NASCAR at Martinsville (3.29.2010)
Denny Hamlin (11, far right) Pulls off a Remarkable Houdini Act to Escape With Victory at the Paper Clip.
In a race dominated early by Kevin Harvick (29), Jeff Gordon (24), and Kurt Busch (2), the Joe Gibbs Racing cars of Denny Hamlin (11), Kyle Busch (18), and Joey Logano (20) rise to the fore as the interminable race finally dips beneath the 100 laps to go mark. Hamlin mechanically checks out on the field and many fans return back to their Monday morning workload, believing that the race will result in a standard Martinsville parade finish.
Those dedicated fans who stay tuned in on the race luckily sit in on perhaps the most thrilling finish in recent Martinsville history …
With 24 laps remaining, Jeff Burton (31) finds his form and rapidly closes in on Hamlin, yet his hard banging charge to the front comes with a cost after he drops a right front tire with only 16 laps to go, bringing out a caution condition. The JGR cars, both running out front and the clearly the class of the field, appear poised to close out the day, yet to the sheer horror of both longtime race observers and television commentators, both Hamlin and Busch surrender the point in order to enter pit lane for new rubber. On its face, the late race decision appears utterly ridiculous to most enthusiasts, given that less than five laps will remain on the counter when the race returns green, yet JGR instead bets upon a Green-White-Checker finish and how four fresh tires will settle all scores.
With only four laps to go, the race restarts with J. Gordon and Matt Kenseth (17) battling for the lead while JGR dunces Ky. Busch and Hamlin launch from P8 and P9. Hamlin brazenly bangs his way up to P4 in one lap on new rubber, yet the dubious JGR tire plan stands out like a polka dotted mini-skirt at church until Paul Menard’s (98) side-by-side contact with Ky. Busch in Turn 3 on the same lap sends the latter spinning into the wall, bringing out a caution and JGR’s anticipated Green-White-Checker condition.
Green-White-Checker
Suddenly looking like a group of wizened racing sages in the pits, Hamlin’s crew titters with glee as their car starts at P4 for the final dash. Front row racers J. Gordon and Ryan Newman (39) break away at green with a rough exchange of side sheet metal, yet Kenseth, starting on the inside along Hamlin on Row 2, promptly succeeds at breaking J. Gordon loose with a nudge. Gordon’s wobble swiftly scatters Newman and leaves a hole wide enough for both Kenseth and the pursuing Hamlin to join the hunt along the inside line. Kenseth surges past the unstable Gordon before moving up the track to cut off the latter’s charge, and the scrambling Gordon desperately takes his final shot at victory by nudging Kenseth’s rear valence. The upset proves enough to break Kenseth loose, who in turn sails up the track towards the wall, and the stage center action simply kicks the door wide open for Hamlin, who in an instant goes from dunce to darling while dashing away for a simply unfathomable and dramatic victory at the Paper Clip.
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