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It was that time of the race, Denny Hamlin has normally faded late in Martinsville races over the last five years. On Sunday, he thrived in a thrilling battle with Brad Keselowski to win the STP 500.
Keselowski actually raced Hamlin clean, tried the outside a couple of times and even barely nudged Hamlin on the final lap. Hamlin, a previous four time winner at the track knew exactly what to do. He decided to block the bottom groove and it worked. Hamlin picked up his fifth grandfather clock and ended a 31 race winless drought.
The usual was a tight battle at the finish. Who was and wasn’t there at the end was rather different though. Keselowski has one top five finish in his Martinsville history before Sunday and that was a third. Keselowski and Jeff Gordon were the fastest two cars at the end, but neither ended up in victory lane.
Gordon seemed to have the advantage when he took the lead with less than 60 laps to go, but a pit road speeding penalty into his stall cost him the rainbow warrior a chance for his ninth Martinsville Speedway victory on the final caution flag of the race. If Gordon would have not had the penalty, who knows what have been the result?
Per usual, casualties plagued the event, but Hendrick drivers may have had the toughest event. The most notable was last October’s Martinsville winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a gear shift, had it fixed, replaced it and then got caught in a crash in turn one and two and finished 36th.
Jimmie Johnson also had his problems, got in a heated argument with crew chief Chad Knaus and even went behind the wall to repair the suspension finishing 35th.
Chase Elliott made his Sprint Cup debut, but like most who attempt such, it didn’t fair well. An early wreck forced him to the garage and 38th place result.
Who would have thought Hendrick Motorsports would have struggled so badly at Martinsville. They literally own the track considering how well they run. Nobody finished better from the stable than Kasey Kahne, which was an eighth. Gordon rallied back to finish ninth.
Who would have thought Danica Patrick would have a good run? She certainly showed that she isn’t intimated by Martinsville tough racing. Patrick struggled at first, but climbed into the top ten and finished seventh on the afternoon. Her best finish was a sixth in a Atlanta last year and she finished 12th in her Martinsville debut two years ago.
It’s spring break, so let’s do a quick update on the county prep sports.
Baseball: East Rutherford (7-2, 5-2) is at the Mingo Bay tournament in Myrtle Beach. When they get back, East Rutherford will visit R-S Central on Monday, April 6.
R-S Central (4-3, 4-2) host East Rutherford after the break Like East Rutherford, R-S Central has been winning with pitching and defense. Chase has won two in a row, they will host R-S Central on Wednesday, April 9. Thomas Jefferson (4-5) will go to Mitchell next.
Softball: Chase (4-3, 3-3) will get back at it on April 9 as they host R-S Central. Chase just beat East Burke, thanks to a homer by Kayla Crowe over East Burke. R-S Central (6-3, 5-1) will go to rival East Rutherford on April 8. The Lady Hilltoppers are 3-3 in their last six games. Meanwhile East Rutherford (6-2, 5-1) has won five of their last six and will host R-S Central on April 8.
Girls soccer: R-S Central and Rutherford sit second and third among the 2A schools in the girls soccer. Chase has just one win before. East will host Central on Tuesday April 7. Chase will host R-S Central on Wednesday, April 8. Thomas Jefferson sits 4-1-1 and just lost it’s first game of the season to Lincoln Charter. They host Pine Lake Prep April 13.
