Denny Hamlin clocks fifth Martinsville win

Denny Hamlin continues to be the only Toyota driver to have won at Martinsville after taking victory in today’s hard fought STP 500.

In the end it was a two man chase between Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, the Penske driver pushing the FedEx/Joe Gibbs Racing machine all the way to the flag.

Hamlin paid tribute to Keselowski after the race on his home track.

“He had two options and thankfully he took the second option, which we’re really pleased about,” said Hamlin. “It is great that we could race like that and come away with this for the FedEx team.”

Polesitter Joey Logano came home third with the top five being complete by Matt Kenseth and David Ragan.

Danica Patrick scored a hard fought seventh place.

Kevin Harvick’s streak of finishing in the top two came to an end, with him finshishg eighth.

One driver that wasn’t happy was Jeff Gordon.

Leading late in the race, he was penalised for speeding in pitlane during his final stop. He was able to charge back to ninth and remain well in the Chase picture. He blamed himself for the incident.

Controversy reigned among many drivers on pitlane exit during cautions. Spotters were having drivers come to a full standstill in an effort to lose positions so they could secure an inside row for the restarts.

NASCAR chose not to penalise anyone for the strategy.

Crowd favourite, Dale Earnhardt Jr was eliminated mid-race after a heavy clash with Paul Menard. Prior to this, he was suffering with a gearshift issue.

Kyle Larson was a non-starter after collapsing at a Saturday fan autograph session, Regan Smith took his place and finished 16th. Larson has been released from hospital with all tests showing negative.

The race delivered the most lead changes and the most cautions so far in season 2015, whilst Hamlin’s win ended a 31 race winless streak for Toyota.

It could not have come at a better time for Hamlin or Joe Gibbs Racing, with the team announcing during the week that President, JD Gibbs is being treated for an issue that affects his brain function.

Kevin Harvick leads the points by 24 from Logano with Martin Truex Jr in third. The win sees Hamlin jump six spots to eighth on the ladder.

The next race on the schedule will be the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 11, the Championship taking a hiatus for Easter next weekend.

 Result: Martinsville STP 500

1	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	500	3:49:13
2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	500	0.186
3	Joey Logano	Ford	500	1.610
4	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	500	4.627
5	David Ragan	Toyota	500	4.810
6	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	500	5.682
7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	500	6.925
8	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	500	7.205
9	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	500	7.610
10	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	500	8.955
11	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	500	9.260
12	Aric Almirola	Ford	500	9.389
13	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	500	10.404
14	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	500	11.651
15	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	500	12.465
16	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	500	12.654
17	Carl Edwards	Toyota	500	13.490
18	Trevor Bayne	Ford	500	13.840
19	Greg Biffle	Ford	500	15.254
20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	500	16.158
21	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	500	20.853
22	Cole Whitt	Ford	499	1 Lap
23	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	499	1 Lap
24	Chris Buescher	Ford	499	1 Lap
25	David Gilliland	Ford	499	1 Lap
26	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	497	3 Laps
27	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	496	4 Laps
28	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	496	4 Laps
29	Jeb Burton	Toyota	495	5 Laps
30	Josh Wise	Ford	495	5 Laps
31	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	494	6 Laps
32	Sam Hornish Jr.	Ford	493	7 Laps
33	Alex Kennedy	Chevrolet	492	8 Laps
34	Mike Bliss	Ford	491	9 Laps
35	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	468	32 Laps
36	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	453	47 Laps
37	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	444	56 Laps
38	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	427	73 Laps
39	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	389	111 Laps
40	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	364	136 Laps
41	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	330	Electrical
42	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	328	172 Laps
43	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	177	Oil leak
–	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	0	Withdrawn