MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin figured if he was going to make a run at Jimmie Johnson’s points lead,there was no better place to start than Martinsville Speedway.
Hamlin passed Kevin Harvick for the lead with 29 laps to go Sunday and earned histhird consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in the 500-lap race on the smallest circuit in the series.
“I don’t think I’ve ever closed that well, ever,” Hamlin said after his 15th career victory, his series-best seventh this year and his fourth at Martinsville.
He didn’t view the race asa must-win, but rather “must finish in front of,” he said.
And the victory came after a sluggish start even though Hamlin started on the pole for only the second time this season. Johnson qualified 19th, and Harvick 36th.
But once the race began, Hamlin went backward. By the first caution and restart about 50 laps in, Hamlin was behind Johnson, who started 19th, and Harvick, who started 36th.
“I was very worried,” he said. “Everyone saw how far back we were dropping and I thought it was the end of our day. We kept fighting, kept digging, kept making up spots.”
Hamlin became the first driver since Johnson in 2007 to sweep both races here, and he and Harvick closed the gap on Johnson in the points race with four events to go. Hamlin cut his 41-point deficit to 6, the smallest with four races left since the Chase began in 2004.
“Who said this was over ?”Hamlin asked after the race. “I told you it wasn’t over.”
Harvick finished third after Mark Martin (Batesville) passed him late, but Harvick had his best showing in 19career starts at the 0.526-mile oval; he’d never been better than seventh. Martin, who is not one of the 12 drivers involved in the chase, finished second.
“We kept the 48 behind us and the 11 in sight in what everybody said was a two horse race, and we were right there in the middle of it,” said Harvick, who gained 15 points in the standings and trails Johnson by 62 heading to Talladega, where he won in the spring.
“It’s a lot of fun right now,” Harvick said.
Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, finished fifth.
“For a while I thought the 29, the 11 and us were just going to ride together all day long,” Johnson said of Hamlin and Harvick, “but then the 11 got going there at the end.”
Harvick led during most of a long green-flag run until Hamlin got to his rear bumper, then went to his inside. The two raced side-by-side for about five laps before Harvick checked up coming out of Turn 2, finally falling in line behind Hamlin on lap 472.
The race had 15 cautions for 90 laps, but the final 98 were run under a green flag.
“That’s exactly what we needed at the end,” Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, said.
The race seemed likely to be a battle between Johnson and Hamlin, who had combined to win the last eight races at Martinsville and began the day 1-2 in the point standings.
But 12 different drivers led and there were 24 lead changes.
Jeff Burton led the most laps with 134, but faded to ninth.
Jeff Gordon had a rough day, seriously damaging his chance for a fifth championship. He entered fourth in points, 156 behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson, but was spun into the front stretch wall by Kurt Busch after running in contention all race long.
Gordon wound up 20th and fell to fifth in the standings, 203 points behind Johnson.
Kyle Busch finished fourth and moved up to fourth in the standings, 172 back.
NASCAR Sprint Cup TUMS Fast Relief 500At Martinsville Speedway Ridgeway, Va.
Lap length: .526 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500 laps, 190 points, $177,375.
2. (21) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 500, 170, $125,825.
3. (36) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, 170, $147,951.
4. (26) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, 160, $140,531.
5. (19) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, 155, $135,303.
6. (22) Joey Logano, Toyota, 500, 150, $118,490.
7. (28) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, 151, $93,475.
8. (7) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500, 142, $117,773.
9. (18) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 500, 148, $126,040.
10. (25) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 500, 134, $110,710.
11. (9) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 130, $112,479.
12. (15) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 500, 127, $113,676.
13. (12) Paul Menard, Ford, 500, 124, $84,975.
14. (33) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 500, 121, $113,248.
15. (32) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500, 118, $120,951.
16. (29) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 499, 115, $117,523.
17. (10) David Ragan, Ford, 499, 112, $83,350.
18. (38) Ken Schrader, Ford,499, 114, $82,725.
19. (5) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 499, 106, $109,356.
20. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 498, 108, $118,251.
21. (35) Aric Almirola, Ford, 498, 100, $112,690.
22. (41) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 498, 102, $91,448.
23. (14) Scott Speed, Toyota, 498, 94, $89,198.
24. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 498, 96, $109,948.
25. (24) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 496, 88, $80,200.
26. (42) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 496, 85, $72,425.
27. (8) David Reutimann, Toyota, 494, 87, $103,056.
28. (31) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 474, 79, $79,400.
29. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 473, 76, $71,275.
30. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 455, 78, $107,829.
31. (13) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 442, 70, $78,575.
32. (40) Tony Raines, Ford, rear gear, 437, 67, $67,975.
33. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 432, 64, $77,800.
34. (2) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 428, 66, $92,373.
35. (27) Travis Kvapil, Ford, rear gear, 423, 58, $86,510.
36. (34) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, brakes, 418, 55, $67,700.
37. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 382, 52, $79,723.
38. (17) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, rear gear, 359, 49, $75,600.
39. (43) J.J. Yeley, Dodge, brakes, 282, 46, $67,550.
40. (20) Casey Mears, Toyota, electrical, 271, 48, $67,500.
41. (37) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, brakes, 264, 40, $67,450.
42. (30) Landon Cassill, Toyota, brakes, 200, 37, $67,395. 43. (23) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, overheating, 197, 34, $66,971.
RACE STATISTICS
AVERAGE SPEED OF RACE WINNER 71.619 mph.
TIME OF RACE 3 hours, 40 minutes, 20 seconds.
MARGIN OF VICTORY 2.318 seconds.
CAUTION FLAGS: 15 for 90 laps.
LEAD CHANGES 24 among 12 drivers.
LAP LEADERS: D.Hamlin 1-10; M.Ambrose 11-50; C.Mears 51; R.Newman 52-82; J.Burton 83-111; D.Reutimann 112; J.Burton 113-126; R.Newman 127; J.Burton 128-171; K.Harvick 172; J.Burton 173-214; K.Harvick 215-222; J.Burton 223-227; K.Harvick 228; J.Gordon 229-284; D.Earnhardt Jr. 285-289; T.Stewart 290; R.Gordon 291; D.Earnhardt Jr. 292-350; K.Harvick 351; D.Earnhardt Jr. 352-377; K.Harvick 378-386; K.Schrader 387-393; K.Harvick 394-470; D.Hamlin 471-500.
Sports, Pages 13 on 10/25/2010