Event: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500, Race No. 24 of 36

Location: Bristol Motor Speedway; Bristol, Tenn.

Top-five finishers: Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin

Race recap: Kyle Busch passed Michael Waltrip for the lead just after a lap 431 restart and led the final 68 laps to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Down the stretch, Busch had to hold off a 50-year-old Mark Martin, making his 1,000th career NASCAR start (combining all three top series).

Martin was the polesitter for the event, but he got jumped on the first lap by Greg Biffle, who went on to lead 76 of the race's first 77 laps. Martin was a factor all day, however, leading a race-high 240 laps.

It was Martin's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, who began to flex his muscles in the second half of the event. The three-time defending Sprint Cup champion paced the field for 106 laps after the mid-race point, but lost the top spot on a lap 423 yellow flag pit stop that was slowed by loose lug nuts. Waltrip stayed out on the track during that caution to inherit the lead. Busch made short work of him and went on for the win.

The race was slowed by 11 caution periods, including five in the last 80 laps. Included in that list was a 10-minute red flag for rain on the track.

Tony Stewart, who had a series of problems all night, finished 33rd but held onto his championship lead. Stewart is now in front of Hendrick teammates Johnson (-220) and Jeff Gordon (-254) in the overall standings.

The Sprint Cup Series is off this coming weekend and gets back to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sept. 6.

Companion events: Kyle Busch (Camping World Truck) and David Ragan (Nationwide) won the NASCAR support events at Bristol on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Busch led 82 of 200 laps in the truck race, ending Ron Hornaday Jr.'s five-race winning streak. Ragan led the final 56 laps to outduel Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards to take the Nationwide race. Edwards cut Kyle Busch's series lead to 248 points with the runner-up finish.

Goodyear quote by Steve Rigot, NASCAR sales account manager: Our Goodyear Eagles and Wranglers performed flawlessly, as expected. The new right side compound for the Camping World Trucks and Nationwide Cars rubbered in the track nicely while at the same time giving the teams excellent wear. Some teams ran tires over 120 laps. The same was true in the Cup race albeit a different compound. All three races rubbered in the higher grooves quickly, allowing for plenty of side by side racing action