Hamlin the Martinsvile pacer
Denny Hamlin highlighted his 55th career Cup Series win with a dominant outing at the Martinsville Speedway, out pacing with nearest rival by 4.617 seconds in the Round 7 affair.
The #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was dominant for the Majority of the 400 lap outing on the short-track 0.84km oval, leading for 274 of them as he registered his first win since Dover last season (Round 11) and his first at Martinsville in a decade.
It was Hamlin’s sixth win at “The lady in Black”.
Running second was his 2025 tear-away teammate Christopher Bell, who after gaining pole position was aiming for his fourth win of the season, whilst third was taken by 23XI’s Bubba Wallace(his second straight P3), with the Toyota machinery taking a sweep of the podiums.
Celebrating in Victory Lane with his brakes smoking behind him, Hamlin credited his new Crew Chief Chris Gayle with the two clicking for their first win together.
“You know, Chris Gayle, all the engineers, the pit crew, everybody really on that wall right there, just deciding they were going to come here with a different approach than what we’ve been over the last few years. It was just amazing,” The Virginia native said.
“The car was great. It did everything I needed it to do. Just so happy to win with Chris, and to get number 55.
“He’s been such a soldier to come in here to this 11 team, kind of learning our style over the last few weeks, and just putting his final touches on it. It’s really been a great mesh. Our relationship is getting better.
“I’m really happy to get a win with him. Obviously back here in Martinsville where I spent so many years racing late models and whatnot. Gosh, I love winning here…It’s #11 against the world.”
In addition to the occasion, the win also puts Hamlin in a tie with Rusty Wallace (1980-2005) for 11th on the all-time wins list.
For the first short-track race of the season, it was the new soft rubber for the choice of weaponry.
And after Saturday’s wild pile-up at the XFinity chequered flag, the scenes were far calmer at the drop of the white flag, but there was no shortage of short-track chaos in the lead up to the final green flag run.
The three defining interruptions amongst the 10 cautions included Trackhouse’s Shane van Gisbergen being relieved of a tyre which in hand destroyed the day for series leader last year’s Martinsville winner William Byron.
There was also a heated radio and post-race exchange between Tyler Reddick spinning out Ty Gibbs (CC Gayle’s former driver) after the former was spun out whilst deep in the challenge, with Gibbs telling him team that they’d better keep him away “from that little f***er”, whilst Noel Gragson also delivered some verbal heat after tangling with Chris Buescher.
The final 75 laps were enjoyed under a green however, following the final altercation of the day where Chase Briscoe cannoned into Joey Logano after being thrown up the track following a clip on the inside curbing.
With seven rounds gone, Byron still leads the regular season standings from Kyle Larson and Bell, with the latter having another consistent day following his Round of 6 victory, finishing in fifth behind his Hendricks teammate Chase Elliot.
Next up on the NASCAR calendar is the series’ first 2025 visit to the Carolina’s, with South Carolina’s 2.19km Darlington Raceway for 293 laps over 400 miles.
Following that it’s another short-track at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the Talladega SuperSpeedway, and the Texas Motor Speedway.
Image: Getty
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