March 30, 2010
By Ron Felix
It's a shame that this race was run a day late and I feel a little bit sorry for the fans that couldn't return to the track on Monday after a Sunday rainout.
It was a great race and an even better finish.
Denny Hamlin led the most laps (172 of 508) in the Goody's 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, but restarted fourth in the final overtime.
CIA Stock Photos
|
Hamlin Scrapes Wall In Burnout
|
|
Jeff Gordon was in the lead with two laps to go, in a green-white-checkers situation with Ryan Newman on the outside, Matt Kenseth on the inside (3rd) and Hamlin on the outside in fourth spot.
Hamlin forced Newman out of the way -- Kenseth got into Gordon and took the lead -- leaving a hole for Hamlin. Hamlin got into Kenseth and shoved him up the track. That left an opening for Hamlin, he grabbed the lead and there was no catching him after that.
“I can’t believe it," said a happy Hamlin. "I thought it was the end for us. That’s for all the people that doubt us. We’re gonna get this thing before the year’s over with. Gotta thank all the fans that came back out today. It’s amazing to see this crowd.
The Martinsville win was the third for Hamlin and his 9th victory in 157 career races.
"I had to bully the way through there towards the end, but everyone was just running into everyone," Hamlin continued. "I flattened my tire with (Matt) Kenseth going down the backstretch. Somehow made it work.”
Mike Ford, Hamlin's crew chief, took a huge gamble near the end of the race and it paid off with a victory. On the 12th caution of the day with ten laps to go, Ford called Hamlin in for four tires. Everyone, including owner Joe Gibbs -- thought he had lost his mind. Hamlin restarted ninth, quickly worked his way to fourth, where he was sitting on the final caution.
"Coming down to the end, leading the race here at Martinsville, the last place you want to be when the caution comes out with 10 (laps) to go is the leader because everyone is going to take cuts at you," said Ford. "You wonder if you have enough time to get back. You were thinking about that situation 30 laps prior, watching the weather also. But came right at the point where it’s probably the most difficult call on pit road leading the race inside 10 to go, had 65 laps on our tires, new tires were going to be fast, but you don’t know what everyone else is going to do.”
Joey Logano finished second with a fantastic run giving Joe Gibbs Racing a one-two finish.
“Towards the end of the race, it was crazy," Logano said. "We knew it was going to be crazy before it went green. Denny (Hamlin) I think was in the outside row, one lane behind me. Knew he’d be coming real hard. He cleared I think it was (Ryan) Newman. He was forcing his way down. I knew his car was better than me -- he could out-brake us. He was able to out-brake us. That was the same lap.
"I don’t know what happened in front of us there, but the two cars washed up. Like I said, I was just in the right place, right time. I was able to restart on the bottom. That’s where you need to be. Just kept filling holes when people were washing up and hitting each other. I was lucky enough not to get hit in the back, just protect the bottom, was able to come out with a good finish.”
Jeff Gordon held onto third, it was a hard fought third.
“I don’t what happened. I don’t know if he (Denny Hamlin) had to knock guys out of the way to do it or if it was just his four (fresh) tires," Gordon said after the race. "We had been out there and had pretty old tires. The double-file restarts, under the old rules, there was no way because you would be starting eighth, not fourth.
"Definitely the double-file restarts make a big difference. The gamble worked out but, had that last caution not come, then it wouldn’t have. That is the way these races are going. Just never know how cautions there are going to be. We absolutely made the right call because we weren’t going to win the race if we came down pit road.”
Ryan Newman brought home a fourth place finish for Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a finish that Newman badly needed, it moved him up to 22nd in the standings.
"It was just a great run for the (us). We needed a top five as a team and as an organization," said Newman. "The guys did a good job in the pits all day. We were just unlucky on the outside during that last restart. To get a top four out of that, on the old tires, I can't complain.
"Jeff (Gordon) couldn't hold his line on the bottom and then he opened the door for everybody. Denny drove me in the bumper going through (Turns) 1 and 2. I just am amazed we even got it back to the start/finish line."
Rounding out the top ten were Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle.
“I tell you what, it was kind of a spectacular day for us," said an extremely giddy Biffle. "We were up and
down, up and down. I don’t know how I got caught speeding in pit road. I didn’t think there was enough distance to get going that fast. That really hurt us because we spent the whole rest of the day getting our
track position back. I feel like we had a top-10 car probably at best today, but that is a great run for us here, unbelievable."
It was a tough day for former points leader Kevin Harvick, who dropped to fourth in the standings with a 35th place finish. He led twice for 57 laps before brake issues forced him to the garage twice during the race for repairs.
"We had a brake failure in the right-rear, and that basically ruined our day," Harvick explained. "The good news is that our Chevrolet had speed, but we can't afford to beat ourselves. We lost a ton of points today when we should have battled for the win. I am confident that our team will find the source for the failure and have it remedied before Phoenix."
Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, saw a possible win slip away when a right front flat tire forced him to pit road with less than 15 laps remaining while battling for the lead.
Including the overtime, the race ran a total of 508 laps.
There were 13 cautions for a total of 79 laps and there were 26 lead changes among eight different drivers.
The Sprint Cup Series is off again next weekend but will return at Phoenix International Raceway on April 10, 2010 -- for the Subway 600K. Phoenix will be the seventh race in the Chase for the Championship.
The race will also be broadcast live on MRN Radio and SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
Mark Martin was the winner at Phoenix in 2009.
For Full Final Race Results...
(Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Sprint Cup drivers points...
(Insider Racing News)
You can contact us at .. Insider Racing News
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
