Denny Hamlin Walks Away With Martinsville NASCAR Cup Series Win
The Martinsville Master is back!
Denny Hamlin picked up his sixth career win at Martinsville Speedway in a dominant display of his short track racing skills.
The Virginian native hadn’t won at his home state track since the spring 2015 race, but came into this year’s event with the most wins of any active driver.
The race came after chaotic Xfinity Series and Truck Series events earlier in the weekend that were marred so badly by aggressive driving that the Cup Series drivers were warned to show “respect” during their turn on the track.
They apparently got the message and had a relatively clean race that saw Joey Logano and Hamlin take the first two stages.
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There was a flurry of missteps that brought out four cautions between laps 275 and 316, but Hamlin drove away from the last restart with 75 laps to go and never looked back.
It was Hamlin’s first win of the 2015 season and first with his new crew chief, Chris Gale, who took over for his longtime crew chief, Chris Gabehart.
“He’s been, you know, such a soldier to come in here to this 11 team and, you know, kind of learn our style and then over the last few weeks just putting his final touches on it,” Hamlin said on FS1 after the race.
“it’s really been a great mesh, our relationship’s getting better and, man, really happy to get a win with him and, obviously, back here in Martinsville where I spent so many years racing late models and whatnot it’s, gosh I love winning here.”
Hamlin was followed across the line by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell and fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace in his 23XI Racing Toyota Camry. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.