Hendrick drivers dominate the field

MARTINSVILLE — As Jimmie Johnson was getting around Denny Hamlin in Turn 3 on lap 486 on Sunday, history certainly was repeating itself as many in the Martinsville Speedway grandstands could sense the outcome of the Goody’s 500.

Like nine of the previous 12 races at the 0.526-mile oval, a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was going to take the checkered flag, giving the team 10 victories in the past 13 races at Martinsville.

It is a stranglehold that is rarely seen at one racetrack, not only by Hendrick but also from Joe Gibbs Racing, an organization that has played second fiddle to one of the most dominant organizations in recent NASCAR memory at the short track in Southside Virginia.

And similar to most of those races, Gibbs had one strong representative while the entire Hendrick fleet was strong. The other three Hendrick drivers — Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. — finished in the top 10. Hamlin’s teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished 24th and 32rd, respectively.

The two competing teams have combined to win 12 of the past 13 races at Martinsville, with the lone exception coming in the spring of 2004 when Rusty Wallace piloted a Roger Penske Dodge to victory.

JGR has racked up 13 top 5s and 17 top 10s in those past 13 races, but unlike Hendrick, has not closed the deal on victories. Only twice has a Gibbs team visited Victory Lane, as Tony Stewart piloted there in 2006 and Hamlin was there a year ago.

“I think for quite a while it’s been between the Hendrick guys and the Gibbs cars historically, over the last three or four years,” Stewart said. The two-time Cup champion was a member of Gibbs for 10 years before becoming co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Compared to Gibbs, Hendrick drivers have recorded 26 top 5s and 38 top 10s in that same 13-race stretch. In every race since 2005, Hendrick has placed two cars in the top five.

“I’ve been racing on tracks shorter than a half a mile,” Hamlin said, speaking about his experience on small tracks. In seven races at Martinsville, the Chesterfield native has recorded five top 5s and seven top 10s. “Once you figure out how to win, you know what to go back to.”

And that is exactly what Hendrick has done in the past six-plus years at Martinsville. Victory after victory, top 10 after top 10, those cars are always in contention and in position to get a late victory, much like Johnson did Sunday for his sixth victory at the short track.

“We just kind of have a little bit of edge here,” car owner Rick Hendrick said of his team’s dominance at Martinsville. “You know, I’ll take the success we’ve had because I know it won’t last.”