back.>> you mentioned the fact that the beat is

heating up as this has been another long greenflag run. th5 laps left and counting. there is no doubt these cars will be coming to pitroad. >> who will stay out? a.j. allmendinger, jamiemcmurray. truex jr. has nothing to lose, jeff gordon has nothing to lose. maybe you getfour guys to stay out. it's not enough time to get back by him.>> slow on the racetrack now, the 93 will be able to get back around. thatibenedetto. dibenedetto is trying to getto pit road. under seven laps to go. this time it will be six more times around.>> not going to be able to catch him without help, but the help might be coming for bradkeselowski as we see the 48 catch the back

of the field. two or three car lengths behindmcdowell. he'll have to work through traffic. >> he has caught michael mcdowell. so raceleader jimmie johnson has now caught the back of the field once again. will that slow himdown enough to allow keselowski to catch him. >> a good run for this small team. they foundsome speed. >> there's the gap.>> because jimmie johnson doesn't have it lying around some of these cars.>> the gap closes and then widens the cars. we mentioned how dominant the 48 of jimmiejohnson has been at this racetrack, but it hasn't been recently. his last win was allthe way back in 2013. it's been three years since the 48 team has celebrated at martinsville.>> i don't think jimmie johnson is going to

push the issue right here. i think he's goingto try to be real smart. he has a good, clean run and mcdowell will take it, but i don'tthink he'll push it with only two to go. >> down the backstretch he clears him. thistime coming out of turn 4. white flag in the air. one more time around for jimmie johnson. whatan incredible race. the 48 team and jimmie johnson have run. after having a long pitstop and going all the way to the back of the field, he's battled back. he's out front.he has touticket to homestead. jimmie johnson wins martinsville!>> thank you! >> 79 career wins for jimmie johnson. andmore importantly, one step closer to the elusive

seven championships.>> i am so proud of you. i am so proud of you. great job. great, great job, jimmie,great job, team. awesome out there, everybody. burn it out, brother.>> the team is going to celebrate. he's going to burn it down. jimmie johnson celebratingat martinsville speedway. this moment presented by sunoco, viewing victories all season long.think about it, too. when the caution came out, jimmie johnson thought he had run outof gas, thought he had lost this race. knew that he couldn't come to pit road under cautionbefore pit road was open. chad told him, i want you to come to pit road, i need you togo to pit road. jimmie johnson said, it's fixed, i got it. he's able to advance nowand has a chance at the championship.

>> rick hendrick had to slap himself in theface as if to wake up from a dream. you're going to hendrick. a year ago wouldyou have thought this was possible? >> this whole organization has worked hard.we're really happy for chevrolet. we've been so close in a lot of these races, it justfeels good. now we're getting together in texas, and we like texas. this place is special.12 years ago we lost a lot of our family and friends, so we dedicate this one to them,and now we get to go to texas and have fun. >> he mentioned the plane crash that we lostso many people in that plane crash. stilley moeshl for rick hendrick to think about that,and that's why martinsville speedway for many reasons is so important to hendrick motorsportsand mr. hendrick himself.

>> with a win, jimmie johnson potentiallycould get that seventh win and join the likes of only two drivers that have ever done itbefore. richard petty, the king, with seven championships, and dale earnhardt sr. onlytwo drivers in history with seven championships and jimmie johnson will race for a seventhin miami.ght up to him. now he looks me square in the eye, and, i swear he says, "welcometo navy federal credit union." whoa friendly alert! i got a great auto rate outta thatguy. now i have a wonderful hybrid. slate blue. creme interior. he was so nice! opento the armed forces, the dod and their families. navy federal credit union. >>> the drivers at the top of this sport arethe ones who won seven championships, hall

of famers richard petty and dale earnhardt.jimmie johnson has six championships, and today he was able to accomplish somethingthat he has never been able to accomplish before. in an elimination style championshipformat, he has now guaranteed his spot at miami, and he will race for a championshipwith three other drivers, those to still be determined. but we know for sure jimmie johnsonwill be one that will have a shot at the title. jimmie johnson tying jeff gordon now for themost wins at martinsville, tied for third. richard petty with 15, dale waltrip with 11,the only two drivers ahead of him. a year ago we saw jeff gordon celebrate like it wasthe first time he had ever been to victory lane. how excited will jimmie johnson be knowingthat he has the win and a shot at the championship?

