Hamlin Hustles To Another Martinsville Victory

Denny Hamlin went into the stands after his win.

An extra day at Martinsville Speedway was well-worth the wait for Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin blasted from fourth to first on the final two laps Monday afternoon to capture the rain-delayed Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It was his second consecutive victory on the half-mile oval and helped ease the pain of pending knee surgery.

The Virginia native gave up the lead with less than 10 laps to go Monday when he pitted for tires. He blasted from ninth to the lead in just four laps. On the final green-white-checkered finish after a caution for Kyle Busch’s spin into the fourth-turn wall, he amazingly moved from fourth to the lead. He shoved Ryan Newman out of his way and dove inside Matt Kenseth and leader Jeff Gordon to take the win.

“With the (final) restart, I’m trying to play it back, and I don’t even remember what happened,” said Hamlin. “I remember going in the corner. I remember getting in the back of the 39 (Newman). I think the 17 (Kenseth) got in the back of the 24 (Gordon). I don’t know where the 39 went. I might have knocked him up high. I don’t even know to be honest with you.

“I felt like going down the backstretch, I knew it was my race to win at that point.”

Joey Logano, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate finished second, followed by Gordon, Newman and Martin Truex Jr.

Hamlin has been mired in a slow start this season, and on top of that, will undergo knee surgery in a couple of days, so the win was just what the doctor ordered.

“I think this is probably the most gratifying win I’ve had simply because we came through adversity so many times, whether it be because of pit road or that dash at the end,” said Hamlin, who picked up over $179,000 for the win. “We just flat-out drove through them at the end and got the win. I’m not sure we’ve got a win like this before.”

Rounding out the top 10 were Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action returns to Martinsville Speedway on October 24 with the running of TUMS Fast Relief 500. Tickets are on sale and may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com.