Qualifying
Denny Hamlin comes into the race second in points and the winner of the last two Martinsville races. He staked his claim on Martinsville with a pole-winning qualifying lap. Marcos Ambrose made it an all-Toyota front row.
Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman started in the second row while Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top five starters.
Point leader Jimmie Johnson qualified deep in the field. Johnson rolled off ninteenth.
Drop Of The Green
Hamlin got the jump on the start and lead lap one over Ambrose and Biffle. The leaders got into single-file order very quickly and settled in for a long day of racing in traffic.
This race stayed clean and green through the early going and the Chase point leaders dominated the early headlines.
Ambrose got past Hamlin on lap 11. Hamlin's handling was going away and he fell back through the field. Chase leader Jimmie Johnson passed him for 12th on lap 34.
Storylines
Martinsville is famous for revving up the drivers' tempers and today was no different. Even some of the Chase drivers gave into Martinville's fury.
Teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton mixed it up on the track while battling for second place. Both drivers were able to continue on unscathed but it was clear that these two drivers are getting sick of each other's driving styles.
Chasers Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch tangled on the track with Gordon getting the worst of Kurt's temper. Gordon moved Kurt Busch over and passed him. Then Kurt took Gordon out on the following straight. Gordon ended up 20th on the day.
Chasing The Checkers
With 33 laps to go Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were side-by-side for the lead. Harvick had been leading for a while with three-time Martinsville winner Hamlin closing the gap.
Hamlin was on the bottom and Harvick up top for four laps before Hamlin made it stick while Harvick slipped slightly. Hamlin got the top spot and drove away to claim his third Martinsville win in a row and his fourth career win on the Virginia short track.
Top Ten
- Denny Hamlin
- Mark Martin
- Kevin Harvick
- Kyle Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
- Joey Logano
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Jeff Burton
- Brad Keselowski
The Points
Denny Hamlin picked up the win today and sliced the point lead to just six behind Jimmie Johnson. We have a real battle at the top of the points with four races remaining.
The top twelve are:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin -6
- Kevin Harvick -62
- Kyle Busch -172
- Jeff Gordon -203
- Carl Edwards -217
- Tony Stewart -236
- Jeff Burton -242
- Kurt Busch -277
- Matt Kenseth -293
- Greg Biffle -316
- Clint Bowyer -406
