Hamlin ends Sprint Cup losing streak for team and Toyota

The pressure is off Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

The dreaded streak came to a dramatic end Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, as Hamlin held off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski on the final lap of the STP 500 for his, the team’s and the manufacturer’s first win in almost a year.

A collective sigh of relief could be felt from everyone at the postrace winner’s podium, from Hamlin to team owner Joe Gibbs.

“We’re just not used to not having success,” Hamlin said after earning his fifth career victory at the famed Virginia short track. “Boss man [Gibbs] over here expects a lot from us, and we expect to be in Victory Lane and be up front.”

“He told us to get off our tails and go to work, and we all did it,” Hamlin said. “Great result for this race team. Sometimes you need a leader like that to kind of put things in perspective. Not that people weren’t working hard, but it just takes that extra 10 percent out of everyone to get to that next level.”

It became evident Sunday.

Hamlin’s impressive history at the track only goes so far, and the pit crew didn’t have their best day. But Hamlin and crew chief Dave Rogers managed to overcome it by winning another grandfather clock.

The final laps easily could have produced a different outcome. Keselowski, last week’s winner, was on Hamlin’s bumper near the end and could have spun him out to give himself the victory.

But he didn’t.

“I did everything I could other than wreck him,” Keselowski said. “I really don’t know what more I could have done other than just drove through him, but I felt pretty good about what I did do.”

Said Hamlin: “He had an option [to wreck me] and he took the latter — thank him for that.”

In the end, the win is probably more significant for Hamlin and Toyota than it would have been for Keselowski.

Not only did the win snap the losing streak, but it also assures Hamlin a spot in the Chase for the championship. And it comes early enough where Hamlin and his team can work out the “kinks” without the pressure of needing a win.

That pleases the owner, of course.

“This sport is a humbling sport,” Gibbs said. “It shows you how hard it is. We work hard, extremely hard, and it’s been a long time since we’ve won a race. Denny and the guys really overcame a lot, so you really want to enjoy it and we’re going to do that this week.”

The Hamlin-Keselowski finish capped off an eventful, caution-filled day that saw several faces of the sport fade earlier than expected.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got caught up and taken out of contention during a wreck on Lap 228; Kevin Harvick (eighth) saw his streak of eight consecutive top-two finishes end; Jimmie Johnson struggled all day; and Jeff Gordon had a costly pit-road speeding penalty that ended his bid to win with fewer than 40 laps left.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Gordon told his crew. “It’s on me. I apologize.”

That speeding penalty, Hamlin acknowledged, likely propelled him to the win. It gave him the inside lane coming off pit road, something that is critical at the track.

“If we didn’t have the penalty [on Gordon], we didn’t win, I don’t think,” Hamlin said. “You just have to be on that bottom line.”

And, for the first time in a while, in a Toyota.

This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Hamlin ends Sprint Cup losing streak for team and Toyota."