Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team did everything a defending race champion should do in an effort to defend a crown – leading a race-high 296 laps and putting in a near perfect race on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Hamlin regained the lead on a lap 456 restart, ducking underneath Jimmie Johnson and then holding the point through two field-tightening cautions. With Johnson on his bumper, it came as no surprise to Hamlin when he received a lap-485 nudge from the #48 that sent the #11 FedEx Freight Camry up the slight banking and allowed Johnson to sneak underneath. Despite gathering the car up, the remaining laps didn’t provide Hamlin the opportunity to repay the favor and he brought the #11 FedEx Freight Camry home in second place for the second-consecutive weekend.
For Hamlin, the second-place finish was bittersweet but the Virginia native knew that if the tables had been turned he would have approached his competition in a very similar way.
“I’m honored to be on the race track with guys like Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff (Gordon) and Tony (Stewart),” said Hamlin. “Those are the guys who are the best in the business. We came up short. That was short-track racing. I would’ve done the same thing to him, and if it comes back around, I will do the same. It’s just the way it is. In Martinsville, you have to battle for every inch, and I was trying to protect a spot, and he was trying to get it at the end of the race. That’s the way it goes.”
Johnson claimed his sixth win at Martinsville while Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer filled out the top five. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished 24th and 32nd respectively.
Hamlin’s second place finish sees him jump from eighth to fifth in the Sprint Cup standings on the heels of two strong weeks for the short track expert. Jeff Gordon maintains his lead at the top of the chart.
“We’re not going to win the championship this weekend. We’re going to have to win the championship later on in the season. We know we have a great package now. This is a ‘Chase’ race, so I’m happy about that. We have to make sure we’re in position first. We have to make sure we’re in the top-12 and our whole FedEx team is doing all it can to provide me good cars. To come to our first two short tracks and to be in contention to win both races – it’s uplifting. Things don’t always fall our way, and today, they didn’t. I was in a vulnerable spot. I let him get too close, and when he did get close, he took the first opportunity he could to get to us, and I would’ve done the same exact thing.”
Armed with a good car, but stuck four rows deep for the start after Friday’s qualifying session was lost to rain, Hamlin wasted little time charging forward – knowing it was very important to clear as much traffic as possible. Despite starting on the outside and having to wait patiently for his chance to pull down, Hamlin had gained the seventh spot by the time the first caution flew on lap 19. Immediately following the restart he passed David Ruetimann and then Clint Bowyer to claim a spot in the top five before NASCAR called a competition caution on lap 40.
Crew Chief Mike Ford called for four tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment and the #11 crew obliged, getting Hamlin out quickly to restart sixth on lap 46. As the leaders cleared two lapped cars, Hamlin caught Johnson on lap 48 and held the spot behind Gordon and Kurt Busch until the caution flew again on lap 69.Hamlin held the third spot through a caution on lap 70 and then moved past Kurt Busch for second place on lap 99. He then went about cutting into Gordon’s 1.5-second lead, shaving it to one second by lap 129 and then pulling up to the bumper of the #24 Chevrolet by lap 133.
A caution on lap 139 brought the leaders to pit road and Ford again called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment in hopes of giving Hamlin more grip on exit. Hamlin restarted second on lap 144 and slid inside of the #24 on 156 to take the lead for the first time. As Hamlin held the point, a handful of cars – including his JGR teammates found the outside wall in turn two – but the race stayed green and Hamlin opened up a nearly two-second lead over Gordon with Edwards, Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart rounding out the top five. Hamlin pitted from the lead under caution and the FedEx crew worked quick to send him out in first on lap 263.
The ensuing green-flag run featured some of the best racing of the afternoon as Gordon caught Hamlin on lap 340 and moved past the #11 to claim the lead on lap 343. The two raced side by side for six laps before Hamlin reclaimed the point just before the caution flew on lap 352.
Ford called Hamlin in for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and the team again had Hamlin out to lead the field to the green flag on lap 359. Gordon mounted another charge, catching Hamlin on lap 400 but the reigning race winner again held his own and kept the #11 up front until the caution flew on lap 427. On pit road again, a blazing-fast stop by the #48 team proved to be the difference as Johnson was the first car off of pit road with Hamlin in second. Hamlin would hold that spot through another caution, then provide his home-state fans with the move of the race, diving inside of Johnson on the restart to claim the lead on lap 456.
With the opportunity to pull away and win a second grandfather clock seemingly in his grasp, Hamlin was twice stung by cautions that brought Johnson back within striking distance.
Following the last restart on lap 477, Johnson moved the #48 into position and made just enough contact to grab the lead and the win.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues next weekend when the teams head back to the big tracks and the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
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