Denny Hamlin Wraps Up Long Weekend In Martinsville With Incredible Victory

A frustrated Jeff Gordon had some harsh words for NASCAR and driver Matt Kenseth following his third-place finish at Martinsville that was oh-so-close to being his first win in nearly a year.

Gordon had inherited the lead when the top two cars, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, elected to pit with less than 10 laps remaining.

On the restart with four laps to go, Gordon held the top spot and was coming to take the white flag when NASCAR officials threw a caution for Busch’s spin behind him, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

Had Gordon taken the white flag, he would have won the race (it would have finished under caution). But since he was juuuuust short, Hamlin got another two laps to pull off his incredible comeback and win the race.

Afterward, Gordon said NASCAR was looking to add some drama to the finish.

“It was pretty obvious to me NASCAR wanted to do a green-white-checkered finish,” Gordon said. "There were cars blowing tires, hitting the wall [and] they weren’t throwing the caution.

“One spins out, and they threw the caution in the blink of an eye. I think it was pretty obvious what they wanted.”

Gordon said the ending was something he would “laugh about tomorrow,” but he didn’t seem to be enjoying it after the race.

“Caution comes out, and we’re sitting here third, mad because we got knocked around,” he said. “Had the caution not come out, we would be over in Victory Lane.”

Gordon got “knocked around” by what he called a “cheap shot” by Matt Kenseth and said he retaliated to make sure Kenseth wouldn’t win the race.

On the final restart, Gordon said he spun the tires but got going, and then “the next thing I know, I got nailed.”

“If it wasn’t, I apologize to him,” Gordon said, adding he hadn’t seen a replay. “I made sure he didn’t win the race down the straightaway.”

Gordon drove Kenseth into the tire marbles on the backstretch, which got on Kenseth’s tires and made him slide up the track in the next turn.

Kenseth later admitted to contact with Gordon but said it wasn’t major. Clearly, Gordon thought it was.

“If somebody hits me, I’m going to hit them,” he said. “If he hit me, I’m glad I did what I did on the back straightaway. If a guy gives you a cheap shot like that, he doesn’t deserve to win the race, in my opinion.”

And what, Gordon was asked, defines a “cheap shot?”

“A cheap shot to me is when you don’t really have a shot at it, you just go and rub into the back of a guy,” he said.

Denny Hamlin had the race in the bag. Then he gave it away.

And then, in one of the more remarkable comebacks in recent memory, Hamlin rallied for an incredible win.

Hamlin went from fourth to first on a green-white-checkered restart, bulling his way up through the field in a finish worth the wait after the race was postponed for a day.

"This is probably the most gratifying win that I've had," he said afterward. "I'm not sure we've gotten a win like this."

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, facing major knee surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, had pitted with less than 10 laps remaining and surrendered the lead.

It seemed like a terrible call by crew chief Mike Ford, as most of the cars behind him stayed out to gain track position with so few laps remaining. Hamlin restarted ninth with only four laps to go, and the pit call appeared to be the bonehead move of the year.

JGR president J.D. Gibbs said of Ford's pit call: "I told Mike I never doubted him, but in reality, I was cussing him."

But just as leader Jeff Gordon was about to win the race (Hamlin had only gotten up to fourth), NASCAR called a caution for Kyle Busch’s spin – setting up an overtime green-white-checkered flag finish.

That allowed Hamlin to get another shot, and he took advantage.

Driving like a man possessed, Hamlin began by bumping second-place driver Ryan Newman out of the way. Then Matt Kenseth (who had restarted third) nailed Gordon, and Gordon responded by taking out Kenseth for what he perceived as a cheap shot.

Meanwhile, Hamlin drove through the mess and ended up in victory lane.

Hamlin said he was frustrated at having his knee surgery postponed from Monday to Wednesday – he has less than two weeks to recover before Phoenix, but was still happy.

"To me, I need every hour in my mind to recuperate in time for Phoenix," he said. "It was frustrating that we couldn't get it done, but this is definitely a good alternative."

Ford explained his decision by saying the new multiple green-white-checkered rule (there are up to three chances at a two-lap overtime finish) played into the strategy. He figured there could be multiple cautions and pick up a few spots per time.

He didn't think his driver could do it on one try, but there was no choice: Ford felt it was a move that had to be made.

