The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series made its way back to the East Coast after a big weekend in California. Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway was the first short-track race of the season.
Brad Keselowski received his second victory this season in his dominating performance at the STP 500, maintaining the lead through 446 laps out of 500. Chase Elliot knocked him off the first spot briefly in the final stage, but it didn't last longer than 49 laps.
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Chase Elliott came in second, while Kyle Busch came in third, despite starting off slow at first.
STP 500: 2019 winner, order of finish for top 20
| Finish | Driver | Team (Car No.) | Laps led |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske (2) | 446 |
| 2. | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports (9) | 49 |
| 3. | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing (18) | ... |
| 4. | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske (12) | ... |
| 5. | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing (1) | ... |
| 6. | Kevin Harvick | Stewart Haas Racing (4) | ... |
| 7. | Clint Bowyer | Stewart Haas Racing (14) | ... |
| 8. | Martin Truet Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing (19) | ... |
| 9. | Aric Almirola | Stewart Haas Racing (10) | ... |
| 10. | Daniel Suarez | Stewart Haas Racing (41) | ... |
| 11. | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing (3) | ... |
| 12. | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing (1) | ... |
| 13. | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing (13) | ... |
| 14. | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports (88) | ... |
| 15. | Paul Menard | Team Penske (21) | ... |
| 16. | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing (47) | ... |
| 17. | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports (43) | ... |
| 18. | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing (42) | ... |
| 19. | Joey Logano | Team Penske (22) | 6 |
| 20. | Matt Dibenedetto | Leavine Family Racing (95) | ... |
Lead Changes: 3
Cautions: 7
Sporting News provided live lap-by-lap updates and highlights from the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Here's how Keselowski won.
NASCAR at Martinsville: Highlights from STP 500
(All times eastern.)
5:32 p.m. — Keselowski wins the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway!
This one's always special from @keselowski! 🇺🇸@Team_Penske | @MartinsvilleSwy pic.twitter.com/h0RIXPMFVn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
5:29 p.m. — 10 laps to go and Keselowski has a .72-second lead on Elliott in second.
5:26 p.m. — 20 laps to go! It's a three-car battle for the lead between Keselowski, Elliot and Ky. Busch.
5:20 p.m. — Back to the green! 45 laps to go. Keselowski's in first and Ky. Busch is in second.
5:09 p.m. — Caution is out with 55 laps to go. Ross Chastain is stopped on the high line in Turn 2.
5:06 p.m. — Blaney passes Kyle Busch in lap 440 to move up to third.
4:59 p.m. — Kyle Busch is closing in on Elliott in lap 420 for the second spot.
4:53 p.m. —100 laps to go in the final stage.
Lap 400: With 100 laps to go, here's how the top 10 looks: 2, 9, 18, 12, 4, 19, 11, 41, 3, 10#STP500 | #NASCAR
— NASCAR Alerts (@NASCAR_Alerts) March 24, 2019
4:46 p.m. — The green flag is back out. Lap 378 begins with Keselowski in the lead and Elliott in second.
4:40 p.m. — Caution on lap 371 after Tifft hits the wall in turn 2.
4:34 p.m. — The Chevy's are dominating the top 10 with 132 laps to go.
3 Chevys in the top 10: Elliott (1st), Austin Dillon (8th), Bowman (10th).#NASCAR
— Daniel McFadin (@danielmcfadin) March 24, 2019
4:30 p.m. — Suarez moves up to ninth, passing Logano in lap 348.
4:24 p.m. — Elliott surpasses Keselowski to take the lead in lap 324. Keselowski led 319 of the first 324 laps.
Take a look at the pass on @keselowski by @chaseelliott following the restart.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
📺: @FS1 | @MartinsvilleSwy pic.twitter.com/YRYwXLd4Cs
4:18 p.m. —On lap 315 there's a penalty on Clint Bowyer for entering too fast. He'll start at the end of the field.
4:12 p.m. — Second Elliott is hanging close with first place Keselowski.
