Denny Hamlin, whose team made a questionable late-race pit decision, turned in some of the best driving of the season over the final two laps and won Monday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

The race ended with a green-white-checkered finish thanks to tight three-wide racing and contact that sent Kyle Busch into the outside wall with a lap to go in regulation.

Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman led the dash to the race’s final green flag. Hamlin, who had given up the lead to pit for four tires with nine laps remaining, stormed from fourth place to challenge for the lead almost immediately.

When Gordon got a bump from Matt Kenseth getting him loose into turn one on the restart, Kenseth slipped inside to push to the lead down the backstretch. But Kenseth’s momentum and a tap from Gordon carried him high in turn three and into the wall, and Hamlin was there to inherit the lead.

He stayed out front over the final lap to win for the first time since last season’s closing race at Homestead, Fla.

Hamlin and Kyle Busch were the only leaders to pit for tires with nine to go, leaving Gordon in the lead. When the green flag fell with four to go, Hamlin was ninth. He moved up to fourth quickly and then to first on the green-white-checkered.

“I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said. “I thought it was the end. That’s for all the people who doubt us. We’re still going to get this done before the year is over with.

  

“I had to bully my way through there near the end, but everybody was running like that. I somehow made it work.”

Hamlin was supposed to be undergoing surgery Monday.

Hamlin injured his left knee while playing basketball in January, and he had been scheduled to have reconstructive surgery Monday in Charlotte, N.C. When rain postponed Sunday’s race to Monday, the surgery was rescheduled for Wednesday.

Gordon, who finished third behind Hamlin teammate Joey Logano, was searching for his first win since April of last year at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gordon was pushing toward the win when Kyle Busch, racing three wide with Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard, made contact with Menard and hit the outside wall, sparking caution as the leaders eyed the white flag.

“The real unfortunate part was that the yellow came out then,” Gordon said. “We had the thing wrapped up. On the last restart, I didn’t get a great start, but it was pretty decent. I drove into one trying to not overcook it. He (Kenseth) drove into the back of me so hard, but I made sure he wasn’t going to win the race after that.”

Hamlin survived a parade of caution flags, tire failures and typical short-track bump-and-thump racing.

Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton and Gordon had significant runs at the front, but Hamlin was the day’s top gun.

Hamlin and Burton battled over the final hundred laps as rain threatened to end the race early.

Burton lost his shot at a win with 18 laps to go when the right-front tire on his Chevrolet started losing pressure.
Burton eventually tapped the outside wall, causing the caution with nine laps to go.

Hamlin, then leading, surprised virtually everyone by giving up first place and pitting for four tires. In the end, the gamble worked.

Harvick had brake problems early in the race and gave up the seasonal point lead to Jimmie Johnson. Harvick fell to fourth.

Mike Hembree:
From Speed TV contributed to this report

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500- MARTINSVILLE

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The boys have at it” attitude that NASCAR gave the drivers came into full swing Sunday At the Kobalt Tools 500. With only 2 laps remaining Carl Edwards Spun Brad Keselowski sending him airborne into the fronstrech wall roof first. The whole feud started way earlier in the race, when Keselowski got into Edwards in turn one only 40 laps into the race.

I don’t think anyone thought that NASCAR’s would be tested so soon only four races into the season.

NASCAR on Monday found in the middle of a dilemma over what to do with Carl Edwards, whose intentional wrecking of Brad Keselowski late in Sunday’s race ignited a heated debate about what is exceptable under this NASCAR new policy.

You know whatever decision NASCAR makes will will not satisfy everyone.

The first to find out here, is what is everyone is so upset about?

Is it that Edwards returned to the track down 153 laps, intent on retaliating against Keselowski, and after trying for at least one full lap, finally succeeded with a deliberate nudge?

  

Is it that the high-speed contact sent Keselowski airborne in a spectacular flip that could have caused serious harm to Keselowski or any number of fans in the grandstands?

Or, maybe, the issue is that NASCAR wasn’t ready to deal with the ramifications of allowing drivers free rein on the race track.

All three would be good arguments.

Edwards is not the only driver who has been on the losing end of Keselowski’s aggressive charge into NASCAR’s top level. Although Denny Hamlin had the most public feud with Keselowski, there is no shortage of top name drivers who privately pledged they’d exact their revenge this season.

I still think this dates back to last year on the final lap of last April’s race at Talladega, where Keselowski’s nudge sent Edwards flying into the fence in a wreck that some may argue was worse than one at Atlanta. But the two race against each other weekly in two series, and Edwards’ hinted at a far deeper history with the unapologetic Keselowski.

Edwards didn’t hold back any words in a Facebook posting late Sunday night.

“My options,” he wrote, “Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyones safety or hard work, should I: A-Keep letting him wreck me? B-Confront him after the race? C-Wait till Bristol and collect other cars? or D-Take care of it now?

“I want to be clear that I was surprised at his flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.”

Brad knows the deal between him and I,” Edwards said. “The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we’re out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people’s safety.

“I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s OK and we’ll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won’t get in any more incidents together. That would be the best thing.”

Opinions were split, though, perhaps fueled by the severity of Keselowski’s crash.

