As Nascar came to Martinsville, it was coming off several exciting races. And the STP 500 was destined to become the best of all of the 2015 races so far. Interestingly, the race did not have one of Nascar’s most exciting drivers, Kyle Larson, in it. He was in the hospital due to fainting unexpectedly the day previous to the race.

The race began with Joey Logano on the pole, and there he remained for the first fifty or so laps. However, he was soon passed by Kevin Harvick, who led for several laps afterward. As the race began to settle in and drivers began to find their best lines on the track, a few drivers began to stand out. Harvick and Logano were two, but Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Brad Keslowski all took turns being at the front of the field.

Cautions are very common at Martinsville, and this race was no exception. There were roughly fifteen cautions. What a number. Two of the favorites to claim the victory, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., ran into constant trouble. Jimmie wrecked several times. Jr. was running pretty well, until he rammed the back of the quickly slowing Paul Menard. That ended his bid for the win.

Chase Elliot was making his Sprint Cup Series debut, but it went rather rough. He started in the middle of the pack and quickly moved forward, only to have the front of his car smashed in a wreck that happened in front of him. His car was repaired by his crew, but by that time he was dozens of laps down.

One rather unexpected good run came from Danica Patrick in her no. 10 Chevrolet. She started in the twenties, and fell back at the start, but suddenly found some speed in her car. For the rest of the race she passed one person after another. By the end of the race she had managed to get all the way to seventh place.

As the race came to a close Kevin Harvick faded away from the front of the pack, and he was replaced by the hard charging Brad Keslowski. Jeff Gordon was leading the field when a late caution came out. Much to his chagrin, he was caught speeding on pit road, and had to go to the back of the pack.

On the ensuing restart, which turned out to be the final restart, Denny Hamlin pulled away from the field, only to have a hard charging Brad Keslowski chase after him. For both of them the win would be big. For Brad it would be his second win in a row, and for Denny it would be Toyota’s first win in over twenty races. Brad chased Denny for the final laps, gradually closing the distance between them. As he reached Hamlin’s bumper, it was clear that he would have to bump Hamlin out of the way to win. And at Martinsville, that is how it almost always has to happen. As the white flag flew both drivers were driving their hearts out trying to win. As they entered the final corner Brad went as low as he could, and bumped Denny’s rear bumper. Denny fish tailed it out of the final corner but managed to control his car and cross the finish line in first. It was Denny’s first win of the year, and his fifth at Martinsville.