Chase Race Six, the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway emerged the most close Chase for the Sprint Cup fight ever with 4 races to go as Denny Hamlin roared to victory and closed the gap on leader Jimmie Johnson although he had to wrestle with an ill-handling car in the early part of the race.With Johnson finished 5th and failed to lead a single lap, Hamlin gained 35 whole points on the four-time champion and trails him by only six entering next 6th Chase race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
It was a dominant weekend for Hamlin at his "home" Martinsville Speedway after taking the pole position for the race that ended by acquiring another .
“It was unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve ever closed that well. We kept working. We didn’t have a race-winning race car all day until the end.
Mike [Ford, crew chief] and those guys kept adjusting and adjusting. They got me from sixth to third on the last restart. That was the key. I was sitting there trying to be patient and saving it for the end.
I had already counted how many points I was going to be behind after this race."
Yet, in the first part of the race Hamlin experienced a lot of handling issues on his Toyota that kept competition with Harvick and Johnson hot but not for the lead as Burton dominated leading 134 of the first 250 laps, most by significant margins. When the race’s first caution fell on lap 49, he finally got a chance to drop into the pits and address the issue. Ford said the problem was caused by track buildup on the left rear tire and that most of the difficulties were solved with a four-tire change.
The second half of the race featured several ill meetings between key chase drivers.
RCR Teammates Harvick and Jeff Burton, who ran at or near the front virtually all day before finishing ninth, had a turf disagreement with 150 laps to go as they raced for second place behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. They bumped fenders several times, and Harvick bumped the rear of Burton’s car during a subsequent caution period, and the series of actions sparked some tough talk on their team radios.
Harvick declined to elaborate on the encounter after the race, saying, “We were just racing” but Burton was very critical of Harvick on the team radio.
Thirty laps later, two former champions – Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch – wound up in a nasty sequence of events. Gordon bumped Busch from the inside groove as they rolled through the third and fourth turns, and Busch retaliated almost immediately, slamming into the rear of Gordon’s car and pushing him into a spin and into the inside wall on the frontstretch, terminating his chances for a victory that could bring hims on title contention again.
Also late in the race, Johnson and Kyle Busch slammed fenders a few times. After the race, Johnson complained of Busch hitting him several times in the turns.
Earnhardt Jr. led 90 laps, sending a wave of enthusiasm through the grandstands, but the handling went away on his car late in the race, and he finished seventh.
Mark Martin made a spectacular rally from two laps down to finish second but without threating Hamlin's domination. He was followed by Chase contender Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Johnson.
During pre-race inspection, NASCAR required Johnson's crew to replace the drive shaft cover on the No. 48 Chevrolet, a minor issue in the sanctioning body's view, though the specific reason for the change wasn't stated. If there is a penalty forthcoming, it will be announced during the coming week although Johnson was unaware of the change.
"I have no idea what you're talking about -- no clue... Not my job, man."
The race for the championship is basically down to Johnson, Hamlin and Harvick with races remaining at Talladega, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, FL.