  

Nobody was to outraged when Hamlin paid back Keselowski in last year’s Nationwide Series finale at Homestead. And it sure seemed that more people were cheering than jeering when Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart played retaliatory bumper-cars a day later.

Fans want him suspended, and many analysts have agreed. Even Keselowski seemed to taunt NASCAR into cracking down on Edwards.
“It’ll be interesting to see how NASCAR reacts to it,” he said after the wreck. “They have the ball. If they’re going to allow people to intentionally wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone either in the cars or the grandstands. It’s not cool to intentionally wreck someone at 195 mph.”

Now it is up to NASCAR to figure out what they need to do.

Jenna Fryer, AP Auto Racing Writer, contributed to this report

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Harvick had fast car all day dominating the race in the beginning, winding up in the middle of the pack because of to bad pit stops. After the second pit stop, Harvick told his crew over the radio they “looked like a bunch of idiots.”

After the race, he called his car “really fast. We definitely have some work to do on pit road. I get mad. They know how I am and know what I expect of them.”

Harvick made his way through the field to return to the lead and beat Denny Hamlin to the finish by 1.3 seconds. Following in the top five were Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers.

Kyle Busch was contending for the lead towards the end of the race until he pushed a little to hard coming out of turn four slapping the wall, dropping him to 16th.

  

Danica Patrick’s third Nationwide race ended near the halfway point of the event when she and Michael McDowell got together going into turn one, and both cars slammed into the outside wall.

Patrick, who will take a four-month break from stock car racing while she concentrates on her IndyCar ride, finished 36th.

Danica pointed the blame at McDowell for turning down the track and causing the crash. “We had a good car, we really did,” Patrick said. “Unfortunately, we got caught in a bad situation with a driver who wasn’t looking and a spotter who wasn’t calling.”

Later in a interview McDowell to the blame for the wreck. “100 percent my fault. She was coming up on new tires and the closing rate was so fast. I closed the door.”

The beginning of the race was delayed for about an hour and a half due to rain, and the rain returned to put the race under caution just after half way. At that point, Busch had a 3.2-second lead over Vickers.

Several more cautions bunched the field, but the finally came down to  on whether Harvick’s car was strong enough to get him out front after the two bad pitstops. With 25 laps to go, he passed Hamlin for the lead and wasn’t challenged the rest of the way.

Results Sam’s Town 300

Speed TV contributed to this report

With a commanding victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway to end the 2009 season, Denny Hamlin is at the top of the list as the man most likely to compete with Jimmie Johnson for the top position of the Sprint Cup world.

So far, though, 2010 hasn’t exactly worked out the way Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford had it planned. Through the first two races of the year, Hamlin has led just seven laps, finishing 17th in the Daytona 500 and 29th in the Auto Club 500. That was most assuredly not what Hamlin and Ford had in mind to start the year off for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

Hamlin and his team will have a chance to get back on track this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s third Cup race of the season, the Shelby American.

It could be a challenge, in four previous Cup starts at the 1.5-mile LVMS oval, Hamlin has yet to lead a single lap. His best finish came in 2007, with a third-place run. Last year, he finished 22nd after being involved in two on-track incidents. Needless to say, he
will be looking for a strong run after starting this season behind where he envisioned being at the end of last year.

“Vegas is a place where we have actually run really well in the past and even though last season wasn’t as good, we still feel like we can go there and really challenge for a win,” said Hamlin. “That’s our mentality despite what happened in Daytona and California and it will be for the rest of the season. We know from past experience that it is a very long season and we have some time to work with.”

  

Hamlin said he’s not too worried about his early season struggles, as they’ve sort of become par for the course for the team. “I guess that’s the way it works for us — usually in a bit of a hole coming out of Daytona and then forced to chip away at the points,” said Hamlin. “The result at California didn’t help but we are focused on getting our performance right and we feel like things will fall into place. Hopefully we are getting some our bad luck out of the way early in the season when it can only hurt you so bad. We need that all out of the way by the end of the season.”

Crew chief Ford, who has been with Hamlin for his entire Sprint Cup career is optimistic based on the growth and maturity Hamlin showed in the second half of last season.

“When you first get together, everything seems to go really well,” said Ford. “Then you go through some though times and you’re tested a bit. And we feel like those tough times are behind us and we’re on the same page. Over the last few years, we’ve really grown closer together. I understand him more each year, he understands me. Through last year, it seemed like continuity really is what propelled our car.”

Team President J.D. Gibbs saw it, too.

“The future is exciting for us,” said Gibbs. “So I think really, both those guys work well together. They’re quiet, they’re not going to talk a lot about stuff, they just kind of get it done.”

They’ll definitely try to get it done this week in Las Vegas.

“Vegas is a great location for a race — there is always something to do,” said Hamlin. “The city is welcoming of the sport, we saw that when the banquet moved there last year, and the track is always working hard to bring in fans and improve the racing. They have done a great job with the garage and the infield in making it accessible to the fans. From a racing standpoint, the softer tire has made a big difference. We have more grip and the speeds are up but the racing was as good as it has ever been there. I am excited to get back there and see what they have in store for us this year.”

Speed Tv Contributed to this article.

