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Hometown favorite
Hamlin hangs on for Martinsville win
Complete results | Race chat | Starting lineup | Pit picks | Photos
Denny Hamlin finally broke through at Martinsville Speedway after two close calls, and it wasn't Hendrick Motorsports he had to beat.
Hendrick's drivers dominated all race, but Hamlin foiled Jeff Burton's late strategy of staying out while the rest of the leaders pitted, passing his fellow Virginia native on the 427th of 500 laps and holding on Sunday for his fourth career victory.
Jeff Gordon, who along with Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson had combined to win eight of the last 10 races on the smallest, tightest oval in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, rallied to finish second, followed by Burton, Johnson and Tony Stewart.
"First Virginia win for me," Hamlin said in Victory Lane. "Finally. The curse is over, I think. I hope. We've had such bad luck over these first few weeks."
Hamlin arrived at the race 15th in the point standings, but held on after twice finishing in the top three as one of the only cars able to run with the Hendrick teams.
He also had a chance to win at Bristol two weeks ago, when a fuel pickup problem on the restart of a two-lap sprint to the finish caused him to fade to sixth.
"It finally feels good to come here and get a win," said Hamlin, a native of Chester. "Can't wait, man. This is a sign of things to come, I believe."
The Hendrick cars dominated, with Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt all leading for long stretches, and Casey Mears running mostly in the top 10.
But Hamlin and Burton outsmarted the Hendrick drivers in the pits late.
Complete story
Race coverage
Cautions: 18 for 89 laps
Caution 1 / Laps 22-24: Kurt Busch spins out his brother Kyle Busch and creates mass confusion on the frontstretch. As a consequence, J.J. Yeley spins out. No major damage results to any car in this incident.
Free pass: None.
Caution 2 / Laps 45-48: Robby Gordon and Mike Skinner spin out in Turn 4. Gordon looked to crowd down on Skinner in the turn and they both lost control shortly thereafter.
Free pass: Bill Elliott (39th).
Caution 3 / Laps 59-64: Aric Almirola gets into the left rear of Bobby Labonte, creating a mess behind them. Cars that receive some minor damage include polesitter Jeff Gordon, Scott Riggs and Martin Truex Jr.
Caution 4 / Laps 70-73: Reed Sorenson spins in Turn 1. Bill Elliott gets damage in the incident as well.
Free pass: J. J. Yeley (38th).
Caution 5 / Laps 107-110: J.J. Yeley's rough day continues. Yeley gets spun around by rookie Sam Hornish Jr., and then Mike Skinner gets some damage as well.
Free pass: Jeremy Mayfield.
Caution 6 / Laps 120-123: In his first race in the No. 44 UPS Toyota, David Reutimann gets spun out by Aric Almirola in Turn 4 and then gets into Paul Menard.
Free pass: Robby Gordon.
Caution 7 / Laps 182-187: Debris on the track.
Free pass: Paul Menard (23rd).
Caution 8 / Laps 199-204: Bill Elliott spins coming off Turn 2 and makes contact with the inside wall.
Free pass: Robby Gordon (23rd)
Caution 9 / Laps 215-218: Ken Schrader gets spun by Elliott Sadler on the fronstretch. As everybody checked up behind, Kurt Busch gets spun as well.
Free pass: Matt Kenseth (23rd).
Caution 10 / Laps 262-265: Sam Hornish Jr. gets spun out in Turn 2.
Free pass: Paul Menard (23rd).
Caution 11 / Laps 273-277: Travis Kvapil gets into the back of Patrick Carpentier and spins him out in Turn 2.
Free pass: Michael McDowell (24th).
Caution 12 / Laps 289-292: Robby Gordon got into Patrick Carpentier and spun him. In the ensuing chain reaction, Matt Kenseth also spins out.
Caution 13 / Laps 297-301:Greg Biffle got into Ryan Newman, who lost control and ran into third-place Jimmie Johnson. Both Newman and Johnson received damage in the incident. Also, Kurt Busch and Reed Sorenson get damaged as cars checked up behind the incident.
Free pass: None.
Caution 14 / Laps 310-316: Matt Kenseth got into the back of Robby Gordon, who gets into Michael Waltrip and spins him out.
Free pass: Regan Smith (26th).
Caution 15 / Laps 329-332: Matt Kenseth spins out and hits the wall to obtain additional damage. David Gilliland spun Kenseth out.
Caution 16 / Laps 364-367: Matt Kenseth runs up the racetrack and spins David Gilliland around. Very suspicious incident, since Gilliland spun Kenseth to cause the last caution period. NASCAR agrees, and penalizes Kenseth for two laps.
Free pass: Ken Schrader.
Caution 17 / Laps 388-393: Reed Sorenson's car stops on the apron and cannot restart.
Free pass: Ryan Newman.
Caution 18 / Laps 404-411: Ken Schrader's car is spewing smoke from its rear. He was unable to pit and dropped a lot of oil on the track, bringing out the caution.
Free pass: Travis Kvapil (23rd).