a unique racetrack at martinsville. the victorylane, we heard from rutledge wood earlier today, is right up against the grandstands,right on the front stretch. jimmie johnson is taking his helmet off, put the lowe's haton and will make his way around the track right in front of the stage that now holdsthe ninth grandfather clock that jimmie johnson has been able to win at martinsville. >> rick hendrick on the left.>> rick, i'm sure, will be leaning in the window to talk to his driver. marty?>> what an emotional day for hendrick motorsports. they punched their ticket to homestead, miami,and rick hendrick leaning in the window telling jimmie johnson he is going to battle out fora championship in miami. the team is ready

to shower jimmie with gatorade, and i believejimmie is ready to go. he's done burnouts on almost every part of this racetrack. whata crazy day. running out of fuel at one point, contacting with his crew chief. jimmie johnsonwith this nice martinsville plaque, this time to celebrate for the 48 team.>> i remember being that wet about one year ago today in the jimmie johnson victory lane.that's what happens when you head to homestead, miami. what a crazy day. running out of fuelat one point, what was the panic? did you think the day was done?>> a lot of moments, but anything you want in life, you got to work for it. it isn'tgoing to come easy and we needed that coming into this race, and there's so many challengeswith this track. i'm just so thankful for

this race team. the win this weekend at thisracetrack with the tragedy we had here in '04, when i think of all the loved ones andfamily and friends, it's just the right time to win a race.>> is this the moment you have to pinch yourself that have to battle it out in homestead, miamifor a championship, jimmie? >> i've been trying to ignore this talk aboutseven, but now i can't. hi, sweetie.>> there's genevieve, where is -- >> lydia.>> there she is, with his wife. you can have the seven championship now, because it's goingto be there for the next several weeks. >> the busch series giving me this chance,rick hendrick, jeff gordon, all the people

believing in me. it's crazy we have a shotat seven. we need to thank our partners at chevrolet, valvoline and lowe's. thank youvery much. >> how much are you going to think about thatin the next four weeks? >> i'll probably lie and say i'm not thinkingabout it at all. fortunately, i don't have to think about it for two weeks, i guess.we're going to savor this and try to get our ducks in a row for homestead.>> it had been three years since you won here. what magic did you find that worked to getyou to victory lane? >> like i told you, it was really that longrun stuff. we didn't get the rubber to lay down like we had hoped. let's just say wehadn't won in a long time and having those

runs really is dear to my heart.>> i know you have to think about the championship. how will you go in the next couple weeks?>> obviously we want to win more races. if we can have success in texas, that will putus in miami with more confidence. i'd like to go to phoenix and not worry about much.this put us in a great position. there is one race, winner take all in homestead, florida,and we have to show our best up there, and we'll try to do that.>> jimmie told me a few weeks ago, in the middle of summer there's no way i would havebelieved we had a shot at a championship this year. well, guess what? they're going to homesteadwith a chance to win it all. rick?

>> congratulating jimmie johnson. he'll celebratewith his family and his team this big win. it's a huge win. this guarantees jimmie johnsona chance for a championship. the other seven drivers in this round of eight now lookingat points. as you look down below the cut line, joey logano, kevin harvick, kurt busch,carl edwards. carl edwards with a devastating day today. 32 points back. it will definitelybe a big hill to climb for carl edwards. a year ago the celebration that took place onthe front stretch was for jeff gordon who thought it was his final time racing at martinsville.but today was actually his final time racing at martinsville. dave?>> and we'll ask rick. maybe for now is this your last start, do we know?>> as far as i know. i didn't anticipate running

the races i did this year, but i just can'tthank the chevrolet team enough. rick, everybody, congrats to the 48. jimmie, wow. that wasimpressive. i think everybody had him written off. he had the damage in the left front.i hadn't seen him in my mirror, and yeah, they caught a break, but he had to go driveit and race to the 11 the way he id. i could see it from a distance and it was impressive.they deserve it. this team deserves a lot of credit. they've had to overcome a lot ofcrazy madness this year and different drivers and the situation with jr., and i couldn'tre proud of my last run in this car, which certainly this year, i know for a fact, buti think it will be for the future as well. i'm glad it was martinsville. i had a lotof fun.