"Your cards are shown when you commit either way," he said. "They're waiting on you to see what you're going to do, and the only opportunity to win is to do the opposite.

"Some guys are going to get the short end of the stick on this – and it's going to be the guys who stayed out."

After the race, Gordon said he spun his tires on the final restart but got going again, then was hit from behind by someone – who he assumed was Kenseth.

Gordon admitted he retaliated on the backstretch, because in his mind, "If a guy gives you a cheap shot like that, he doesn't deserve to win."

An upset Gordon also said NASCAR "wanted a green-white-checkered finish," because officials could have thrown a caution flag for any number of blown tires but waited until Busch's spin to do so.

Kenseth said afterward that he got into Gordon "a little bit, not really that hard."

"And he just took a left as hard as he could take one and ran me all the way down into the marbles," Kenseth said.

The marbles on Kenseth's tires caused him to wheel-hop, and he couldn't hang onto the car when he went into Turn 3, causing him to slip up the track. 

"It was a dumb move on my part," Kenseth said. "I should have just finished third and collected some points and got one of our best finishes at Martinsville, but I figured I'd go for the win, which, I guess in hindsight, was probably a mistake."

Kenseth finished 18th, costing him what would have been the points lead.

Instead, Jimmie Johnson has the points lead, by 14 over Greg Biffle and 16 over Kenseth.

Kevin Harvick fell from first to fourth and is followed by Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch and Gordon.

Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Paul Menard and Brian Vickers round out the top 12.

Hamlin is 15th in points, only 24 out of the Chase. Ahead of him are Logano (13th place, six points out) and Carl Edwards (14th, seven points out).

More on this developing story coming soon (keep clicking refresh for updates).

We’re going to do things a little differently today, since most of you are stuck at work and can’t see the race.

This blog will be continuously refreshed and updated with live in-race action. At the same time, feel free to chat below about the race and ask any questions about how your driver is doing.

I’ll try to respond and give you the most information possible.

Can anyone aside from Jimmie Johnson or Denny Hamlin win today?

TIP: PC users hit F5 to refresh; also, you can click the "auto-refresh" box to keep seeing the latest comments.

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Prerace (11:49 a.m.): Drivers are slowly starting to show up at their cars and people are getting ready for the start. It's half-sunny right now, but clouds are looming off in the distance and showers are expected before the race is over.

As for the stands? Right now, it's a pretty sparse crowd. If there were more than 5,000 people here as of right now (and remember, there's still about 20 minutes till the race starts), I'd be surprised.

Engines fired (12:07 p.m.): Prerace ceremonies are concluded, drivers are strapped in their cars and we're ready to go here at Martinsville! the stands have filled in a little bit more than they were, but there aren't more than 10,000 people here.

: 0px;">Robby Gordon is dropping to the rear due to an engine change. There will be a competition caution at lap 50.

Getting ready to go green (12:15): Hearing Sam Hornish Jr. is sick today and has a relief driver on standby. We'll keep an eye on that.

480 laps to go: Tony Stewart has moved through the field quickly and reached second place. He's chewing into leader Kevin Harvick's advantage now. Harvick leads Stewart, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton.

460 laps to go: Kevin Harvick still leads by two seconds, but Kurt Busch is now in second (he passed Tony Stewart). Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon round out the top five. Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray are the rest of the top 10.

There haven't been any cautions yet, but a competition caution is looming.

First caution: Joe Nemechek blew a tire, bringing out a caution. NASCAR decided it was close enough to lap 50 for the competition caution. After pit stops, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch come out first, followed by Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.

There will be 451 laps to go on the restart.

440 laps to go: On the restart, Scott Speed had hard contact with someone and damaged his car, forcing him to pit under green. He's now off the track. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick was just passed for the lead by Jeff Gordon. Kurt Busch then passed Harvick for third. Jamie McMurray and Jimmie Johnson are next in line.

Caution No. 2: David Stremme spun out trying to pass Mike Bliss, bringing out a caution. Tony Stewart was the only one of the lead pack to pit, perhaps because he wants to get off-sequence with the leaders. A bunch of other cars in the middle of the pack also pitted.

Jeff Gordon leads Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray. Jimmie Johnson has moved up to fifth, followed by Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer.

