Jimmie Johnson wins Subway 500

Virginia:

The NASCAR series moved on to the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia on Sunday for the Subway 500. The race got off to a clean start. But there would be trouble for Jeff Burton, the overall points leader coming into the race, on lap 218. Burton's engine failed, and his day was done. With that, he fell from the top spot in the points race, down to fifth place. Kevin Harvick got caught in another collision, and suffered damage to his race car on lap 243. Despite that misfortune, Harvick finished ninth and is now second in the points standings. Fan favourite Dale Earnhardt Jr endured a little trouble of his own, spinning out on lap 478, not far from the finish. A look from Earnhardt's in-car camera showed that it took only a slight nudge to send him into a spin. He finished back in the pack, in 22nd place. Jimmie Johnson, in the number-48, out-raced Denny Hamlin over the closing laps and took the chequered flag for the race victory. Johnson took the lead from Bobby Labonte with 55 laps to go and held it through several restarts to win. That moved him up from seventh in the points to third. Johnson has twice been a runner-up in the points race. The 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth moved into the overall lead after finishing 11th. Next week in Atlanta, seven drivers will start within 99 points of Kenseth. There are just four races left in the season.(AP)