While battling the elements, the Sprint Cup drivers were able to get in all 500 laps of Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, with Denny Hamlin taking the checkers for the 4th time in his Sprint Cup series career.

For Martinsville, I felt this was one of the better races at the facility in several years. The race produced 20 lead changes, over half of which occurred under green flag conditions.

As for the awards, here's what I have:

Surprisingly Good Finish: I'm going to go with Regan Smith for this. He was the top finishing rookie for the race, winding up in 14th. Honorable mentions: David Ragan, Paul Menard & Travis Kvapil.

Most Impressive Performance: Jamie McMurray. McMurray, who came into the race outside the top 35 in points, ran right around the top 5 the entire race. Honorable mentions: Casey Mears & David Ragan.

Perserverance Award: No one really stood out in this category. But if I had to give this award to someone, it would be Paul Menard. Menard spent well over half the race running outside the top 20, and it wasn't until there were just over 100 laps to go that he was able get around the top 15, and had an eventual finish of 16th.

Most Disappointing Finish: Hands down, this goes to Kyle Busch. Busch came into the race with the points lead, was involved in a caution early on and finished 38th. Honorable mentions: Kurt Busch & Matt Kenseth.

Deserved a Better Finish: I'm going to go in the direction of Dave Blaney on this one. Blaney desperately needed a good finish to get in contention for a top 35 locked in spot, and appeared to be headed that way, but engine problems saddled Blaney with a finish of 43rd. Honorable mentions: Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch & Ken Schrader

Should've Stayed in Bed: Kurt Busch. Kurt and his team just couldn't get anything going at Martinsville. He was involved in a couple of cautions, spent almost the entire race running outside the top 30, finishing 33rd. Honorable mention: Matt Kenseth