Denny Hamlin holds off challengers in closing laps to win Martinsville Cup race
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin celebrates his win in Sunday's NASCAR Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. // Sam Cranston, NASCAR Scene
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Denny Hamlin’s Chase For The Sprint Cup chances may have gone up in smoke with back-to-back poor finishes at Auto Club Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway. But that doesn’t mean the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has thrown in the towel where wins are concerned.
Hamlin, who began the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway 11th in points, outdueled points leader Jimmie Johnson to score his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season and the seventh of his career.
Two late cautions gave fellow Chase drivers Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya the opportunity, but neither could make either subsequent restart pay off. Hamlin sprinted away from the field on both occasions with less than 15 laps remaining, including a final green-white-checkered run.
“I just want to thank all the fans that have been sticking with me, [I] hope that last two weeks are in the past,” Hamin said.
“I knew all those guys were going to be aggressive, trying to get a win. It feels great.”
Trailing Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet were Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports).
Just prior to the day’s 12th caution flag, Johnson and Montoya made their final green-flag pit stops on 435, with Hamlin giving up the lead to duck onto pit road a lap later.
The caution, the result of a spin by John Andretti in Turn 2, appeared to set up a final, 52-lap run to the finish.
But that was far from the case, as the yellow continued to appear and bunch the field back up.Hamlin, who led 205 laps, had wrestled the lead away from Johnson on lap 364, nearly 50 laps after Johnson had regained the top spot following the day’s 11th caution, running down and passing David Reutimann on lap 321.
“I wish we could have won, but I just didn’t have anything for the 11 [of Hamlin] on that last run,” Johnson said.
Johnson, the three-time series champion, continues to lead the points standings, and exited Martinsville with a 118-point lead over Mark Martin, followed by Gordon, Tony Stewart (10th) and Montoya.
Montoya made his intentions known early, rubbing with Jeff Gordon to take the position as the two battled for a spot in the top five.
“I don’t know what the [expletive] is wrong with him, but I’m [expletive] pissed,” Gordon told crew chief Steve Letarte via radio.
Moments later, following a restart after the day’s fourth caution, Montoya took the inside line away from Johnson and rocketed into the lead on lap 140.
He led 37 of the race’s 501 laps.
“I don’t know where that extra pace came from when the Chase started,” Montoya said. “We stepped up. It’s nice to see.”
Johnson, who had qualified 15th, made his way to the front for the first time on lap 59, darting underneath Gordon at the start/finish line.
A four-car pileup in Turn 4, involving Matt Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Marcos Ambrose and Derrike Cope brought out the day’s first caution on lap nine.
