Three-wide: What to look for in Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500

Three-wide: What to look for in Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500



1. Will the real Mr. Martinsville please stand up? You couldn't ask for a better matchup. The two drivers with the best records at Martinsville in the last four years go head-to-head. Johnson has won five of the last eight races at the .526-mile short track. Hamlin has won the last two and three of the last five. Who will take control at this critical juncture in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup?
2. Harvick hangs tough. This is a make-or-break race for Harvick, who probably will need a career-best finish to keep pace with Johnson and Hamlin. Harvick's best result at the paper-clip-shaped speedway is seventh (three times in 18 starts). That won't cut it on Sunday.
3. Rain dance for Gordon? The four-time champion hasn't won since April 2009, and his drought reached 60 races last week at Charlotte . Martinsville is Gordon's best chance to break the winless string—he has seven victories there (none since 2005) and has finished in the top five in his last 11 starts. — Reid Spencer


Martinsville analysis by Kurt Busch
"You can't jump on the brakes hard. You can't yank on the wheel and you can't jump on the gas. You just have to be smooth and find that rhythm."


Past winners of Chase races at Martinsville
2004: Jimmie Johnson
2005: Jeff Gordon
2006: Jimmie Johnson
2007: Jimmie Johnson
2008: Jimmie Johnson
2009: Denny Hamlin


The last time around: Hamlin bulls way to second straight Martinsville win
March 29, 2010: Denny Hamlin plowed through traffic after a green-white-checkered-flag restart to post his second straight victory at Martinsville Speedway, wresting the title "Mr. Martinsville"—at least temporarily—from Jimmie Johnson, who rode a nondescript ninth-place finish to the Sprint Cup points lead.
On fresh tires, thanks to a pit stop under caution on Lap 493, Hamlin powered past Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon on Lap 507 of 508 after Kenseth and Gordon traded shots earlier on the same lap.
Hamlin cleared Gordon through Turns 3 and 4 and finished the race on a cut tire, .670 seconds ahead of teammate Joey Logano, who weaved his way through the melee to give Joe Gibbs Racing a 1-2 finish at the .526-mile short track.
"Whose house is this?" Hamlin radioed after taking the checkered flag.
"Denny Hamlin's house," spotter Curtis Markham answered.