>> obviously important for the 48 to win today.what do you see in them going into that race? >> you put those guys in a situation likethis where they can advance to first round to go to homestead, they're going to be workinghard for that race. i know homestead isn't necessarily. we've seen what they can do andthey put effort behind it to try to get that championship.>> this is very important for the family to do well here. finishing sixth here today,how does that feel to present that to mr. hendrick?>> it feels good, you know. it feels good to go out on a positive note. it wasn't awin, but i felt like it was a solid effort. i felt like the team did an excellent jobwith the car all weekend long. there was.

>> i don't know what i did to my tires andi didn't quite have. >> jeff, japan has loved it.>> denny hamlin recovered from an early pit row speeding. you had the edge on the 48?what were you lacking there at the end to fight for this win?>> i thought we were going to come out. . . but. you have to get it right in these situations.every point matters. there's got to be a better way because there's 20 cameras all over myracecar and it shows everybody going by me. that's disappointing that we can't get thatright, but overall our camry was decent all day. i had a top five car. i've raced the car 20times but definitely not the end.

>> we see the three of you battling thereat the end. how intense is it coming as we get closer and closer to this.>> you try to do everything you can to hold hem. .>> he late we're going. we'll go to battle next week.>> denny hamlin finishes his third here. and there were so many cars that have kwom topit road and done green flag pit stops and were trapped a lap down. some were trappedmore than a lap down. i think he was specifically talking about the 4 car which is one of thechasers he's fighting for one of those four positions with. we did go back and look atvideo and saw that when the caution was out, the 11 was scored as the leader, the cautionvehicle was coming back to catch up to the

11 and we saw the ford go by the 11. thatwas a situation where nascar did the best they could possibly do to try to get everybody.>> yeah, basically the pace car lays over and the. he's not eligible for the labor.the 6 of trevor bayne went by, so. there's a lot of scoring confusion. i think it's clearthat the -- the 20 wasn't going to be the pre. ultimately they all ran poorly. kevin harvickfinished 20th, but was there one, tw. that might make a difference when we leave phoenix.had he been three laps down, he could have lost potentially four slots.>> one thing we know for sure, jimmie johnson now has nine grandfather clocks. he's wonagain in martinsville and will race for a

championship in miami.>>> we'll hand it over to kristin for the post-race show.>> when you have won 39 political jimmie johnson's daughter edie.>> we are at our perch outside the racetrack here atop turn 2. he's done it there, kyle,in the interview about mar i. . >> you can't ignore it. jimmie johnson isin that rare five there. he put himself there with five in a row, but putting himself reachingthis and touching distance of my father, richard petty.>> he. i think a huge moment for this sport. we talk about everything that's going on withthe world series right now, with the indians and history in the making for all sports.this is a history in different times of the

sport when it's changing, shuffling, musicaldirector. this isn't something he's thought but there wasn't anything to talk about. youknow he's always been at the back of his. there is no one closer to better. jimmie johnsonhas that opportunity to go now for this '07 championship. you saw today. it means thehendrick organization. it's now about the two-race opportunity. victory lane is. . itwas going to be jeff gordon's final win. he raced here today at martinsville, had a greatfinish, by the way. and running with his teammates was really special.>> yeah, then they had a victory lane kind of in turn 1 is. it makes it more speeshlwith his family there and just a very special day. he can look at -- with all dru. there'sa good chance his 80th.