The gap between first and second.@keselowski | @chaseelliott pic.twitter.com/LSvKFQUxs9
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
4:07 p.m. — Almirola has come out strong in the final stage and maneuvered his way into the 10th spot in lap 293.
An eventful restart from @Aric_Almirola bouncing between two @JoeGibbsRacing cars!
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
📺: @FS1 | @MartinsvilleSwy pic.twitter.com/g6D6DwIXfn
4:01 p.m. — The final stage is underway from Martinsville Speedway!
3:53 p.m. — Stage two is complete! Keselowski comes out with the sweep through stages one and two.
Lap 260: Stage 2 results are as follows:
— NASCAR Alerts (@NASCAR_Alerts) March 24, 2019
1. Keselowski
2. Blaney
3. Hamlin
4. Elliott
5. Truex Jr.
6. Almirola
7. Harvick
8. Bowyer
9. Suarez
10. Logano#STP500 | #NASCAR
3:49 p.m. — Joey Logano is making a run! He holds the ninth spot with 12 laps to go in stage two.
Things are starting to look up for Joey Logano's #STP500 run.@CocaColaRacing | #OrangeVanilla pic.twitter.com/MILDjhNPdI
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 24, 2019
3:38 p.m. — Busch drops to11th after being passed by Jones for the 10th spot.
3:34 p.m. — Keselowski laps Jimmie Johnson in turn four on lap 210.
A difficult day so far for nine-time @MartinsvilleSwy winner @JimmieJohnson.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
He goes down a lap to @keselowski in Stage 2. pic.twitter.com/hMTamuBz2k
3:27 p.m. — Lap 187: Keselowski holds a half-second lead over Elliott. Hamlin's in third and Blaney's in fourth.
3:22 p.m. — Elliott moves up to the second spot to pass Hamlin in lap 173.
3:11 p.m. — The caution flag is out early in stage two for lap 146. There's debris on turn four.
3:07 p.m. — Stage two is set, and we're off!
2:58 p.m. — Keselowski holds off Elliott to win stage one.
Lap 130: Top-10 results in Stage 1.
— NASCAR Alerts (@NASCAR_Alerts) March 24, 2019
1. Keselowski
2. Elliott
3. Almirola
4. Hamlin
5. Blaney
6. Bowyer
7. Logano
8. Truex Jr.
9. Ky. Busch
10. A. Dillon#STP500 | #NASCAR
2:51 p.m. — Almirola takes away third from Hamlin on lap 111.
2:44 p.m. — Clint Bowyer passes Joey Logano to get in fifth place on lap 82.
Stage 1 has seen plenty of bump-and-run action.@ClintBowyer drives past @joeylogano into the top five on @FS1. pic.twitter.com/7z1qikf9Kc
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
2:34 p.m. — First caution of the day after McDowell makes contact with the wall, out of turn four on lap 65.
Caution is out for @Mc_Driver, bringing out the first yellow of the day.#STP500 | @MartinsvilleSwy pic.twitter.com/XeGQiAIoST
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
2:31 p.m. — Keselowski continues to lead Hamlin heading into Lap 62.
Here's a glance at the current Top 10: 2-11-9-10-14-22-12-4-42-18 @keselowski has led 56 laps so far!
— Motor Racing Network (@MRNRadio) March 24, 2019
Listen Info:
💻: https://t.co/wCQ8y1QJXw #NASCAR Mobile 📱:https://t.co/PXmmwImyry
Sirius Ch.90@REradioz Scanner: 454.000#AskMRN | #STP500 | #STPWeek pic.twitter.com/nRxrZEqdEq
2:25 p.m. — Kyle Busch has made his way to ninth position in lap 42.
2:17 p.m. —16 laps in and Kevin Harvick is on Logano's heels for the fifth position.
2:10 p.m. — And we're off!
.@joeylogano leads Lap 1 at @MartinsvilleSwy!
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 24, 2019
Tune in on @FS1 and the @FOXSports app: https://t.co/oWWAusOO8X pic.twitter.com/FZ3Rk2pnNg