Catchfence

WIX Filters

Denny Hamlin held off Mark Martin to win the TUMS Fast Relief 500 Sunday afternoon at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and closed to within six points of leader Jimmie Johnson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings.

Cars equipped with WIX Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, have won 22 times in 32 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (including the Daytona 500, and Brickyard 400) plus claimed three of the top-five positions (third-place Kevin Harvick and fourth-place Kyle Busch) at Martinsville.

Hamlin started from the pole but fell to 15^th-place just 50 laps into the 500-lap event due to excessive temperature buildup on the left rear tire.  Mike Ford, Hamlin’s crew chief, decided against making drastic changes to the car.

“We saw a lot of buildup to the left rear, probably four times more than we normally see,” Ford said.  “If it was the racecar making it do that we would see it again but we never saw it again all day, just very fortunate to not panic and lose the race right at the beginning.”

From there Hamlin fought his way back into contention.  He worked his way into second-place by lap 200 and was never out of contention the rest of the way.  He took the lead for the final time when he passed Kevin Harvick on lap 471 and didn’t look back, crossing the finish line 2.318 seconds ahead of runner-up Mark Martin.

“We just fought and fought and fought and kept working on it,” Hamlin said.  “I kept trying to be patient.  Our car was really good on long runs. We just never got them.  We had so many cautions.”

Over the final 30 laps of the race Hamlin was praying the race would stay green.  A few cars slowed late in the race, the victim of cut tires, but the yellow flag Hamlin fretted about didn’t wave, much to his amazement.

“I don’t know how we didn’t [have a caution],” Hamlin said.  “I think the circumstances worked out.  The guys who had cut tires late in the race, they were able to get down in time to get on pit road to not affect the race.  I saw one of the cars look like he was starting to blow up.  I was yelling at him to try to get him off the racetrack as soon as possible.  Everyone was able to cut down and get onto pit road in a timely fashion.”

The margin between Hamlin and Johnson is the closest between first and second with four races to go in the Chase (2004-present).  That fact doesn’t bother Hamlin, especially since the series moves to unpredictable Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next weekend.

“I like being behind and chasing a guy,” Hamlin said.  I do not like playing defense at all.  To come here and play offense all day, going through adversity to get this win, it’s a huge boost going forward.  I know we’ve been extremely strong at Talladega for the last two to three years so I’m pretty confident.”

Hamlin scored his third consecutive Martinsville victory and his fourth in 11 races at the .525-mile speedway.  He collected his series-high seventh win of the season and posted his 13^th top-five.

The race featured 24 lead changes among 12 drivers and took 3 hours, 40 minutes and 20 seconds to complete.  Fifteen cautions slowed the pace for 90 laps dropping Hamlin’s average speed to 71.619 mph.

Since 1939, WIX® Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks and off-road equipment. WIX, a member of the Affinia family of brands, is the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance Product. Its NASCAR relationship also includes the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, which recognizes the drivers leading the most laps in each race. For more information, visit www.wixfilters.com.

Affinia Group Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of industrial grade products and services, including extensive offerings of aftermarket parts for automotive and heavy-duty vehicles. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.affiniagroup.com.

*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products  Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.

- Camp & Associates, Inc., for WIX Filters, Press Release