Hamlin holds off Johnson to win at Martinsville

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 consecutive Cup Series championship with a runner-up finish at the .526-mile short track.

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.

Tums Fast Relief 500

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
2.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
3.	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet
4.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
5.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
6.	Jamie McMurray	Ford
7.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
8.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
9.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
10.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet

• Results | Lap-by-Lap | Photos

Race Video

• Final Laps: Martinsville
• Victory Lane: Hamlin
• Post-Race Reactions
• Battle for the lead
• Penske cars spin out
• Junior slams into wall

Race Rewind

• Watch condensed version

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.

Helped by a long green-flag run that established him as the dominant car, Hamlin pulled away after a restart with 52 laps to go, and later on a series of late restarts. 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.

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

Hamlin collected his second victory at the narrow, paperclip-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 race tracks in his home state, having scored an emotional triumph at Richmond in September.

"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 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."

Press Pass
• Denny Hamlin | Jimmie Johnson | Juan Montoya

Related
• Hamlin maturing into title contender ... for next year
• Even when he doesn't win, Johnson gains on the rest
• Gordon comes up short at M'ville but is still smiling
• JGR pleased with Busch's showing at Martinsville

The Associated Press contributed to this report.