Caution No. 3: David Reutimann spun out into the small patch of grass in Turn 2, bringing out a caution. The sequence started when Clint Bowyer (ninth) stacked up the field, and it started a chain reaction all the way back to Reutimann, who eventually got spun.

On the radio, Carl Edwards noted that Jeff Burton is being very aggressive with Jimmie Johnson in a battle for fifth.

"He's being ultra aggressive with the 48," Edwards said. "They're touching, the writing is off his tire."

Restart was with 419 laps to go.

400 to go: Jeff Gordon has pulled away to a 1.9-second lead over Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. Jimmie Johnson lurks in fourth, followed by Jeff Burton (who has been aggressive today) and Carl Edwards.

Earlier, there was contact between teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin when Earnhardt Jr. tried to get in line. But Martin bumped him a bit and wouldn't let him – Martin is now seventh and Earnhardt Jr. fell back to 10th.

Points leader Harvick goes out: Kevin Harvick, who led most of the early portion of the race, had some sort of brake issue and had to go to the garage. He suddenly slowed on the backstretch while still running in the top five and went straight to the garage. Obviously, his points lead is gone.

For now (380 laps to go), Jeff Gordon leads Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray round out the top 10.

Caution No. 4: Just after something broke on Juan Pablo Montoya's car, causing him to slam the wall out of Turn 4, Robby Gordon nailed the wall in Turn 4 and brought out the fourth caution.

It seems like what's ailing these cars are possibly melted beads leading to blown right-front tires.

With 365 laps to go, Jeff Gordon leads Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Carl Edwards. Jimmie Johnson is now sixth, with Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch (moving up quickly) behind him.

Kurt Busch, then Jeff Burton, to the lead: Shortly after the restart, Kurt Busch snuck underneath Jeff Gordon for the lead and Jeff Burton followed him through for second.

But about 15 laps later, Burton got past Busch and has taken the lead.

Meanwhile, Gordon got back by Kurt Busch for second. Behind Burton, Gordon and Busch are Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer, who has moved to fifth.

There are 346 laps left.

Caution No. 5: Marcos Ambrose tapped the left-rear of Greg Biffle's car, sending the No. 16 spinning in Turn 4.

Of note was that Kurt Busch, who was running third, did not pit – but it was a mistake. (Mark Martin also did not pit for some reason).

Steve Addington apologized for the mistake: "Sorry about that dude, I was trying to get the air pressures back up. I just thought you were coming with those guys. My bad."

Kurt Busch: "Well fuck, that bit us last week! It seems like every time a yellow comes out, I'm scared..." (because he doesn't know whether he should pit or not."

Martin leads Busch and Brad Keselowski (pit strategy). Of those who pitted, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton are up front.

Caution No. 6: Elliott Sadler spun out and was a sitting duck in Turn 4, but NASCAR delayed in calling the caution.

Finally, they called for a yellow flag just as the leaders were about to reach Sadler, who spun his car around just in front of them and nearly made contact.

Kurt Busch seemed upset with the delayed call.

300 laps to go: The clouds are building quickly and it appears the wind is picking up, based on the flags outside.

Busch has fallen back on the latest restart, and Jeff Burton passed Mark Martin at lap 197 for the lead.

Burton now leads Martin, the charging Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Kyle Busch has come up to sixth, while Kurt Busch has slipped all the way to ninth (and dropping).

Hamlin chasing Burton for lead, passes with 271 laps to go, approaching halfway: It's looking like NASCAR could get to halfway before the scattered showers arrive in the area.

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin caught leader Jeff Burton and made the pass for the lead.

Mark Martin is third (still on those old tires), followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Caution No. 7: Regan Smith and Robby Gordon both had blown tires at about the same time, and they were both slowing on the track as NASCAR displayed the caution.

Denny Hamlin won the race out of the pits, ahead of Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

Mark Martin, whose pit strategy paid off, came out fifth. Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer round out the top 10.

There are 258 laps to go on the restart.

Burton to the lead: Jeff Burton has retaken the lead at Martinsville, and the race has past its halfway point (making it official regardless of whether it rains).

Burton leads Denny Hamlin with 235 laps to go, with the ever-present Jimmie Johnson sitting in third. Mark Martin did a bump-and-run on Kyle Busch for fourth, and Jeff Gordon is fifth (Busch fell back to sixth).

Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth are the rest of the top 10.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted too close to the wall and lost positions on his pit stop. He is currently 13th.

