News and Media Releases

Two Top-10 Runs At Richmond

05/05/2009

Mark Martin And Jeff Gordon Score While Teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson Experience Problems

Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon both had solid runs in Saturday night's running of the Crown Royal presents The Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Speedway. Both drivers came home with a top-10 finish while fellow Quaker State drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson had trouble.

Mark Martin spent most of the night running in the top-five before another car caused him to spin on lap 313. The Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) driver was able to continue and remain on the lead lap working his way back toward the front in the closing laps of the race to finish in the top-five.

Fellow HMS driver Jeff Gordon also had a solid run after racing in the top-10 for the entire 400- lap event. Gordon led four different times for a total of 96 laps before finishing in the eighth position.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fought extreme handling issues throughout the race. His Tony Eury, Jr. led crew worked on his No. 88 Chevrolet throughout the event but was never able to give Junior the handling he needed. The Quaker State driver finished the night in the 27th position the first car a lap down to the leaders.

Three-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson started the race off with a solid run racing in the top-15 before brake issues began to plague the Quaker State driver. A pit road penalty in the early stages of the race dropped Johnson to the back of the field. The penalty along with the brake issues caused the No. 48 driver to lose several laps before taking the checkered flag in the 36th position.

Jeff Gordon moved back into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead with is top-10 run while Johnson lost three positions dropping to the sixth position. Mark Martin gained three spots moving into the 15th spot with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. losing three positions falling to the 18th spot.

Kyle Busch took the win on Saturday night in Richmond with Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton finishing second and third. Ryan Newman finished fourth with Quaker State's Mark Martin rounding out the top-five.

Next up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the running of the Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com at Darlington Raceway. Live television coverage begins on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on FOX.  The event will also be broadcast live on MRN (Motor Racing Network) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).