Hamlin closes on Johnson with win
Denny Hamlin claimed his seventh win of the season with victory at Martinsville, moving within striking distance of championship leader Jimmie Johnson
Despite getting off to a slow start from pole position, the Joe Gibbs racer was able to charge back and save his best for last to take his third consecutive win at NASCAR's shortest and slowest venue, where he has taken four victories out of the last six races at the half-mile track.
Hamlin dropped back after losing the lead on lap 11 to front-row starter Marcos Ambrose, struggling with wear issues on the left rear tyre of his #11 Toyota.
After that he started recovering, getting quickly back inside the top ten, although not looking as strong as the Richard Childress Racing duo of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, who led nearly half the race between them.
After getting on a different pit sequence halfway through the race, Hamlin dropped back in the order again along with the leaders and after moving back up he made the most of a long green flag run to the chequered flag, where he was able to stay more consistent than the RCR pair.
With 30 laps remaining Hamlin was able to pass Kevin Harvick for the lead, pulling away to win by more than two seconds over a charging Mark Martin.
Eight months after having surgery on his left knee for a torn ligament, the 29-year-old is only six points away from Johnson's championship lead - the closest margin ever between the top two contenders with four races remaining in the Chase.
"I couldn't lose points to [Johnson], not at this race track," said Hamlin. "We ran too good here over the last few years to lose points to him at this race track. Literally I just kept him and [Harvick] in my sight all day long... we were racing around each other all day long. Most of the time I was the third wheel in that chain.
"I just made sure I kept those guys close until 100 [laps] to go, when we were going to have to be aggressive."
Martin recovered from an incident halfway through the race after contact with Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger.
Despite suffering heavy damage to the rear of his car, his crew managed to repair the bodywork well enough for the veteran to remain competitive throughout, setting the pace in the final stint of the race in which he charged from 18th all the way up to second.
Harvick finished third behind the Hendrick driver, enjoying one of his best runs ever at Martinsville. Despite things heating up between him and team-mate Burton, the two making contact while battling up front at one point, both were able to finish inside the top 10 with Harvick achieving his goal of closing on Johnson in the points ahead of Talladega, where he won earlier this year.
After struggling for the past few races with slow pitstops, Harvick enjoyed a better day in the pits following a crew swap with Clint Bowyer's team from this weekend.
"We kept the #48 [Johnson] behind us and the #11 [Hamlin] in sight and what everybody said was a two-horse race and we were right there in the middle of it," said Harvick.
"So, it's a lot of fun. Right now we've got four more weeks. I'm looking forward to Talladega and just racing hard."
Hamlin's team-mate Kyle Busch did his part by taking points away from Johnson, beating him to fourth place. The reigning champion went on to finish the race without leading a lap at what is arguably his best track, marking the first season he has not been up front at Martinsville for the past five years.
"We were much stronger on the short run than we were on the long run and they way this thing unfolded in the end there was a lot of long runs," said Johnson. "We kind of lost a few spots.
"For a while there I thought the #29 [Harvick] and the #11 [Hamlin] and us were all going to ride together all day long and then [Hamlin] there at the end got going and took off and won the thing.
"It was a solid performance; something we can't be disappointed in. I wish we were a little better but there is a lot of racing left."
It was a solid day for Hendrick Motorsports in terms of performance, with Dale Earnhardt Jr able to lead the race and finish seventh, although his team-mate Jeff Gordon, who also led and looked a contender for victory, suffered a blow to his championship hopes after tangling with Kurt Busch.
The Penske racer turned him around exiting Turn 4, sending Gordon into the inside wall along the frontstretch in retaliation for contact on lap 386.
"Kurt Busch doesn't have a very long fuse so either it was payback or he just got angry really quick and decided to wreck us," said Gordon. "We just did what we could do to come home with the best finish we could... Our championship hopes have taken a big hit the last couple of weeks."
Gordon is already 200 points behind Johnson in the standings with only four races left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Pos Driver Car Laps 1. Denny Hamlin Toyota 500 2. Mark Martin Chevrolet 500 3. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 500 4. Kyle Busch Toyota 500 5. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 500 6. Joey Logano Toyota 500 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 500 8. Carl Edwards Ford 500 9. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 500 10. Brad Keselowski Dodge 500 11. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 500 12. A.J. Allmendinger Ford 500 13. Paul Menard Ford 500 14. Kasey Kahne Toyota 500 15. Matt Kenseth Ford 500 16. Kurt Busch Dodge 499 17. David Ragan Ford 499 18. Ken Schrader Ford 499 19. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 499 20. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 498 21. Aric Almirola Ford 498 22. Robby Gordon Toyota 498 23. Scott Speed Toyota 498 24. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 498 25. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 496 26. Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 496 27. David Reutimann Toyota 494 28. Elliott Sadler Ford 474 29. Martin Truex Jr Toyota 473 30. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 455 31. Regan Smith Chevrolet 442 32. Tony Raines Ford 437 33. Greg Biffle Ford 432 34. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 428 35. Travis Kvapil Ford 423 36. Dave Blaney Chevrolet 418 37. David Gilliland Ford 382 38. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 359 39. J.J. Yeley Dodge 282 40. Casey Mears Toyota 271 41. Joe Nemechek Toyota 264 42. Landon Cassill Toyota 200 43. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 197
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