207 to go: Denny Hamlin snatched the lead away from Jeff Burton with about 220 laps to go – another exchange in the battle of Virginia drivers.

Hamlin still leads Burton by a couple car lengths, and Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch are further back.

Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth round out the top 10.

Jamie McMurray just had a tire go down and pitted with 208 laps to go.

Caution No. 8: Elliott Sadler spun out in Turn 2 as a result of contact with Mark Martin.

There are now less than 200 laps remaining in the race, and most of the leaders just came in to take four tires.

After pit stops, Jeff Burton has taken the lead from Denny Hamlin. Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson are third and fourth, followed by Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell from 13th to 18th because his team took a sprint rubber out of the left rear.

Caution No. 9: Marcos Ambrose spun – then spun again – with a tire problem, bringing out a caution.

Ambrose, who has ruffled some feathers by being aggressive today, spun out in Turn 4, but NASCAR didn't call a caution and he got going again before the leaders got back around.

But when Ambrose was got to Turn 4 again, he had another spin – this one bringing out the yellow.

There are 181 laps left in the race, and Jeff Burton still leads Denny Hamlin. Mark Martin, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon round out the top five.

150 laps to go: Jeff Burton leads Denny Hamlin by about a half-second with 150 laps remaining in the race, which has amazingly made it without a single drop of rain.

Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch are the rest of the top five, followed by Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch (who rebounded from a bad pit decision/mistake earlier), Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 13th, around where he has been for much of the day. Tony Stewart is frustrated running in 23rd after challenging for the lead early but deciding to pit out of sequence.

Caution No. 10: David Stremme, who had the most wrecks in the Sprint Cup Series last year according to USA Today, is really making up for lost time after missing the first few races of the season.

Stremme caused another caution at lap 135 (his second of the day), giving him another opportunity to be blamed on Twitter (he's the subject of a well-known hashtag #BlameStremme).

During the caution, Mark Martin was penalized for an equipment violation, which sent him to the tail end of the lead lap. That means he'll restart 24th after the penalty (he was third).

There were 128 laps to go on the restart.

Back and forth they go, laps winding down: Denny Hamlin has the lead with 90 laps remaining after making another pass on Jeff Burton. The two Virginia drivers have been battling back and forth for the lead all day, each holding it several times (and passing one another to get it).

As for the rest? Clint Bowyer is up to third, followed by Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

Jimmie Johnson, the heavy favorite for this race, is a surprising 10th, followed by Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin (who had an earlier penalty).

Caution No. 11: The uber-aggressive Marcos Ambrose has had another incident, spinning rookie Kevin Conway in Turn 4.

After the pit stops, the running order is Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.

There will be 74 laps to go on the restart.

50 laps to go: Denny Hamlin leads Jeff Burton by 0.6 second, as the two best cars today continue to go at it.

Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch is third, followed by Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.

Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano round out the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson still hasn't been his usual self and is in 11th place as the laps wind down.

22 laps to go: Denny Hamlin is clinging to a small lead over Jeff Burton after Burton gave him a bump with about 30 laps remaining.

Now with 20 to go, Hamlin leads by a couple tenths of a second.

Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton are the rest of the top five.

Caution No. 12 and stunning pit call: A major disappointment for Jeff Burton. The Richard Childress Racing driver who had a shot at catching Denny Hamlin had a tire go down and hit the wall, bringing out a caution.

But then, the drama began: Hamlin and Kyle Busch (who were 1-2) pitted for fresh tires, putting them eighth and ninth on the restart.

A late caution just as leader Jeff Gordon took the white flag set up a green-white-checkered finish, which is about to take place.

Gordon leads Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Hamlin (who is up to fourth), followed by Joey Logano.

If NASCAR is able to get the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 in the books today at Martinsville, it will be in spite of a bad weather forecast.

Forecasters are calling for rain for most of the day today – and Monday isn’t looking much better.

Will the rain make an impact on the race? Unless the predictions are more incorrect than most people’s NCAA Tournament brackets, it’s looking that way.

UPDATE: The Martinsville race has been postponed until noon on Monday – but the forecast at the time is still calling for scattered showers. If the race gets started, it will most likely be a stop-and-go affair. Will the weather win again tomorrow?

When Jimmie Johnson sat in victory lane last week on the rooftop of a building in the Bristol infield, he heard Kurt Busch’s postrace interview boom over the track’s public address system.