After a bad finish at Daytona Jimmie Johnson bounces back to wins his 48th race in the #48 Lowes Chevrolet at the Auto Club 500 in Fontana California.

Johnson led the last 24 laps of the race to beat out a hard charging Kevin Harvick. Harvick chased Johnson down in the last 20 laps, cutting down a two second Johnson lead. With only five laps to go Harvick slid coming out of turn 4 slapping the wall spoiling any chance to get by Jimmie Johnson.

“Life is good, man,” said Johnson, who is pursuing his fifth straight Sprint Cup championship. “We’re right back in victory lane.”

Luck was on Johnson’s side as with 27 laps to go Johnson pitted for his final stop of the race, and the caution came out for Brad Keselowski when he lost control and spun down the frontstrech, Johnson got  off of pit road just in time, so he would start up front on the restart.

“The fact that we were on pit road when the caution came out gave us track position, and we finally got the car turning,” Johnson said.

Harvick was pushing hard and said he lost control of his car trying to catch up to Johnson.

“The 48 saw me coming and moved up,” Harvick said. “I lost the nose of the car and got in the wall and knocked the right front fender in.”

Harvick who got a pit road speeding violation, putting him to the back of the field drove his car top the front to challenged Johnson at the end of the race.

Completing the top five were Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Joey Logano.

  

“I think we have a little bit of work to do, although we won the race,” Johnson said. “We’ll just keep working hard. This is a good step in the right direction.”

The race saw a lot of different challengers at the front of the field, that were contributed by NASCAR’s new aero package and a new tire compound that Goodyear brought to the race. It was unbelievable at how many pit road violation there were considering NACAR warned the driver after the Nationwide race. Teams seemed to have more engine failures than normal, mostly thought do to the long green runs and the cooler weather making the engines rev higher and longer.

Kasey Kahne brought out the second caution when he lost control coming out of turn four spinning into the wet infield bending up the left side of the front splitter and right front fender damage.

Johnson, Harvick and Montoya were up front of the field for most of the first half of the race, round half way Montoya’s engine gave way ending the #42 Target’s car day.

A few laps later after spinning his tires on the restart, Ryan Newman blew his engine up big time on the fronstrech ending his day and giving Newman his second DNF of the season.

At lap 70 with bad weather threatening most  of the leaders were forced to make a green flag pit stop.

A light sprinkle bought out a caution with Denny Hamlin leading the race. A few laps into the caution Denny Hamlin was forced to pit giving up the lead to Scott Speed. Speed led a few laps under caution to get his 5 bonus points, hoping the rain would come, but he was forced to pit running low on fuel.

After the rain delay there were only 50 laps to go and Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch lead to field to the green. The crew chief were looking to the sky as more bad weather was threatening.

Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin got together after the restart causing Hamlin’s left rear tire to go flat.

Jeff Burton was showing the strength of the Earnhardt Childress engines with 42 laps to go looking like Burton had the car to beat.  Unfortunately for Burton the handling went away in the closing laps losing the battle with Harvick for second place. The RCR cars were strong all day putting all three cars in the top ten.

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Kevin Harvick won the big race in 2007, finished 10th in the standings and hasn’t won a Cup race since.

On the other hand, a bad day in the 500 isn’t a disaster, either.

That’s the reason that four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson isn’t all that worried his fourth
consecutive bad start at Daytona. This time, it was a flat tire late in the race that relegated Double J to a 35th-place finish.

No worries. He’s got 25 more races to make up for that bad day and put himself among the 12 drivers who qualify for the 10-race Chase. And Johnson goes into this season as the only driver to have made it into the Chase every year since it began in 2004.

  

Denny Hamlin, who hopes to be the driver to unseat Johnson as champion, got off to a so-so start at Daytona, finishing 17th. But he’s looking forward to starting to find the groove in California.

“Why is this race at California important? “ Hamlin said. “All of our hard work over the off-season is going to show up right here in California. This is the first real race track that we go to where the setups are going to matter, the driving and all that is a lot different.

“This is our first real race of 2010 that’s not a superspeedway. It’s a big one for us because it kind of gives everyone a gauge of if we were heading in the right direction during the off season or not.’’

McMurray, who won Daytona in his first race for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, is anxious to see how the team stacks up on the intermediate tracks that make up the bulk of the Cup schedule. Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was solid on the 1 ½ and 2 mile ovals a year ago, racing well enough to make the Chase.

“Certainly going and running well at Fontana is the goal from here on out,’’ McMurray said. “As far as putting any thought into what the previous three (Daytona winners) have done, I’m not really paying any attention to that kind of stuff.’’

Now teams need to considerate on the rest of the season and let the past be the past.

Dale Earnhardt JR. had a great finish in the 500 and hopes to keep the momentum going into to this week at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Hopefully he can show to his fans and doubter that he can drive a race car.

“That’s great, but we have to see what happens at California, Las Vegas and Atlanta,’’ Junior noted. “If we run good at a couple of those races, then we’All know all that work that was done, all the changes that were made over the winter, are paying off.’’

But the Daytona 500 is a season of it’s own. And it’s over.

Speed TV contributed to this report.

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