since this place is built, vic. most of theshort tracks you run, that's what victory is. the fans come down to the. we all of thatwill. martinsvilled. we saw it with jeerk, we saw it with. look at those grandstands,it's a very big moment. >> you talked about the fact that his 85thwin could come in homestead. but he's never been in this position, having to win in amilitary style format. >> good point that we haven't seen him haveto do this yet. he needed to win in this round to get to the next stop if i have an opportunityto race for that championship. this is a driver so driven by his success to achieve thingsthat he hasn't done. whenever he gets ready for. it's just going to be to that point,and he will be ready with the speed that we've

seen with him recently.>> since jimmie has been here, he's driven, what, five or six different styles of racecars?we look at the point system and the way it was, he won so many championships under that.it's taken him a couple years but he's won in every format with everything you've thrownat him. he went to the races in the past just having a solid day and putting himself inthat position. this format is changed. when these guys have to win, they can win.they understand the game now. i think chance picked it um, i think and where did that speedcome from? they have the speed no. great players lay. they step and i don't see anything differenthappening when we get to homestead. win, lose or draw, he's going to be a tore. obviouslythe nba just starting up their season, hockey.

for jimmie johnson to win a seventh is a dynasty,it is a legacy. is it good for the sport? it's been a while since he won the championship.>> i don't know. the yankees are still playing. the patriots are still playing -->> listen,' said this a million times. preaches parody and i don't like seeing it. everybodychased richard petty and david pearson. they chased those guys. you have to have that rabbitout there. i don't want to see everybody running the same speed. i don't want to see participationribbon. i want to see these guys out there chasing the guy who puts up the big numbers.>> jeff gordon there to congratulate jimmie johnson. he knows something about this.>> yes, and how big this win is. why do you not want to see him?>> i know everybody is not a jeff gordon fan.

he's won in different types of formats andall different types of racecars. i want to see greatness. i want to watch tiger woods.you want to watch lebron james. that's who i want to see because they do itdifferently so others have that opportunity to aspire to be that.>> i want to say this. i've said it here on shot and and i've said it a million times.his five championships in a row is up against any other achievements. he goes out and knocksout that sixth one. we may be talking eight in a couple years, you don't know. but thisis big for this sport. i don't care, having to champion there is big for the sport.>> it's hard to appreciate history when you're living it, and it's going to take five years,ten years, 20 years to look back and realize,

wow, look what jimmie johnson did. look whati got to see because i was a fan here at the track at the time.>> i agree with that but why is it in our sport in particular? because when michaeljordan was doing his thing, he was being talked about as the greatest.>> and what you're seeing right here is a tribute to the lives flos this. they turntheir hats backward and points to the sky. he olz wore his. now they use it as a tributeto lives lost. they were flying here at this racetrack. this is healing for this organization.>> there are a lot of people who helped him build hendrick motorsports to the point ofwhat sdpfs. they'll still remember. the families that are still there with these losses today.>> i knew it would be turning their hats backwards

and looking at the sky. >> they allow us to peek in and pay mage tothose guys. that's part of the history of what hendrick motorsports is. at the sametime, they give it a nod, they give it a tip of the hat, and they say we're moving on.we're moving forward. they continue to move forward. that follows the leadership of rickhendrick and how he's led these guys. he took food to the wind tunnel recently and sat therewith him just to be a part of it. he inspires that. you want to follow him. he's that guywhen he gives a speech, you're ready to march out and do whatever rick hendrick says. throughall his dealerships, through everything that he owns, but through this race team, and we'veseen it with the drivers he's had. the caliber

of drivers that drive for rick hendrick, theyset the bar, they set the example and that is a great, great, great man right there anda great asset to the sport. >> they embody what he is, what he is as aperson to think he's battled through in his personal life? he's not going to allow thisorganization to fail. the way they were running back. hendrick motorsports didn't have tobe anything. they were ready to shut their doors in 1994 before they began. if it's himbeing involved, he's not going to work on the cars but he's glad to be there and dowhat he can do to help them get through these difficult times.>> similarly, in 2001 when dale earnhardt sr. passed away, a lot of people wonderedwhat would happen to the organization, to