Busch was upset that he – and everyone else – had just lost to Johnson. Again. Anybody but the 48, Busch said.

In victory lane, Johnson smiled.

“I’ve always wanted to be that guy that frustrated the field, frustrated the garage area,” Johnson said. “I was fortunate enough to watch [Dale] Earnhardt do that during his run and [Jeff] Gordon during his. And you ask any driver in the garage area: They want to be in my shoes.”

Almost every driver that came into the media center at Martinsville on Friday was asked about Johnson being in their heads.

Most brushed off the suggestion. As for Johnson?

“Just in [Kurt’s] comment alone? Absolutely, we’re in his head,” Johnson said. "Maybe not everyone’s – everybody deals with things differently.

“But if you go through and read any press remarks or interviews, if someone talks that they’re not worried about us, it’s already in there, which is great.”

Tony Stewart slammed into the back of Travis Kvapil as the first Sprint Cup practice came to a close on Friday morning, damaging the left rear of Kvapil’s No. 34 car.

Stewart said "I wish I knew the answer" to why the incident occurred and said all he saw was when Kvapil "checked up in front of us."

"I’m not sure why that happened," Stewart said.

Kvapil’s explanation? He had just come out on the track with four fresh, cold tires, which made him much slower than Stewart.

"More than anything, I was in his way," Kvapil said. "I feel bad, tore both our race cars up and messed up his mock [qualifying] lap.

"I’m sure he’s not real happy, but it’s my fault, I guess. I was in the way, but it’s part of it."

Kvapil said his plan was to pull over on the backstretch and let Stewart go by, but "[Stewart] was on his last lap and I was on my first lap, and it was just a difference where my tires didn’t hook up and get going, and he was at full speed."

The No. 34’s damage was just sheet metal, he said, and should be able to be repaired.

Ryan Newman was fastest in the practice session, ahead of Mark Martin. Denny Hamlin was fifth and Jimmie Johnson was seventh.

Kyle Busch hasn’t had the finishes he hoped for so far this year. His ninth-place run at Bristol last week was just his first top 10 of the entire season, and he’s averaging a 15th-place finish.

That’s not the Busch people expected to see after previous crew chief Steve Addington was dumped in favor of former Nationwide crew chief Dave Rogers.

So even though he’s 10th in points, it makes people wonder: What gives?

“I’m only as good as my equipment will let me go,” Busch said Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway. “Everyone’s been asking me why I haven’t been running good: Is it my head? Is it because I’m running a truck team? Is it this, is it that? I’m driving my butt off every single week – I can only go as fast as my car will let me go.”

But if the cars aren’t fast enough, that begs another question: Is it Addington? There’s already some who believe Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing may have made a mistake by letting Addington go – particularly in light of the crew chief’s fast start with Busch’s older brother, Kurt (one win, three top-10s, seventh in points).

Busch was asked if it was tough to see Addington succeed – and win – while the No. 18 team’s performance was lackluster by its own standards.

“It’s not tough at all – I’m happy for him,” Busch said. “I knew he was a good crew chief, I just didn’t feel like we had enough leadership skills around the team that would keep us championship-caliber year after year.

“Dave’s done a real good job pushing everybody harder and keeping everybody on the same page and making sure we try to elevate to the next level. Our on-track performance maybe hasn’t been as good as we would have liked, but I feel like the team’s a lot closer together and gelling a lot better.”

Busch said he looks at the learning curve for Juan Pablo Montoya’s crew chief Brian Pattie. In that instance, the crew chief was excellent in the Nationwide Series (as Rogers was) and was brought up to Sprint Cup.

“[Pattie] was decent out of the box [in Cup], but it really took him about a year to learn this car,” Busch said. “And once he learned this car, you look at Juan and he’s top of the [speed] sheets every week.

“I hope it doesn’t take that long with Dave – I don’t feel like we have that time. I feel like Dave’s a smart enough crew chief where we’ll get going pretty good.”

As for where the No. 18 team goes from here? Busch said he looks at being in the top 12 at this point as a bonus.

“I’m actually surprised we’re as high in points as we are with the finishes that we’ve had,” he said, “but that’s a good surprise because all you do is build consistency. You run well and you run top-14, top-15 every week and you’ll be there.”