Jimmie Johnson Takes Aggressive Martinsville Win
Sunday March 29, 2009
The 2009 Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway provided a thrilling finish today. Denny Hamlin laid down an aggressive pass on Jimmie Johnson during a late race restart and looked to be the car to beat as the laps ticked away.
Jimmie Johnson wasn't done yet as he dove hard into turn three to take the lead back from Hamlin and nearly wrecked them both. Johnson got it back under control first and pulled away to a large lead while Denny Hamlin was still recovering. Hamlin tried but couldn't get back to Johnson's back bumper to show how he felt about the aggressive pass before the checkered flag fell.
It was a classic Martinsville short track finish and a lot of fun to watch.
Comments
While Jimmie is not among my favorite drivers he made a good pass with just a little bump like they used to do in the good old days when it was fun to watch. Both drivers had full control and they only wiggled a little bit. Steve, maybe you were watching a different race but I didn’t see where they almost wrecked.
I was there for the whole race and really enjoyed the bumping and passing. Especailly at the end when they “bumped” as if a young whipper-snapper can out race “The Champion”. Mr. Johnson is not the driver I would cheer on, but, still I’m glad he won and not the youngster.
This race is a bitter pill to lose for Denny as this is his home state, but, he did give it a really good try. I do admire him as a driver and I hope he wouldn’t take his driving out on another because of the out-come in future races.
The first race of the year in my mind. Nascar will mess it up the only track they havnt put a high banking on but dont worry that was to much excitement they will find a way to screw martinsville up to!!
Mustang65 I agree there was a slight wiggle, but Jimmie wouldn’t have taken Denny, or himself out of the race by his actions. Sam I hate to say it, but after Sunday’s race NASCAR will find a way to screw up Martinsville. It’s their goal to IMPROVE THE SPORT by IMPROVING (?) all the old tracks, but not to worry. Martinsville can go on QVC and sell Hot Dogs to the country.
If a member of another team other than Hendrick would have made such an agressive move at the end of the race, they would have been sent to end of the line.
I agree David. The Hendrick team gets all the breaks. Maybe that is the reason why the popularity of Nascar has declined. Many, many people really believe the whole thing is rigged to accomodate one team. (Hendrick)
Yeah, I agree with the 2 guys about Hendrick. Especially when that rich PHONEY should be in jail, GO RCR !!
Interesting reading about the Hendrick Team and it truely explains why Junior is doing so great since joining. I used to be a Jeff fan, but never a Jimmie. Denny lost it though by not staying agressive at Martinsville. Plain and simple. Personally, I believe the one to beat is Kyle and the Gibbs Team this season. Long shot might still be Tony, if he make the 12. All of this is pure speculation, because comes next season with GM and Chrysler in BK. NASCAR will be running midgets.
I thought the bump was a little sneaky but then again that is how they used to do it in the old days. I’m at least happy he didn’t crash him out of his way. But I would have preferred to see Denny win. Let somebody different get a win! Jimmie has won 5 of the last 6 races there. The race winner should not be THAT predictable.
b-o-r-i-n-g *snore*
I dont get it. This is a flat track with no banking. Drivers have to get aggressive to win they have to do a little bump and run. I dont think i saw a demolition derby on sunday ive seen worse bumping than that. People dont want to see a boring race but they want to complain when the drivers actually start racing and stop playing follow the leader like the last few races.
i agree sam, and noone seems to care about how denny and kyle(i’m a kyle busch fan as well) set jimmie up for that one aggresive pass… all that matters is fans hate who wins unless it’s kasey or dale jr. if you win a lot they automatically complain..
I like anything chevy driven! go Chevy’s! weather its Hendrick or Childress its a chevy its all good