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Gluck: Denny Hamlin brings much-needed win to Gibbs

Jeff Gluck
USA TODAY Sports
Denny Hamlin, left, is congratulated by car owner Joe Gibbs after winning Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The old football coach inside Joe Gibbs emerged Tuesday at his NASCAR team's competition meeting.

Joe Gibbs Racing had been struggling lately, and the organization held a lengthy meeting — one of the longest driver Denny Hamlin could remember. Gibbs raised his voice, the three-time Super Bowl champion using some fire to motivate his team.

"He told us to get off our tails and go to work," Hamlin said. "Sometimes you need a leader like that to put things in perspective. It just takes that extra 10% out of everyone to get to that next level."

Whatever Gibbs said, it seemed to work. The JGR cars found the speed they needed Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, and Hamlin brought the team back to victory lane for the first time since last May.

It was a much-needed boost on multiple levels: For JGR, which was clearly behind on speed last year and which saw star driver Kyle Busch sidelined with a broken leg and broken foot Feb. 21 in a crash at Daytona International Speedway; for Toyota, which has seen all of its teams struggle; and for Gibbs, whose son J.D., the team's president, told employees this week he's undergoing treatment for brain-related issues.

"This sport is a humbling sport and it shows you how hard it is," Gibbs said. "It's been a long time since we've won a race."

Hamlin shook his head Friday when asked if Martinsville was his best chance to win and make NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.

"Normally I would say yes, but really it's been the bigger tracks where we've had our best opportunities to win races," said Hamlin, now a five-time winner at NASCAR's smallest venue. "It hasn't been at these."

But by Saturday, Hamlin knew he had a car that could end up in victory lane. And despite a mid-race penalty that knocked Hamlin to the rear of the field, he was able to rally Sunday and join his teammates in running up front nearly all day.

That was a relief for both JGR and Toyota, because it had been since May 4 that a Toyota team last won, when Hamlin took his No. 11 car to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway.

Since then, Chevrolet cars had won 19 races and Ford had 12. Toyota, despite powerhouse JGR and the solid Michael Waltrip Racing organization, could not break through.

And aside from Talladega — a restrictor-plate race where chance and circumstances play more of a role than speed — the last Toyota victory was more than a year ago when Busch won at Auto Club Speedway.

"We're just not used to just not having success," Hamlin said. "We expect to be in victory lane and be up front."

That's where they were Sunday.

Hamlin's teammate Matt Kenseth — who went from seven wins in 2013 to zero last year — finished fourth after running near the front all day. JGR's David Ragan, substituting for the injured Busch, was fifth. Edwards was also in the top five until a flat tire caused a late spin that left him 17th.

Clearly, this was more of what they had in mind on the track. It also provided a personal lift for many in the organization after J.D. Gibbs' announcement.

Just Sunday morning, Joe Gibbs met with reporters to read a statement about his son's courage and outlook in the face of this health issue, then watched as the driver who J.D. discovered and plucked from the obscurity of the Late Model ranks won.

"They signed me up and J.D. was the key to making that happen," Hamlin said. "They believed in me, gave me opportunities to succeed. I thank my lucky stars every day."

PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Denny Hamlin

On the track, the victory doesn't solve all the team's problems. Yes, Hamlin is in the Chase. But there's still much work to be done.

"Even though it doesn't cure things, it makes things better," Hamlin said. "We've got some kinks in our team right now, but this buys you months of time to get all the kinks worked out. We know we can go on a championship run."

Ford driver Brad Keselowski said Chevrolet drivers Kevin Harvick, whose streak of eight consecutive finishes in the top two was snapped Sunday, and Kurt Busch are the best on 1.5-mile tracks right now, "and the championship always comes down to the 1.5-mile tracks."

"(There's) a lot of time to keep developing and pushing to get better, and everybody will," Keselowski said. "Gibbs has always had good cars, and I wouldn't be shocked if by that time (the Chase) they were one of the favorites to beat."

That's not the case as of now, despite Sunday's win, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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