the sport. following our coverage, you willsee a tribute to the 2001 nascar season, obviously a year that changed our country forever, changedour sport. it's a must-see at 6:30 p.m. eastern time.>>> we'll let you talk about what happened here at martinsville. there was a met in thatrace where chad was saying, jimmie because i think i got it. looked like he couldn'tget his car refired at that point, and then once he did get it refired, chad was callinghim in because he assumed they were out of fuel and couldn't ride around anymore. pitroad wasn't open. what would they have done differently? put him at the tail end of theline like a.j. allmendinger had to do because he had to get fuel. especially because wedidn't have another caution, jimmie wouldn't

have been able to make his way back to thefront. >> so jimmie johnson wins for the ninth timeat martinsville, which means he knows he will be racing for the championship in miami.>>> but there are a lot more players to still talk to. interviews with your favorite driverswhen wto martinsville. martinsville >>> welcome to the nascar america post-raceshow presented by advance auto parts. jimmie johnson wins. he knows he's racing for thetitle in miami. for now it's three gibbs cars right behind him, denny hamlin, matt kensethand kyle busch. trouble today for kurt busch. he finds himself 18 points out. he talkedafter the race with kelly. >> not the start of the round kurt busch washoping for. we know you just didn't have a

handle on the car all day. what were you strugglingwith most? >> we missed it. i don't know how, where,why, we missed it. even as a group we didn't perform well. that was not the day we needed.sorry to say, water heaters only race to the end of the year. we missed it.>> how will you perform when you get back to the mile and a half track next week?>> we'll do something. we don't give up now. >> thanks, kurt.>> kyle piced up the victory back in the spring. tough battling with your teammates. what wasthe thought process battling with the othejjr cars?>> we worked so hard together, we gave the 48 car the win. that's how good jgr is. wewere kind of held up there, and couldn't pass.

every time i tried to make a move or pass,i got cut off, so i couldn't drive through them. we came home with the top five. that'sgood. we probably could have been about second. i don't know if we could have caught the 48as long as we got caught behind all that stuff. kenseth led the most laps, i think, and wewere right there with him most of the day. it's frustrating to not be higher up.>> looking ahead at the big picture. a fifth place finish today. now you go to texas, iplace where you were very good in the spring. how do you look at this round playing outfor you as we try to make it to homestead? >> one race at a time.>> is that the approach you took last time? is it similar?>> yeah. i can't tell you how good we'll run

in texas. we have to map it out and have agood car in the race and do the race. you can only take it one race at a time. we goto the next one, we work on it, we make sure we go out of there as good as we can and weassess what we need to do for the next one. that's about t.>> thanks, kyle. >> i love how mike gets in there and asksanother question. you know what kind of kyle busch you're going to get even before youstart asking. is that why you're laughing? >> when he does this, you know what you'regoing to get. kurt busch was frustrated because he said, we missed t. he was optimistic inhis interview this morning. he thought they had made some changes, and they are frustrated.they're frustrated by the fact they just totally

missed the setup. kyle is frustrated becausehe had to race his teammates. he took a shot at matt there saying, every time i took aposition i got shut off. that's tough. we can go back to last week when the teammatesran well together. they ran dead last last year, but you come back and look at it, it'stough to race your teammate and race your teammate the way you want to race sometimes.you have to pull back a little bit, and kyle had to pull back. he had a position on matta couple times and matt had position on denny. kyle thought he could be in front of bothof them, and he feels like they just let 48 jimmie johnson win the race. if they had letthe faster car through, which kyle believes to be him, he felt like he could win him down.>> i think that was 28% frustration with his

teammates because he couldn't get up thereand maybe beat and bang on someone else because they were his teammates, and i think 80% ofit was it was jimmie johnson that was winning and no one, that's who they have to outrunto win a championship now, and i think that's the bigger frustration, they know how muchthis program has increased in speed and overall ability to perform at a high level and nowthat's who they're going to have to race. you could really tell the frustration. itcame out during the race while they were still running that he could see the 48 getting goneand he couldn't get by his teammate. >> that's an excellent point. i think we sawit last week with kurt and harvick where they felt like if we do the right things, we canknock out some guys and keep denny hamlin

