FanHouse Denny Hamlin

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Denny Hamlin didn't need to do anything funny to exact his revenge from Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville Speedway. He just drove right by him.

And then he drove away with ease on three restarts over the final 52 laps, ending the three-time defending series champion's remarkable run of five trips to Victory Lane in the previous six races at the shortest circuit in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

Hamlin used an out-of-sequence pit stops after about 160 laps to move to the front, then held on up there until the entire leaderboard headed for pit road about 20 laps later.

"Once we got that track position, our car just kind of took off," he said.

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We promise to throw a caution with ample time to slow down in the event of a spinning car on this Chase edition of Notes & Quotes.

Pressure? What pressure? Juan Pablo Montoya's run into the Chase for the Sprint Cup is quite the enviable position for most other drivers simply because of the expectations that the former Formula 1 driver has on his back.

Or, make that the lack of expectations.

"I mean, what's the pressure? We made the Chase," said Montoya after his third-place finish. "From now on, anything about that, it's a balance. Come here, first Chase race, put on the pole, finish second. Can I ask for anything else? Not really. A win would be nice, but that will come."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Denny Hamlin suffered his fair share of heartbreak at Richmond International Raceway, the home track where he so desperately wanted a win.

He finally got it Saturday night, but the victory celebration was muted. Kyle Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, fell eight points short of making the Chase for the championship in the tightest deciding race since the format was launched in 2004.

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Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin took a break on his way to Wednesday's Gillete Prelude to the Dream charity race (HBO pay-per-view) to chat with FanHouse about a few things you may not know about the Virginia driver.

1) If Denny Hamlin wasn't a Sprint Cup driver, he'd be...

"I'd be working on trailers at Chesterfield Trailer & Hitch in Richmond (Va.). It was a family business that we had."

2) Tell me, what's the one trophy you want to have?

"For me, it'd be this weekend at Richmond. That's just such a big race for me personally because I have all of my family and friends there."

After a rain-soaked weekend at Pocono Raceway, here's some ramblings from the race that was the Pennsylvania 500.

David Reutimann took a big hit in his chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Pocono and Wednesday he was still "mad as heck" at Denny Hamlin for spinning the No. 00 late in the race.

"Everybody's capable of making mistakes," said Reutimann. "I'm a forgiving guy if he sincerely apologizes or says he was in the wrong. [...] In the end I'm still confused at why it happened. It wasn't just one shot. It was multiple shots."

A 50-race winless streak may well have been 500 for Denny Hamlin.

Fuel pump issues, late-race passes and even a transmission that broke so violently that the shifter split in half while he was holding it have been the chapters of Denny Hamlin's long, harrowing and extremely frustrating Sprint Cup novel since March of 2008.

But the Virginia driver sped to his fifth career win Monday at Pocono Raceway to dispatch of those demons while he had some "angels" by his side.

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LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- Denny Hamlin had few bigger fans than his grandmother. She wore her No. 11 socks, held her No. 11 stuffed bear, and watched every race on TV -- even as she sat and squinted only inches away from the 30-inch screen.

When Thelma Clark died last week at 91, there was a part of Hamlin that didn't want to be at the track.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The celebratory Fourth of July pyrotechnics going off along the backstretch following Saturday night's NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway were nothing compared to the last-lap fireworks show minutes earlier on the frontstretch.

Two-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart muscled his way by Kyle Busch about 100 yards before the finish line -- holding his line as Busch tried to block him. Ultimately, Stewart was able to get his nose in position for the pass. When Busch tried to stop Stewart's final push, the two cars collided and Busch's car spun out, hitting the wall and paving the way for Stewart to capture the victory.

It's that time of year again. Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway officially kicks off the "Race to the Chase," the 10-race stretch for a shot at the championship.

While there have been several surprises in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year, one of the biggest shocks as we close in on the Chase for the Sprint Cup is the absence of a clear-cut favorite for the championship. Last year's dominant teams at this time of the season were the 99 and 18, and the 24 and 48 in 2007, but we really don't have one in 2009, which bodes well for the sport.

The wide racing surface with multiple grooves at Michigan International Speedway often leads to a clean, green race and Sunday's LifeLock 400 was no different with fuel mileage spelling the final name of the game.

Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson both eliminated themselves by driving too hard and burning too much fuel in the final laps, and Mark Martin wisely conserved just enough fuel to dramatically win the race after running out of gas himself in the final corner.

And despite the back-to-back fuel mileage finishes in the Sprint Cup Series, the finish of Sunday's race certainly added a little bit of spice to an otherwise vanilla day.

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