Leaders: 20 lead changes among 8 drivers Jeff Gordon (pole), Denny Hamlin (1), Jeff Gordon (2-45), Bobby Labonte (46-48), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (49-102), Jimmie Johnson (103-106), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (107), Jimmie Johnson (108-160), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (161-182), Jimmie Johnson (183-207), Denny Hamlin (208-214), Jimmie Johnson (215-261), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (262), Jimmie Johnson (263-268), Jeff Gordon (269-295), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (296-363), Dave Blaney (364-367), David Reutimann (368-370), Jeff Gordon (371-389), Jeff Burton (390-426), Denny Hamlin (427-500)
Off the track: Aric Almirola (engine), Dave Blaney (engine), David Reutimann (Rear end issues)
Starting in the back: Greg Biffle (engine change)
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Gordon paces Happy Hour
Practice speeds: First | Second | Final
Jeff Gordon quickly demonstrated that Martinsville Speedway is his house, and he is going to protect it this Sunday.
Not content with just claiming pole position for Sunday's 500-lap event (FOX, 1:30 p.m. ET), Gordon went out and set the best time in Saturday's Happy Hour final practice session.
After completing 53 laps in the final tune up, Gordon had a top lap speed of 95.439 mph, 19.841 seconds.
Jamie McMurray continued his strong showing as well, securing the second best lap of the session at 95.256 mph. He will need to continue showing his strength come Sunday, as he is currently 36th in the owners standings and had to qualify into the field this week based on time.
Jimmie Johnson, who led the second practice of the weekend earlier in the day, was third quick, followed by David Ragan and Carl Edwards.
Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart completed the top 10 fastest speeds in the hour-long session.
Practice 2 roundup: Johnson leads Hendrick parade
On Friday, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon stole the headlines by claiming pole position for Sunday's 500-lap race at Martinsville Speedway. On Saturday morning, it was Jimmie Johnson's turn.
The two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, and defending Martinsville race winner, set a fast lap of 19.870 seconds, 95.299 mph, to stake the top spot on the pylon after the second Cup practice of the weekend.
Fellow Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. (94.851 mph) and Gordon (94.846 mph) rounded out the top three practice speeds. Aric Almirola and Jamie McMurray completed the top five in the session.
Practice 1 roundup: Hamlin delivers
Denny Hamlin got off to a quick start at his home-state track Friday, leading the first Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway with a fast lap of 95.338 mph.
Hamlin, a native of Chesterfield, Va., completed 32-laps during the 90-minute session and bested defending race winner Jimmie Johnson, who finished second quick with a top lap of 95.275 mph.
Reed Sorenson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five in the practice session.
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Gordon in seventh heaven
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Qualifying results | Lineup
If six races without a victory can be considered a drought for Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon took the first step toward ending it Friday at Martinsville Speedway.
Gordon toured the .526-mile short track in 19.666 seconds (96.288 mph) to claim the pole for Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It was the 65th career pole for Gordon, who has won seven times at Martinsville, twice from the pole.
Denny Hamlin (95.757 mph) qualified second, followed by rookie Aric Almirola (95.733 mph), David Ragan (95.569 mph) and Jamie McMurray (95.492 mph). Almirola will make his second Cup start of the year Sunday, and McMurray had to make the race on speed, having dropped out of the top 35 in owner points.
Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson will start from positions six through 10. Johnson has won the last three races at Martinsville, and Johnson and Gordon together have won eight of the last 10 (four each).
"We were a fifth- or sixth-place car in practice — the car was tight," Gordon said. "I'm really, really excited by what (crew chief) Steve Letarte and his crew did today. We made a lot of adjustments, and they certainly were the right ones.
"It impressed me to run the kind of lap we did. I didn't think it was possible."
Full story
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Darrell Waltrip
Not chasing wins
Tony Stewart will make the Chase, yet he hasn't won a race all year. Darrell Waltrip says NASCAR should make victory mandatory.
Lee Spencer
Fontana follies
Sub-par racing and small crowds prove Fontana doesn't deserve a spot in the Chase, much less a second race, Lee Spencer says.
Jeff Hammond
Missing in action
Let's face it — Sunday's Cup race was a snoozefest. So how do we fix it? Jeff Hammond has some sobering solutions.
Larry McReynolds
Feel the heat
The pressure is on for drivers and crews as time is running out for teams to make the Chase, Larry McReynolds says.
Mike Joy
Ticking away
NASCAR on FOX unveiled its new "Ticker" at Richmond, and Mike Joy says it will help viewers stay on top of the race.
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| SUN 3/30 |
2:20 p.m. ET |
On FOX |
| OWNER POINT STANDINGS |
| Pos |
+/- |
Driver |
Car |
Points |
| 31 |
+24 |
AJ Allmendinger |
Toyota |
1935 |
| 32 |
+21 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
1932 |
| 33 |
+20 |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
1931 |
| 34 |
+19 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
1930 |
| 35 |
-- |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
1911 |
| 36 |
-18 |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
1893 |
| 37 |
-55 |
Mike Skinner |
Toyota |
1856 |
| 38 |
-232 |
Patrick Carpentier |
Dodge |
1679 |
| 39 |
-289 |
Ken Schrader |
Toyota |
1622 |
| 40 |
-299 |
Kyle Petty |
Dodge |
1612 |
| Complete Owner Standings |
| Track Information |
| On Track With Larry Mac |
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Larry McReynolds, NASCAR on FOX analyst, scouts the track
Read his full analysis. |
| Track Vitals |
Location:
Martinsville, VA |
Distance/Track Type:
.526 Mile Oval 12-degree bank |
Nextel Cup Top Race Speed:
82.223 by Jeff Gordon on 9/22/1996 |
Nextel Cup Top Qualifying Speed:
98.083 by Tony Stewart on 10/21/2005 |
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