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Martinsvile NASCAR: Denny Hamlin resists Brad Keselowski for win

Denny Hamlin earned his 25th career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Martinsville, after holding off last week's Fontana winner Brad Keselowski

Keselowski punted Hamlin on the last lap, but it wasn't enough to deny the Joe Gibbs driver his fifth Martinsville victory.

Hamlin suffered from a pitlane penalty for an uncontrolled tyre before the halfway point, but he slowly recovered with the help of some calming words from crew chief Dave Rogers as he fought his way through the field.

Keselowski produced a brilliant drive, coming to the fore at the perfect time to challenge for the lead, but he ultimately fell short.

His Penske team-mate Joey Logano managed third, after he had contact with Michael Annett, sending him into a spin and forcing him to the back.

Joe Gibbs duo Matt Kenseth and David Ragan rounded out the top five, while Martin Truex Jr had an eventful day, but managed sixth and his sixth top 10 finish of 2015.

Kevin Harvick's string of eight top-two finishes came to an end as he fell back in the last 100 laps, despite leading a race-high 154 laps, and came home eighth.

Hendrick Motorsports had a tough day, with three cars in the garage at one point during the race.

Jimmie Johnson had a multitude of issues, while Dale Earnhardt Jr ruined the front end of his car by ploughing into the back of Paul Menard as he avoided an incident up front and Chase Elliott had trouble with the radiator on his Cup debut.

Jeff Gordon took the lead for the first time with less than 50 of the 500 laps remaining, but then sped in the pitlane. He did manage to fight back to finish ninth.

RESULTS - 500 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3h49m13.s
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 0.186s
3 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1.610s
4 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4.627s
5 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4.810s
6 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 5.682s
7 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 6.925s
8 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 7.205s
9 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7.610s
10 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 8.955s
11 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9.260s
12 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 9.389s
13 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 10.404s
14 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 11.651s
15 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 12.465s
16 Regan Smith Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 12.654s
17 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13.490s
18 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 13.840s
19 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.254s
20 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 16.158s
21 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 20.853s
22 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
23 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
24 Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
25 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
26 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 3 Laps
27 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps
28 Brett Moffitt Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 4 Laps
29 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 5 Laps
30 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 5 Laps
31 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 6 Laps
32 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 7 Laps
33 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 8 Laps
34 Mike Bliss Go FAS Racing Ford 9 Laps
35 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Laps
36 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Laps
37 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 56 Laps
38 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 73 Laps
39 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 111 Laps
40 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 136 Laps
41 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Electrical
42 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 172 Laps
43 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Oil leak
- Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Withdrawn

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 263
2 Joey Logano 239
3 Martin Truex Jr. 231
4 Brad Keselowski 206
5 Kasey Kahne 193
6 Paul Menard 173
7 Denny Hamlin 172
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 172
9 Aric Almirola 170
10 Jimmie Johnson 168
11 Matt Kenseth 168
12 David Ragan 163
13 Casey Mears 161
14 Jamie McMurray 154
15 Danica Patrick 148
16 Jeff Gordon 148
17 Carl Edwards 148
18 Clint Bowyer 146
19 A.J. Allmendinger 138
20 Greg Biffle 138
21 Ryan Newman 130
22 David Gilliland 120
23 Austin Dillon 119
24 Kyle Larson 116
25 Kurt Busch 113

Chase places provisionally secured: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin

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