Denny Hamlin led the first lap of Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 at the Martinsville Speedway and he also led the last lap as he won in front of his home state fans on a damp and chilly day in Virginia.
From the outside of the front row of the grid Hamlin managed to get ahead of polesitter Jeff Gordon to lead the first of 500 tours around the paperclip shaped Martinsville oval and it was Gordon who loomed closest in Hamlin's mirrors in the final stages. However the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, on older tyres than his rival, was able to hold on to take his first, and Toyota's second Sprint Cup win of 2008.
Gordon, whose car was damaged in a multi car pile-up early in the race, missed out on his, and Hendrick Motorsports, first win of the season but with all four of its entries finishing in the top seven it was still a decent day for Rick Hendrick's stable.
Bristol winner Jeff Burton assumed the points lead with a strong third place finish in the #31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart completing the top five.
Dale Earnhardt Jr led the most laps of a race slowed 18 times by yellow flags including one brief stop for rain, which threatened the facility all day and contributed to a smaller than expected crowd. However Earnhardt Jr wound up sixth in the eventual shuffle just ahead of the fourth Hendrick entry of Casey Mears.
Jamie McMurray was the best placed Roush-Fenway Racing finisher in eighth place, moving his #26 team into the top 35 in the overall owner's championship in the process thus guaranteeing himself a place on the starting grid for next weekend's race at the Texas Motor Speedway.
![Denny Hamlin - FedEx Chevrolet [pic credit: GM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/288221.jpg)
