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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — After more than three hours of rootin'-tootin' racin' where tire marks were plastered on cars like sponsor decals, Sunday's finish appeared set to match the earlier action.

A two-lap shootout pitted Denny Hamlin against his Martinsville Speedway rival, Jimmie Johnson, as Juan Pablo Montoya lurked behind.

Hamlin, who lost the spring race here when contact with Johnson knocked him out of the lead late, never let Johnson or even Montoya close enough to ruin this day.

Instead, Hamlin accelerated on the final restart like someone racing to the nearest rest stop. And in a way he was.

After beating his foes and performing burnouts and doughnuts, Hamlin radioed his crew: "Find me a Porta John, I've got to (go) like you wouldn't believe."

There you are, the answer to the most frequently asked question of drivers: What do you do if you have go to the restroom during a race? For Hamlin, he waited until he won.

Good thing. Although out of contention for this championship — and Johnson is making it difficult for anyone to unseat him — Hamlin earned his career-best third victory of the season. Johnson finished second with Montoya third.

Hamlin's win comes after back-to-back poor finishes ended any hope of a championship. He admits he's reset his goal to finish in the top five in points. He moved to ninth.

"It sucks to not have an opportunity to win the championship this year," Hamlin said after his seventh career victory and second at Martinsville. "Hopefully, we're setting ourselves up to be one of the favorites next year."

It's hard to imagine Johnson won't also be a favorite next year. His runner-up result lowered his average finish in this year's Chase to 3.0 and extended his points lead to 118.

The inevitability of a record-breaking fourth consecutive title is beginning to wear on Johnson. He snapped after the race to a reporter's question about how he felt going into Talladega.

"I'm so tired of answering this question," he said. "I think you guys can all figure it out."

To be fair, Johnson has faced the question almost constantly since the Chase began. His team's near-perfect run in the Chase leads some to believe that if he's not collected in a multi-car crash at Talladega, he'll again be hoisting the champion's trophy at Homestead next month.

So, in essence, Talladega could be a last stand for the competition. It's not like his foes can do more, though.

"Are you kidding me?" said Mark Martin, who finished eighth and is 118 points behind Johnson. "How could it change? If you're trying to win, you sure as heck start out trying to win. And we're trying to win now."

Many of the drivers drove that way even early. NASCAR warned at least four drivers for aggressive driving. Montoya and Jeff Gordon engaged in a door handle-to-door handle slam not even one-quarter of the way into the race. The contact led Gordon to radio his team and say: "What the ... is wrong with him? He's got the best car out here and doesn't know what to do with it.:"

They talked after the race. Montoya said "we're good."

So was Hamlin most of the day. He started 17th, hung around the fringe of the top 10 the first 100 laps, later pitted out of sequence with the leaders and took the lead for the first time on lap 183. His car improved as the race progressed, while Johnson, who led often early, saw his car's handling go away. That helped Hamlin lead the final 139 laps. Even so, it wasn't easy.

Johnson closed on Hamlin and had a chance to take the lead with about 40 laps to go. Hamlin's car hit the curb in Turn 2 and Johnson slipped inside. Hamlin blocked and Johnson was not far enough forward to defend the position. With a championship at stake, Johnson backed off.

"After that I could match his laps, but he would just start inching away from me and had the best car there at the end,'' said Johnson, who has combined with Hamlin to win each of the last seven Martinsville races.

There was no catching Hamlin this time. Yes, Hamlin had a fast car, but never underestimate the speed of a driver when he's in a hurry to get somewhere, whether it's the finish line or a Porta John.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com

TUMS Fast Relief 500 results
By The Associated Press
Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Lap length: .526 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
Chase drivers in bold

1. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 501 laps, 195 points, $189,500.
2. (15) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 501, 175, $169,526.
3. (21) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 501, 170, $143,298.
4. (41) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 501, 165, $138,698.
5. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 501, 160, $126,351.
6. (23) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 501, 150, $97,950.
7. (1) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 501, 151, $122,004.
8. (4) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 501, 147, $89,350.
9. (13) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 501, 138, $99,923.
10. (10) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 501, 134, $118,703.
11. (24) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 501, 130, $106,573.
12. (7) Joey Logano, Toyota, 501, 127, $122,576.
13. (8) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 501,124, $107,004.
14. (32) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 501, 121, $120,290.
15. (22) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 501, 123, $121,156.
16. (5) David Reutimann, Toyota, 501, 120, $101,473.
17. (37) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 501, 112, $91,250.
18. (6) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 501, 109, $90,175.
19. (19) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 501, 106, $83,150.
20. (29) Carl Edwards, Ford, 501, 103, $122,256.
21. (40) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 500, 100, $82,575.
22. (14) David Ragan, Ford, 500, 97, $82,675.
23. (30) Paul Menard, Ford, 500, 94, $105,431.
24. (9) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 500, 91, $111,176.
25. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 93, $90,550.
26. (27) John Andretti, Chevrolet, accident, 499, 90, $81,375.
27. (34) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 499, 82, $87,673.
28. (3) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 499, 79, $108,940.
29. (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 499, 76, $87,825.
30. (36) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 497, 73, $80,750.
31. (18) Scott Speed, Toyota, accident, 495, 70, $81,698.
32. (26) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 494, 67, $111,973.
33. (11) David Stremme, Dodge, rear end, 439, 64, $102,890.
34. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 414, 61, $70,300.
35. (38) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, brakes, 355, 58, $69,300.
36. (31) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, accident, 248, 55, $88,010.
37. (33) Robby Gordon, Toyota, drive shaft, 130, 52, $87,960.
38. (28) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, overheating, 52, 49, $69,150.
39. (35) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, brakes, 48, 51, $69,100.
40. (39) Dave Blaney, Toyota, overheating, 38, 43, $69,050.
41. (42) Michael McDowell, Toyota, brakes, 36, 40, $69,000.
42. (43) Derrike Cope, Toyota, brakes, 31, 37, $68,940.
43. (25) Travis Kvapil, Dodge, brakes, 30, 34, $68,523.

Average speed of race winner: 73.633 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 34 minutes, 44 seconds.
Margin of victory: Under caution.
Caution flags: 15 for 77 laps.
Lead changes: 21 among 12 drivers.

Lap leaders: R.Newman 1-21; J.Gordon 22-46; J.Andretti 47; D.Gilliland 48; J.Gordon 49-58; J.Johnson 59-89; R.Newman 90; J.Johnson 91-130; R.Newman 131; J.Johnson 132-140; J.Montoya 141-177; J.Gordon 178; J.Burton 179-182; D.Hamlin 183-201; Ky.Busch 202-205; D.Hamlin 206-253; G.Biffle 254-259; J.Johnson 260-301; M.Martin 302; D.Reutimann 303-320; J.Johnson 321-362; D.Hamlin 363-501.

Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): D.Hamlin, 3 times for 206 laps; J.Johnson, 5 times for 164 laps; J.Montoya, 1 time for 37 laps; J.Gordon, 3 times for 36 laps; R.Newman, 3 times for 23 laps; D.Reutimann, 1 time for 18 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 6 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 4 laps; J.Burton, 1 time for 4 laps; M.Martin, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Andretti, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in points: 1. J.Johnson, 6,098; 2. M.Martin, 5,980; 3. J.Gordon, 5,948; 4. T.Stewart, 5,906; 5. J.Montoya, 5,898; 6. Ku.Busch, 5,858; 7. R.Newman, 5,786; 8. G.Biffle, 5,748; 9. D.Hamlin, 5,746; 10. C.Edwards, 5,685; 11. K.Kahne, 5,659; 12. B.Vickers, 5,568.