Backstretch Motorsports

Denny Hamlin may have won the Virginia campaign with a victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, but Jimmie Johnson moved ever closer to a record fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship with a runner-up finish at the .526-mile short track.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that ended under caution with John Andretti wrecked at the finish line, Hamlin pulled away from Johnson over the final two laps of the Tums Fast Relief 500. As the cars roared off Turn 4 on Lap 501—one lap beyond the scheduled distance—NASCAR simultaneously displayed the yellow and checkered flags when Andretti was unable to drive away.

Juan Pablo Montoya was third, followed by Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Jamie McMurray, polesitter Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

Hamlin, who passed Johnson for the lead on Lap 363 and held it the rest of the way, collected his second victory at the narrow, paper-clip-shaped track and the seventh win of his career. In winning his third race of the season, the Virginia native completed a sweep of the fall races at the two racetracks in his home state, having scored an emotional triumph at Richmond on Sept. 12.

“We were really good on the long runs, but I was kind of worried about that short run at the end,” said Hamlin, who is ninth in the standings 352 points behind Johnson. “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).

“Jimmie obviously gave us a lot of respect there toward the end. He knew that we had a faster car and tried to protect his points lead. It was a good situation we were in. We were kind of racing for nothing, and he’s obviously racing for a championship, and, honestly, it was a great run at the end.”

Having won five of the previous six races at Martinsville—a streak interrupted only by a Hamlin victory in the spring of 2008—Johnson found solace in his runner-up finish. He increased his lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings to 118 points over second-place Martin. Gordon is third, 150 off the lead.

Johnson said he was concerned with having to line up in the outside lane (in second position) for restarts on Lap 489 and 500.

“Starting from the outside lane, there was so much to lose,” Johnson said. “I was really nervous about getting to the bottom (the preferred line) and protecting the position I was in. All and all, a good day. I wish we could have won, but we just didn’t have anything for the 11 (Hamlin) on that last run.”

Johnson, however, said it was still too early in the Chase to think about protecting a points lead.

“We all know what the answers are,” he said. “It’s the same stuff over and over again. The mechanicals, the stuff we can’t control is the stuff I’m worried about. The stuff we can control, I feel we’re going to be great.

“Four good tracks coming up for us. If we have no issues, I feel that we can race for this championship, and things will turn out as we want. But the stuff I can’t control, I know it gives everybody something to talk about, but I’m tired of talking about all the what-ifs—and I’d just rather not.”

