Full Throttle

Three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and Prerace Driver Rating favorite Jimmie Johnson claimed his first win of the season with a late-race pass of Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway. It was Johnson’s fifth win in the last six starts at the track.

“I felt like I was a little bit better than the 11 on the long runs,” Johnson said. “I was able to stay with him and got closer and closer, and I went into Turn 3 and got inside of him. I think he was trying to not leave me a lot of room, which is what you do, and before I knew it, I was up on the curb and we had made contact and were sliding sideways.

“It certainly wasn’t something intentional. I was just trying to get in there and get the win. I was in there, and he was coming down and we made some contact. Fortunately, neither one of us spun out, and he was able to recover and finish second.”

Hamlin, who hasn’t won a race since his victory at Martinsville a year ago, was gracious in his assessment of Johnson’s move.

“It’s short-track racing—that’s all the fans could ask for right there,” Hamlin said. “We tried to do our best to hold him off. You fight for every inch around this racetrack, and he got the better of us today. If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same thing — and, believe me, I will if it ever comes back around.”

Notes: Six of the top eight positions went to Hendrick cars (Johnson, Gordon, Martin and Earnhardt) and Hendrick affiliates (Stewart and Newman of Stewart-Haas Racing).

The Busch brothers’ streak of three straight race wins ended with a whimper. Kurt started second but faded as the race progressed, finishing 18th. A tire problem cost Kyle two laps in the early stages, dropping him to 24th at the finish.

Gordon extended his lead in the points standings to 89 over second-place Bowyer and 132 over Kurt Busch.

Geoff Bodine won the 1984 Sovran Bank 500 at Martinsville, the first Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson’s victory on Sunday was Hendrick’s 176th.