Short-Track Showdown: Denny Hamlin Wins Martinsville, Bests Jimmie Johnson

Two days after seeming pessimistic about his chances for success at Martinsville – and the rest of the season – Dale Earnhardt Jr. was suddenly running up front like he used to, thrilling the Virginia crowd.

Earnhardt Jr. led 90 laps – 19 more than he had led the entire season combined before Sunday – and had a shot at winning until his handling went away late in the race.

“I wasn’t too happy in practice and it didn’t run very good in qualifying,” he said, his face revealing little emotion. “It’s just not fast. I don’t know. I like this track and I like getting around here, but when we put it in qualifying setup, it felt just like it did in race trim. It didn’t have that qualifying grip.”

That was disappointing, because as Earnhardt Jr. noted, he’s run fairly well on short tracks despite a drop-off in performance at intermediate tracks since mid-2008.