NASCAR: Five Lessons Learned From Martinsville

The first race of the Round of 8 is over and Jimmie Johnson is moving on to Homestead. Here are five lessons learned from the Goody’s Relief 500 this past Sunday.

NASCAR started off the Round of 8 with short track racing at Martinsville. Drivers were bumping into each other as they rounded the small track and everyone was watching to see if one of the eight Chase drivers would win and lock in their chances to compete for the championship at Homestead.

When the race ended it was Jimmie Johnson winning his ninth race at Martinsville and will now compete for his seventh championship. Johnson is on the verge of becoming a legend in NASCAR and after his run at Martinsville, he looks like a strong favorite heading into Homestead.

One of the most interesting situation at Martinsville came because of NASCAR. When a caution came out during green flag pit stops, NASCAR couldn’t get the race order right and it took almost 30 laps of caution to get everything straightened how. What will NASCAR do now if something like this were to happen during one of the remaining races in the season?

We also started to see the separation of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers as Carl Edwards ran into issues during Martinsville while his teammates ran well. With Jimmie Johnson taking one Chase spot at Homestead, there is not enough room four all four JGR drivers to compete for the championship.

What will the JGR teammates do now as they get ready to compete at Homestead?

NASCAR finished the last short track race of the season and as we get ready to head to Texas, here were five lessons learned from Martinsville on Sunday.