Carl Edwards finished eighth in the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, unofficially moving him into sixth place in the Sprint Cup standings.
Denny Hamlin finished first, netting his third consecutive Sprint Cup win at Martinsville and cutting Chase leader Jimmie Johnson’s lead to just six points. Mark Martin finished second, with Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Johnson rounding out the top five.
Edwards didn’t lead any of the race’s 500 laps, but the 142 points he earned for his eighth place finish helped him leapfrog Tony Stewart in the standings, as Stewart finished just 24th.
Fellow Roush Fenway driver Matt Kenseth finished 15th, and also improved one spot in the standings, moving up to 10th place. He did so at the expense of his teammate, though, as Greg Biffle came in 33rd at Martinsville, finishing just 432 laps. He fell three spots in the rankings, and is now ahead of only Clint Bowyer in the postseason standings.
The six-point difference between Johnson and Hamlin is the smallest between the first and second place drivers this late into the season in the history of the Sprint Cup Series. Just four races remain in the Chase for the Cup, with the drivers next facing off at Talladega on Oct. 31.
