Denny Hamlin hopes he’s finally put his frustration behind him, not only at Martinsville Speedway, but throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Hamlin had twice finished in the top three on the smallest, tightest track in the series, and said he felt like bad luck had let several other wins slip away, too.

At Atlanta three weeks ago, he had just moved into second place when his power steering failed. Then in the last race at Bristol, a fuel pickup problem on the restart of a two-lap sprint to the finish cost him a chance to win, and he finished sixth.

For 389 laps, the race looked like it would be another victory for Hendrick Motorsports at the track it has dominated by winning eight of the last 10 races.

Hendrick drivers led 371 of those laps, but Hamlin and fellow Virginia native Burton made decisions under the next-to-last caution that allowed them to move up front.

Hamlin then ruined Burton’s decision to stay out while the rest of the leaders pitted, passing him on the 427th lap and holding on for his fourth career victory.

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Spain’s Dani Pedrosa grabbed the world championship lead with a dominant display in Sunday’s Spanish MotoGP. The Repsol Honda rider set a cracking pace after starting from second on the grid, serving notice of his intentions by setting a new lap record on the second lap. He quickly left his rivals in his wake, leading all the way to notch up his 28th career win and fifth in MotoGP. Italian Valentino Rossi finished second at 2.883sec with Pedrosa’s Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo third at 4.339.

Per Dani Pedrosa è la quinta vittoria in MotoGP in carriera. Ed ha un sapore speciale, perché conquistata davanti ai suoi 130mila tifosi e con un margine ampio su tutti gli altri (2″883 su Rossi, 4″339 su Lorenzo). Per Valentino, al podio numero 100 in carriera (il primo con gomme Bridgestone) il secondo posto è un buon segnale sulla strada verso il Mondiale, mentre il vecchio re, Casey Stoner, mastica amaro.