NASCAR At Martinsville: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson Head Into Weekend As Favorites

The two most dominant drivers in recent memory at Martinsville Speedway are still smarting from last season’s uncharacteristic Victory Lane shutout. If the 2011 blanking has made Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson even more motivated, the rest of the field could be in trouble.

Hamlin and Johnson will get their chance to scratch the win column again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop of the year at its shortest track for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 (FOX, 1 p.m. ET).

The two drivers combined to win every event in a nine-race span from 2006 to 2010 at Martinsville; Johnson won five, Hamlin four. That changed last season.

Kevin Harvick won this race last April as both Hamlin and Johnson finished just outside the top 10. Both rebounded for top-five finishes at Martinsville in the fall, but victory narrowly eluded Johnson when Tony Stewart bypassed him for a statement-making win on the way to his third title.

“I certainly want to get back to my winning ways there,” Johnson said. “But at a minimum, we always end up with a real strong finish. When I think of how close we were to victory last fall . . . it didn’t happen, but we led a lot of laps and was a factor in the end.”

For Johnson, there’s extra motivation for a milestone victory. The next win by Hendrick Motorsports -- winless so far in 2012 -- will be the team’s 200th.

For Hamlin, an extra edge may come in the form of Darian Grubb, who manned the pit box for Stewart’s Martinsville win last October. The new driver-crew chief combination has already produced one victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 team this season, lifting Hamlin to seventh in the Sprint Cup standings.

Hamlin hasn’t lacked for confidence at many points in his career, but exuded it with a bold Tuesday tweet: “If you are wondering who to pick in fantasy this weekend . . . choose 11.”

KING OF TRUCKS BACK AT IT AFTER LONG LAYOFF

John King has been living like royalty for five weeks now. That’s how long it’s been since his surprise victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

The truck tour resumes Saturday (SPEED, 1 p.m. ET) with the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, the second race of the young season.

For King, it’s been a longer wait than most. On the heels of his Daytona win, he was eager to get back on the track the following Monday. Despite King’s extra anticipation, the time off did have a nice side benefit.

“It’s pretty cool the be the points leader for five weeks,” said King, who will turn 24 the day after Saturday’s race. “For five weeks, I’ve turned on SPEED and watched ‘Race Hub’ and seen my name scroll across the bottom of the screen -- pretty wild.”

King finished 19th in his only truck start at Martinsville, in 2010, but has competed at the .526-mile track in Late Model competition. He says he’ll lean heavily on the experience of Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters, a former Martinsville winner and resident of nearby Danville, Va.

“He’s in a sense, almost a short-track king,” King said. “I’ve picked his brain a lot already and I’m going to pick it a lot more, too, this week.”