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TURNING LEFT: Hamlin Prevails at Martinsville
By Charlie O. Mallonee October 26, 2009 |
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Prior to the green flag being waved at Martinsville, the pundits and fans had predicted that Jimmie Johnson would be the winner of the TUMS Fast Relief 500. After all, Johnson had won five of the last six races at NASCAR’S shortest track. There was one problem with that prediction – Denny Hamlin had a different idea. Hamlin thought a native Virginian should win the race in Virginia, and that is exactly what he did by posting the seventh win of his career. Hamlin and his Gibbs racing team had been disappointed with their performance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup through the five previous races. ”I told Mike (Ford – Crew Chief) at the beginning of this race, I said, let's just get back to the top 5 in points, because it's a shame for us to be 11th in points as competitive as we've been, especially the few guys that were in front of us just hadn't either won a race or hadn't been competitive for the most part, and we've just been there every single week. The stats look terrible,” said Hamlin. With the victory, Hamlin and his team jumped from 11th to 9th in the “Chase” standings. The team is still -352 points out of first-place, but the FedEx Freight team is just -2 behind Greg Biffle who is in the number eight slot. The win was Hamlin’s third win of the season, and his second victory at Martinsville. The win did not come easily for Hamlin. The race came down to a green – white – checkered – flag finish. The checkered flag and the yellow flag were waved on Lap 501 after John Andretti crashed at the start-finish line and could drive his cars off the track. Hamlin led 206 laps of the race. Jimmie Johnson was the leader for 164 laps. After the race, Hamlin said that he thinks previous experience at Martinsville was key to his and Johnson’s success on this track. “I think it just shows that experience at this racetrack does matter. He (Johnson) obviously did a great job. He was kind of my arch rival just as I was getting out of late models, and he was the guy who always pushed you to be a little bit better. It was good to see him get his first win obviously at this racetrack. I know it was big for him. He lives right down the road from here. Congratulations to him. And I just think that it shows that track time really goes a long way, especially at this racetrack.” Hamlin was worried about having to make a short run under the green – white – checkered flag at the end of the race. “We were really good on the long runs, but I was kind of worried about that short run at the end,” said Hamlin. “But we were able to survive it, thank God. I hate to say it was a little bit of a lack of a motor, but it seemed like our car just would not accelerate like those guys’ did. By doing that, it saved the rear tires, and it was able to stay a little bit longer. I think that had a little bit to do with why we were so good at length (long runs). Johnson finished second with Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounding out the Top-5. Johnson’s second-place finish propelled him to 118-point lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. When asked about how comfortable he is with the 118-point lead Johnson replied, “ I'm so tired of answering this question. I think you guys can all figure it out. Talladega, there's no telling, and I feel good with the other tracks after that as long as we don't have any mechanicals.” Up next is a restrictor-plate race at Talladega Super Speedway on Sunday. That means a fast track with side-by-side racing and big wrecks. Trying avoid “the big one” (multi-car crash) is the key to racing at Talladega. |
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