out. and what, they let denny hamlin in andwhere is he at? second in points now? when you look at it, that's the deal. when youthink you have a guy down, keep your foot on his neck. if you let him off the ground,he's like a snake, he'll bite you. that's why jimmie johnson, you let him up today andwhat's he do? he gets a ticket to homestead. >> so all a reference to the snake.>> we're going to be with you until 6:30. a lot more to come. today's winner jimmiejohnson will join us. but when we come back, one driver is in striking distance, anotheris not. we'll hear from some of them coming up. coming up. we have forks. kinda like chinesefood restaurants have forks. you could use them, but people will see. besides, you havetwo perfectly good utensils at the ends of

your arms. ones that are evolutionarily tunedto handle nachos and wings. and if you ever do find yourself in some sort of salad situation,we've got chips. >>> nascar america is brought to you by advancedauto parts. >>> here at martinsville taking a look atadvanced auto parts back on the road moment. jeff gordon filling in what we think willbe the final time for dale earnhardt jr. that's a pretty good substitute, a nine-time martinsvillewinner. jimmie johnson brings home the win. >> it's about time jimmie johnson won something.>> if you're going to have someone fill in, have a nine-time winner.>> might as well have someone decent. >> the interviews are continuing for jimmiejohnson. his daughters are playing with the

confetti in victory lane. dave burns caught up with joey logano.>> joey logano breaking down the day here with his team ninth, but i know you restartedthat last time 26th. what was it like trying to claw your way back through?>> there were so many runs through that caution that screwed up the whole lineup, and youstart almost tail end of a full line. we ran there. i could see the cars at the end thati was racing that started up toward the front of that line, but with the caution, we hada better ford but not the winning car today. a couple guys had some issues and were ableto have a mediocre day. we'll go to texas and try to score more points there.>> how does this group regroup, joey?

>> i don't think it's bad. we finished ninth.it wasn't awful. we want to be better than that, obviously, and we need to be betterthan that. it just didn't quite play out the way we needed it to to be able to race upthere like we were in the beginning of the race.>> top ten today, just below the cut line for the moment.>> carl edwards had a solid afternoon going until a crash midrace. it looked like a tirewent down. what was your take? >> goodyear was kind enough, and i have alot of respect for them. they came down and looked at tighter and they said it was a beltfailure. that's really big of them to say, hey, there's nothing you could have done aboutit. i had a really good race going, and sometimes

that's just what happens in racing. i thinkwe had a top 3 car. i had a lot of fun. now we'll just go to texas and try to win there.phoenix, we could win at either one of those race tracks.>> do you feel like you need to win at one of those racetracks?>> yeah. we want to try to win each one of these races this round. that's probably the better performance we'vehad in a long time. got a heck of a crew. these guys are true warriors. we're just goingto battle for every spot, and i have a feeling we'll be all right.>> despite a questionable day, carl edwards still has a smile on his face and his headup.

>> if someone had told me, hey, it was a beltfailure, i would be throwing things probably against the curbing down there. they startedthe day with the speed penalty, then to have the tire failure, then they find themselvesway out of striking distance. >> but as a competitor, parts, pieces, tires,things happen in this sport. that's why we run the races. otherwise we'll give jimmiejohnson the win next week and we'll give kevin harvick the win two weeks in phoenix. we knowmany, many things can happen. now they're in a must win situation. that's what theyhave to do. they were performing very well at a track that typically hasn't been verygood to carl edwards. now that that happened, they have to go to texas where he is capableof winning. he finished second to kevin harvick

by inches back in the spring in phoenix. asbad as it may seem right now, they have two more chances with a good driver and a goodcar. >> yeah, they have two more chances. that'sone thing this team can look forward to, the phoenix, the texas, things like that. it'sa little bit easier on take it from a driver from a points failure than someone stuffingyou in the wall at the end of the race. carl does have a good attitude about it. they knowwhat their game plan is. it's win or go home. >> i want the drivers to take us back to joeyfor a minute. he said we needed a caution, and then the caution came out but it was atthe wrong time. >> this is the other thing i like. we finishedninth. we're mediocre. in this chase format

with the best of the best, the eight bestdrivers going for the championship, it is mediocre.>> carl edwards finds himself 32 points out of the transfer position, which is the topfour drivers. of course, jimmie johnson doesn't have toworry about anything. he knows he is racing for another title because he wins at martinsville.hear from more drivers when we return.n we returnat now. we're talking within a 1% differencein reliability of each other. and, sprint >>> nascar america is brought to you by advancedauto parts. let's get you back on the road. >>> following our coverage here, coming upat 6:30 tonight, a look at the 2001 season, a year that changed nascar but a year thatchanged the entire country.

