2012 Goody's Fast Relief 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 6 of 36 in the2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2012 Goody's Fast Relief 500 program cover.
Date	April 1, 2012 (2012-04-01)
Location	Martinsville Speedway,Ridgeway,Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	.526 miles (.847 km)
Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423 km)
Weather	Mostly sunny with a high temperature around 76; wind out of the NNW at 4 mph.
Average speed	78.823 miles per hour (126.853 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	19.496
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	329
Winner
No. 39	Ryan Newman	Stewart–Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds

The2012 Goody's Fast Relief 500 was aNASCARSprint Cup Seriesstock car race held on April 1, 2012 atMartinsville Speedway inRidgeway,Virginia. Contested over 500 laps, it was the sixth race of the2012 season.Ryan Newman ofStewart–Haas Racing took his first win of the season,A. J. Allmendinger finished second andDale Earnhardt Jr. finished third.

Martinsville Speedway is one of fiveshort tracks to holdNASCAR races.^[3] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short trackoval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.^[4] The track's turns arebanked at elevendegrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.^[4] The racetrack has seats for 63,000 spectators.^[4]

Before the race,Greg Biffle led theDrivers' Championship with 195 points, andKevin Harvick stood in second with 188.Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed in third with 178 points, one ahead ofTony Stewart and three ahead ofMartin Truex Jr. in fourth and fifth.Matt Kenseth, with 173, was two points ahead ofDenny Hamlin in seventh.Clint Bowyer, with 157 points, was one point ahead ofJimmie Johnson and two ahead ofRyan Newman in ninth and tenth.^[5] In theManufacturers' Championship,Chevrolet was leading with 33 points, four points ahead ofFord.Toyota, with 27 points, was six points ahead ofDodge in the battle for third.^[6] Harvick is the race's defending race winner after winning it in2011.^[7]

Two practice sessions were held before the race on Friday, both lasting 90 minutes each.^[8]Jeff Gordon was quickest with a time of 19.512 seconds in the first session, less than two-hundredths of a second faster thanKyle Busch.^[9] Hamlin was just off Burton's pace, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Newman, and Martin Truex Jr. Stewart was seventh, still within two-tenths of a second of Gordon's time.^[9] In the second and final practice session, Gordon was quickest with a time of 19.516 seconds.^[10][11]Kurt Busch followed in the second position, ahead ofBrad Keselowski, Newman, andDavid Stremme.^[10]Landon Cassill was sixth after posting a time of 19.844 seconds, whileJosh Wise andJuan Pablo Montoya followed in seventh and eighth.^[10]Scott Riggs andAric Almirola rounded out the first ten positions.^[10]

Forty-six cars are entered for qualifying, but only forty-three raced because of NASCAR'squalifying procedure.^[12]

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• ^1 Yeley was awarded the start after Raines failed post-qualifying inspection.

• NASCAR races at Martinsville Speedway
• 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• 2012 in sports in Virginia
• April 2012 sports events in the United States

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