NASCAR at Martinsville results: Clint Bowyer snaps lengthy winless streak, wins STP 500

Clint Bowyer snapped a lengthy winless streak that spanned 190 races with his victory at the rescheduled NASCAR Cup Series race Monday at Martinsville Speedway.

Bowyer took the lead just past halfway of the STP 500, then proceeded to dominate by leading all but four of the final 219 laps to earn his ninth Cup Series victory and first since October 2012.

“It’s been a long time,” Bowyer said. “You start to question if you can get it done or not. To have it come at this place meant a lot.”

Bowyer joined powerhouse Stewart-Haas Racing a year ago, but struggled in his first season with the team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas. The 38-year-old journeyman driver failed to make the playoffs and lacked the consistency of teammate Kevin Harvick, who won twice and qualified for the championship final.

Entering the 2018 season, Bowyer admitted the pressure was on to perform and show he deserved an opportunity with one of NASCAR’s top teams. On Monday, he did just that, leading more laps in one race than he had in the past four years combined.

“We learned last year,” Bowyer said. “Obviously, Harvick came on strong at the end of last year, but it was a learning year for our team and the (No.) 14 bunch.

“It was just time.”

Kyle Busch was second, trailing Bowyer by 1.146 seconds. Ryan Blaney, who led 145 laps, finished third, followed by defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.

The runner-up was Busch’s third in six races this season and his fifth top-10 overall. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still seeking his first victory since winning last October at Martinsville, and despite moving atop the points standing the near misses are adding up for the 2015 series champion.

“Ultimately, we’re here to win each and every week,” Busch said. “I know everybody is, but we’ve been that close each and every week,

“Just close. We’re right there, just not being able to knock it through.”

Bowyer’s win was popular with several peers coming to victory lane to congratulate the fun-loving driver, including Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson.

“It’s just so cool to see,” Truex said. “(Bowyer’s) worked so hard through a lot and has had a couple of tough seasons. And now he’s obviously with a great team. They have started the year off strong.

“He’s always been strong here at Martinsville. I know this place is special to him and it’s really cool to see him win today.”

The sixth race of the season was postponed a day after snow covered the region surrounding Martinsville, located in Ridgeway, Virginia. It marked the first Cup Series race rescheduled due to snow since March 1993 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Typically, the first short track race of the season is caution-filed due to Martinsville’s tight half-mile confines that test drivers’ patience and results in a lot of beating and banging. Surprisingly, there was little chaos Monday with only four cautions and just one for an on-track incident.

The first yellow flag was a competition caution prompted by the inclement weather on Saturday, with two other cautions at the end of Stage 1 and 2. The four total cautions were the fewest at Martinsville in 40 years.

“We’ve gotten the cars to where the drive is so similar, so when everyone runs the same speed it’s hard to pass and with less passing there’s less chance for incidents,” said Denny Hamlin, who won the first stage and finished 12th. “I thought it was still a good race. A lot of races have gone caution-free for a long time back in the day and Clint really put a whipping on them.”

NASCAR’s top division takes next weekend off for the Easter holiday, before returning April 8 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.