NASCAR Race Number 32
Unofficial Race Results for the Tums Fast Relief 500 (61St Running) -
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - .526 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 501 Laps - 263.526 Miles - Purse: $5,012,362
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 17 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 501 195 10 131.7 $189,500 Running 3 206
2 15 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 501 175 5 135.5 $169,526 Running 5 164
3 21 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 501 170 5 122.7 $143,298 Running 1 37
4 41 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s / Halloween Toyota 501 165 5 95.4 $138,698 Running 1 4
5 2 24 Jeff Gordon Dupont / NationalGuard.com Chevrolet 501 160 5 110.7 $126,351 Running 3 36
6 23 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 501 150 85.2 $97,950 Running
7 1 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet 501 151 5 109.6 $122,004 Running 3 23
8 4 5 Mark Martin Kellogg’s / CARQUEST Chevrolet 501 147 5 113.5 $89,350 Running 1 1
9 13 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice / Office Depot Chevrolet 501 138 98.2 $99,923 Running
10 10 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 501 134 101.5 $118,703 Running
11 24 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 501 130 92.0 $106,573 Running
12 7 20 Joey Logano # Farm Bureau Toyota 501 127 80.6 $122,576 Running
13 8 96 Bobby Labonte DLP Ford 501 124 81.7 $107,004 Running
14 32 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 501 121 62.4 $120,290 Running
15 22 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 501 123 5 83.1 $121,156 Running 1 4
16 5 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 501 120 5 89.8 $101,473 Running 1 18
17 37 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 501 112 72.4 $91,250 Running
18 6 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 501 109 82.2 $90,175 Running
19 19 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 501 106 91.9 $83,150 Running
20 29 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 501 103 81.4 $122,256 Running
21 40 19 Elliott Sadler Best Buy Dodge 500 100 63.7 $82,575 Running
22 14 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 500 97 68.0 $82,675 Running
23 30 98 Paul Menard Schrock / Menards Ford 500 94 56.6 $105,431 Running
24 9 43 Reed Sorenson McDonald’s Dodge 500 91 55.8 $111,176 Running
25 20 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Filterete Ford 500 93 5 48.7 $90,550 Running 1 6
26 27 34 John Andretti A & W All American Hamburger Chevrolet 499 90 5 47.5 $81,375 Accident 1 1
27 34 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox Toyota 499 82 42.6 $87,673 Running
28 3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Vaseline MEN Body Lotion Chevrolet 499 79 67.6 $108,940 Running
29 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet 499 76 66.2 $87,825 Running
30 36 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Adaptive One Brakes Toyota 497 73 39.4 $80,750 Running
31 18 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 495 70 48.7 $81,698 Accident
32 26 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 494 67 51.8 $111,973 Running
33 11 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 439 64 51.9 $102,890 Rearend
34 16 44 A J Allmendinger Coleman Natural Foods Dodge 414 61 56.0 $70,300 Running
35 38 09 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Dodge 355 58 40.3 $69,300 Brakes
36 31 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 248 55 55.0 $88,010 Accident
37 33 7 Robby Gordon Schrock / Menards Toyota 130 52 40.0 $87,960 Driveshaft
38 28 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 52 49 28.8 $69,150 Overheating
39 35 71 David Gilliland TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 48 51 5 31.4 $69,100 Brakes 1 1
40 39 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 38 43 29.8 $69,050 Overheating
41 42 36 Michael McDowell Wave Energy Drink Toyota 36 40 27.8 $69,000 Brakes
42 43 64 Derrike Cope Toyota 31 37 26.4 $68,940 Brakes
43 25 37 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver’s Dodge 30 34 35.0 $68,523 Brakes
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 64,000, Denny Hamlin won the TUMS Fast Relief 500, his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. No cars dropped to the rear of the field for the start.
Failed to Qualify: (1) 73 Josh Wise.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 44 Secs. Average Speed: 73.633 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 15 for 77 laps: Laps: 9-12 (Nos. 7, 17 and 47 in Turn 4 [None]); 45-50 (No. 55 spin in Turn 2 [09]); 90-94 (No. 88 in Turn 4 [47]); 130-136 (No. 88 in Turn 2 [None]); 158-163 (Debris on frontstretch [16]); 177-182 (Nos. 12 and 77 on backstretch [1]); 196-201 (No. 77 on frontstretch [34]); 211-215 (No. 9 in Turn 2 [88]); 252-259 (No. 44 in Turn 1 [88]); 277-280 (Nos. 34, 09 and 9 in Turn 2 [None]); 301-306 (No. 9 in Turn 4 [09]); 444-448 (No. 34 in Turn 2 [31]); 485-488 (Debris on frontstretch [2]); 496-499 (No. 82 in Turns 1 & 2 [33]); 501-501 (No. 34 on frontstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 21 among 12 drivers: R. Newman 1-21; J. Gordon 22-46; J. Andretti 47; D. Gilliland 48; J. Gordon 49-58; J. Johnson 59-89; R. Newman 90; J. Johnson 91-130; R. Newman 131; J. Johnson 132-140; J. Montoya 141-177; J. Gordon 178; J. Burton 179-182; D. Hamlin 183-201; Kyle Busch 202-205; D. Hamlin 206-253; G. Biffle 254-259; J. Johnson 260-301; M. Martin 302; D. Reutimann 303-320; J. Johnson 321-362; D. Hamlin 363-501.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) J. Johnson 6,098;(2) M. Martin 5,980;(3) J. Gordon 5,948;(4) T. Stewart 5,906;(5) J. Montoya 5,898;(6) Kurt Busch 5,858;(7) R. Newman 5,786;(8) G. Biffle 5,748;(9) D. Hamlin 5,746;(10) C. Edwards 5,685;(11) K. Kahne 5,659;(12) B. Vickers 5,568.
Coors Light Pole Award : Ryan Newman, #39 96.795 mph DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Ryan Newman, #39 crew chief Tony Gibson
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Denny Hamlin, #11 EA Sports Move of the Race : Denny Hamlin, #11
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Jimmie Johnson, #48 94.7084 mph, Lap 100 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Denny Hamlin, #11
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Jamie McMurray, #26 crew chief Donnie Wingo, 0.078
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Denny Hamlin, #11 350.521 seconds Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Denny Hamlin, #11 Tissot Pit Road Precision : Jimmie Johnson, #48 329.445 seconds
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Denny Hamlin, #11 206 Laps
Next Race: Nov. 1, 2009 - Talladega Superspeedway