MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Denny Hamlin turned a dominant car into a winner at Martinsville Speedway, passing Jimmie Johnson with 138 laps to go Sunday and holding off the Chase leader on a series of late restarts.
Helped by a long green-flag run, Hamlin pulled away after a restart with 52 laps to go, ending Johnson's remarkable run of five trips to Victory Lane in the last six races at the shortest circuit in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.
Hamlin easily pulled away again on another restart with 12 laps to go, and again when a late crash by Scott Speed forced a two-lap sprint to the finish of the 501-lap event.
Hamlin's second career victory on the 0.526-mile oval kept the Virginia racer as the only driver besides Johnson to win on the paper clip-shaped track in the last seven races. Johnson held on for second and padded his lead in the series standings.