>>> coming up next, we're with you until 6:30.coming up next on victory lap and on our nascar america post-race coverage, we'll hear fromjimmie johnson, today's winner here at martinsville. jimmie joins us when we return to martinsville,virginia. martinsville, virginia. we equip it with tough rotax engines featuring best-in-classtorque? why do we give it industry-leading towing and hauling capabilities? and why dowe make it clever with versatile cargo solutions and much more? well, why do you put so mucheffort at everything you do? because a job worth doing is worth doing right.can-am defender: tough. capable. clever. introducing the all new kfc $10 chicken share. with ninechicken tenders. [slap] or six pieces of chicken.[slap] or twelve hot wings.

[slap] or popcorn nuggets. now get out thereand have fun! woo, let's go! it's finger lickin' good! my business was built with passion...but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash cardfrom capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. andthat unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going backinto my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what'sin your wallet? the caution flag came out. let's talk to richard buck. what was the processthat you went through to determine the starting order, and why did it take so long, richard?marty, it's very complex process, and as you mentioned, we were right in the middle ofpit stops which can throw a wrench in there.

we had multiple things happen during the process,we had the caution come out during the green flag stops. we had the leader run out of field.and then we had a tremendous amount of wave rounds, and we took our time and we wantedto get it right. we know what the stakes are, and we felt we got it right. that's wherewe are at. >> at the end of the day, walk us throughit. what went into place? because originally i was in the 48 pit, the 48, the 47 and thefree pass car should be the only ones on the lead lap. what happened in that sequence toget it to where we had it at the end of the day?>> we'll have those conversations during the week to help them understand it. we've gota tremendous amount of computerized timing

scoring, everybody has seen that on pit roadand on the accuracy track. -- racetrack. we'll synch that up with video.so that added to the process, but our focus was to get it right. and so we took our time,and got it right, and got the line and got up racing again.>> a lot of teams didn't understand why the four got in essence a free lap. what did yousee with that scenario. >> through our timing and scoring, the waywe lined it up is the way we feel confident that we got it right. we'll have those conversations,and take each and every one of those conversations very seriously, and we'll walk it throughthe process so everybody understands. >> in this scenario, do you slow down a littlebit, and this is a chase race and critical

to get everybody right, and intentionallytake your time a little bit more, maybe than you would in the regular season?>> i think that is safe to say. we understand the stakes, and they are extremely high. thatis what makes great racing. i think we saw a great race here today. we will make surein a situation like that, like i said, it was dynamic, it was always changing, theykept throwing curveballs at us, so make sure we didn't get confused, we got all the dataand we got it right. when we got back to green we felt we had it right.>> you had no teams come by and complain. you might this week, but so far you have not.>> we will have conversations. i know they are coming. and that's to help them understand.all the resources that we have up there to

help us come to those decisions in a confidentway, we'll explain those, and that's a conversation that we have a lot.>> we appreciate your time, and your candor as well.>> thank you. >> long day for these nascar officials, butdid their best, chris, did take a while, but they got the lineup where they thought didwas correct on the restart and they are happy with what they decided on.>> thanks for talking to richard, and our thanks to the executives of nascar for takingthe time to clear things up. he said we haven't had any complaints yet, point of view he saidthose phone calls are coming. a lot of confusion in this race today, kyle.>> i'm confused, and i'm confused at why they

road around for 30 or 40 laps and then justred flag and get it straight. because i think that took some of the racing away. we knowthat chad is confused, we know that matt kenseth and some of those guys. when the competitorsare confused, how can the fans not be confused. i know we've got timing on scoring, i knowwe've got millions of dollars worth of electronics.

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