41 points separates Denny Hamlin from four time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Hamlin will be gunning for his third straight win at Martinsville today, when he starts on the pole for the Tums Fast Relief 500. Hamlin trails points leader Jimmie Johnson by 41 points in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. Johnson, who has won five of the past eight races at Martinsville, starts 19th.

Though Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew get credit for clever pit strategy, it would not have worked had Hamlin not gotten a break from teammate Joey Logano, who gave him room to make a daring pass during his late charge to the front.

"If that wasn't the No. 20 car that let Denny in, he probably gets wrecked by somebody else,” said Kevin Harvick, who is third in the Chase and starts 36th today. “If that was me, he would have been wrecked because he wouldn't have got in the hole and we probably both would have wrecked because he forced his way down on his teammate and that's really what allowed him to win the race.”

“That’s why we have those teammates and obviously he helped me,” Hamlin said. “There were a lot of factors that could have kept me from winning that race. Not being Joey there definitely would have kept me from winning the race. There was a lot of different things and a lot of reasons that we shouldn’t have won, but only a few reasons that we did. We ended up doing it.”

Hamlin is not sure what he would do in a similar situation, if four tires would be better than track position on another late restart at the narrow short track.

“Given that same situation, I still don’t know what we should have done,” Hamlin said. “We were probably a few hundred feet from losing it anyway because the 24 [Gordon] car was about to cross the line for the white [flag] before someone spun. We needed some help as far as that was concerned.

“We thought, for sure, tires were going to win the race because we were out there for, I think, 60 laps before that caution came out. With the cars being two-wide, it’s so hard to pass anyway. Even on new tires, I had to put myself in three-wide positions and things like that to win the race.

“Not sure that taking tires this time around is what we would do, but it just really depends on how many laps to go. I think last time there was only about five laps to go when we had to restart ninth. We definitely kind of overcame a lot there.”

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Hamlin has his sights set on winning again at Martinsville, not just to gain points on Johnson, but to possibly gain a psychological advantage as well.

“I plan on trying to go out there and lead the most laps and win the race – just like everyone else is,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s strategy is different; I think the 29 [Harvick] is probably on the same strategy – trying to go out there and make sure that us or the 48 don’t get out there and get to lead. I think everyone’s strategy is the same, it’s just how we all execute it.”

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