It’s not very often when so many firsts can happen at one track, but when things seem to fall into place, it makes for great stories.
To start, Sunday’s race at Martinsville was the first short track race of the year. Normally, it is Bristol that is the first track of less than a mile in length to start this particular portion of the season, however that changed at the request of the track.
Weather and lack-luster attendance for the spring race has been a tough go recently, so their first race of the year was moved ahead to April, and that gave Martinsville an early race in the year. Sure it was rather cold, but the fans still came out and were welcomed with mostly excellent weather all weekend. Not too bad since spring just started a little over a week ago.
The next “first” is a finish to a streak. The hottest driver on the tour so far this season, Kevin Harvick, just experienced for the first time in nine races a finish that was not resulting in victory lane, nor even a runner-up. His streak of eight races with either a first or second-place finish was the longest since Richard Petty back in 1974, and he was looking like it could continue.
But at a short track, it would be a difficult task to pull off. He would not make it to that spot this time, finishing eighth. Still, that is an impressive streak to be proud of.
The final “firsts” for the race came thanks to Denny Hamlin. He was already looked at by those in the garage as the one to beat, and they were indeed right. He would earn the victory for his No. 11 FedEx team, but just by finishing first it made for more topics. To start, it was the first win for Gibbs since last season at Talladega, a span that went over a season. It was also the first win for Toyota in just as long of a time frame.
It was also the first win for Toyota at this track in years, and Hamlin is thus far the first and only Toyota to win at this track. It’s always been Ford, Chevy, and even going back to Doge at this place.
Finally it was the first win for the Gibbs team since their leader, JD Gibbs, son of legendary Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, had to step away from at-track duties to deal with health concerns, now which seem to be concussion related. The win certainly gave a huge boost to team morale, and gave the group a spot in the 2015 Chase.
Hamlin and his entire crew, plus the entire NASCAR community, can now join in another first, at least for next week. It’s an off-week with Easter, so now the entire racing community can rest up, and get ready for another stretch run in the season.
RESULTS: 1-Hamlin 2-Keselowski 3-Logano 4-Kenseth 5-Ragan 6-Truex Jr. 7-Patrick 8-Harvick 9-Gordon 10-McMurray
NOTABLE FINISHES: 14-Kurt Busch 17-Edwards 20-Stewart 35-Jimmie Johnson 36-Earnhardt Jr.
CAUTIONS: 16 for 112 laps. Lap 12-16 (#6 spin-T2), 23-26 (#17 spin-T4), 55-60 (#23 spin-T1), 74-81 (Debris-T3), 95-100 (#33 spin-T4), 165-171 (#17 spin-T4), 184-188 (Debris-T4), 207-215 (#17 accident-T3), 220-224 (#22, 46 spin-T2), 229-238 (#9, 13, 18, 27, 35, 51, 88 accident-T2), 270-284 (#51 accident-T4), 287-293 (#6, 10, 31, 42, 46 accident-T3), 357-363 (#46 accident-T1), 368-373 (#6, 16, 22, 27, 43, 48 accident-T4), 434-439 (#19 spin-T4), 461-466 (Debris-FS).
LEAD CHANGES: 31 among 13 drivers. Logano 1-16, Newman 17-18, Logano 19-56, Bliss 57, Logano 58-96, Truex Jr. 97-119, Logano 120-133, Harvick 134-147, Hamlin 148-164, Keselowksi 165, Harvick 166-170, Keselowski 171-172, Harvick 173, Busch 174-194, Harvick 195-207, Logano 208, Kahne 209-237, Harvick 238-270, Keselowski 271, Edwards 272-284, Harvick 285-301, Keselowski 302-315, Hamlin 316-326, Harvick 327-357, Kenseth 358, Harvick 359-398, Hamlin 399-433, Kenseth 434-441, Gordon 442-462, Stewart 463-470, Kenseth 471-472, Hamlin 473-500.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 49 Mins, 13 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 68.843 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.186 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS: 1. Harvick, 263 points*; 2. Logano, -24*; 3. Truex Jr, -32; 4. Keselowski, -57*; 5. Kahne, -70; 6. Newman, -83; 7. Menard, -90; 8. Hamlin, -91*; 9. Earnhardt Jr, -91; 10. Almirola, -93
*Chase Eligible