Sunday 1st April 2012

Ryan Newman outran AJ Allmendinger to the checkered flag to score a thrilling victory in a wild ending to the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Newman prevailed in a green-white-checkered finish to score his first victory of the season. Jeff Gordon dominated the race and was locked in an epic battle with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for the lead as the race wound down. But a late-race caution, brought out when David Reutimann came to a stop on the track, bunched the field up for a restart that saw Clint Bowyer try to make a three-wide move inside of Gordon and Johnson racing through Turn 1. Bowyer made contact and Gordon’s car collided with Johnson’s to trigger a chain reaction accident that before it ended saw Newman slip by for the lead.