CUP: Showdown At The Martinsville Corral

Sprint Cup

CUP: Showdown At The Martinsville Corral

41 points separate Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings...

Mike Hembree | Posted October 22, 2010 Martinsville, VA

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 29, 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

It’s a potentially dramatic, almost-made-for-television moment.

Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, the two drivers sitting in the first two positions in the Sprint Cup point standings, will meet in a battle for the high ground on NASCAR’s flattest track – Martinsville Speedway. In the past eight visits to the half-mile track by the Sprint Cup traveling circus, the only winners have been Johnson and Hamlin, a strong indication that they’re likely to be around the front near the end of Sunday’s activities.

In boxing, it’s a battle that would be at the top of the card.

The principals, however, aren’t buying into the giant-versus-giant scenario.

“I know there is a lot of hype coming into this race, but at the end of the day there are four more races left and there are so many points to be won and lost in those four races,” Johnson said. “I still can’t stress enough that Talladega [next week] can equal this whole thing up, and it’s an eight- car race or a 10-car race for the championship, so at this point it’s really about doing the best job I can do here, and if that’s eighth, then so be it.

“We have to go to Talladega and do our best there, but I am not going to get caught up in just worrying about one guy. It’s just not worth it at this point.

"After we get out of Talladega there will be more of a clear strategy unfold, and we know who we really need to race and what to do from there. Hopefully, we are in a position to protect. That’s the position I want to be in.

“I want to leave here with a win, there is no doubt about that. But I want to go to Talladega and win that race, but you just don’t know. I just want to keep a realistic approach to all this and score every point I can, and then after Talladega, I know what I need to do then.”

Hamlin said third-place Kevin Harvick poses a strong threat.

“This is by no means just between me and Jimmie,” Hamlin said. “I feel like the 29 [Harvick] showed enough consistency through the whole year that I considered him the favorite this whole Chase, and we’re only five races in and he’s still right there. It’s not me versus Jimmie, but like that commercial says, it’s me versus myself.”

Jeff Burton, one of the Chasers who has fallen into the back of the pack, called the Hamlin vs. Johnson battle “a shootout. I will say that it is motivation for everyone to go be one of the guys that knocks the two of them off, especially at this race. Numbers don’t lie, and those are the two that have been doing it the best most recently.”

Hamlin, however, did say he is targeting the 48 team. Johnson leads Hamlin by 41 points entering Sunday’s race, with only five events left on the schedule.

Prior to Friday’s qualifying session, Hamlin said he was shooting for the pole position, in part to give his team the first pit-stall selection and in part to give him the opportunity to prevent Johnson from leading a lap early in the race.

Hamlin scored in that quest, winning the pole with a speed of 97.018 mph. Johnson qualified 19th.

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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Mike Hembree

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