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Sprint Cup
CUP: A Long, Tough Day At Martinsville
Denny Hamlin has a lot of advantages going into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway...
Denny Hamlin (Right), driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, stands in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
The bottom line on today’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, in the words of driver Clint Bowyer, is that the winner probably will be forced to “root and gouge” to get to victory lane.
That’s exactly the tactical plan that Denny Hamlin, winner of the spring race at Martinsville, employed. He pitted for fresh tires late in the race and generally was counted out of the running as he took the green flag in ninth place. But Hamlin maneuvered in and out of traffic, going three-wide on the narrow track a couple of times, took advantage of a bumping incident between contenders Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon and emerged in front at the checkered flag.
That worked for Hamlin. A different scenario might work today.
“You have to put yourself in position for the win,” Bowyer said. “There is no exact theory or recipe for that. It takes something different almost every race. Denny Hamlin put four tires on and was able to root and gouge and get back up there, but the things that happened at the front—with Kenseth and Gordon getting into each other and creating a lot of havoc in front of him – he was able to get up in there and use his tires to win the race.”
Havoc. Chances are there’ll be some of that this afternoon. Five hundred laps makes for a long day, and the passing lanes are very tight on NASCAR’s shortest track. For examples, one needs only to call up videotape from Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race, which featured a lot of side-by-side wrestling for position and some frantic late-race competition.
Today’s marathon and next Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway could go a long way toward determining the Sprint Cup champion, and the top three contenders – leader Jimmie Johnson, second-place Hamlin and third-place Kevin Harvick – are all expected to be in great shape today. Next week at Talladega? All bets are off at one of the season’s most unpredictable tracks, so a productive run at Martinsville today is considered very important.
Hamlin will be the favorite. He won here in the spring – his first of six wins this year – and won the pole Friday. He’ll operate from the first pit stall on Martinsville’s very tight and unforgiving pit road, and that is a very significant advantage.
Johnson, also a six-time winner this year, will start from the 19th position, and Harvick, who has been the near-perfect points racer virtually all season, will start 36th.
The race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (ET).
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
That’s exactly the tactical plan that Denny Hamlin, winner of the spring race at Martinsville, employed. He pitted for fresh tires late in the race and generally was counted out of the running as he took the green flag in ninth place. But Hamlin maneuvered in and out of traffic, going three-wide on the narrow track a couple of times, took advantage of a bumping incident between contenders Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon and emerged in front at the checkered flag.
That worked for Hamlin. A different scenario might work today.
“You have to put yourself in position for the win,” Bowyer said. “There is no exact theory or recipe for that. It takes something different almost every race. Denny Hamlin put four tires on and was able to root and gouge and get back up there, but the things that happened at the front—with Kenseth and Gordon getting into each other and creating a lot of havoc in front of him – he was able to get up in there and use his tires to win the race.”
Havoc. Chances are there’ll be some of that this afternoon. Five hundred laps makes for a long day, and the passing lanes are very tight on NASCAR’s shortest track. For examples, one needs only to call up videotape from Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race, which featured a lot of side-by-side wrestling for position and some frantic late-race competition.
Today’s marathon and next Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway could go a long way toward determining the Sprint Cup champion, and the top three contenders – leader Jimmie Johnson, second-place Hamlin and third-place Kevin Harvick – are all expected to be in great shape today. Next week at Talladega? All bets are off at one of the season’s most unpredictable tracks, so a productive run at Martinsville today is considered very important.
Hamlin will be the favorite. He won here in the spring – his first of six wins this year – and won the pole Friday. He’ll operate from the first pit stall on Martinsville’s very tight and unforgiving pit road, and that is a very significant advantage.
Johnson, also a six-time winner this year, will start from the 19th position, and Harvick, who has been the near-perfect points racer virtually all season, will start 36th.
The race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (ET).
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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