Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin finished fifth in the Late Model Stock race won by Frank Deiny Jr. at Motor Mile Speedway on Saturday.

Benny Gordon celebrates with his pit crew after winning the Heritage Trucks 250 at Motor Mile Speedway on Saturday.

RADFORD -- On a night when Sprint Cup star Denny Hamlin returned to his racing roots, a pair of champions staged a duel that represented the best of Saturday-night short track racing.

Before Hamlin climbed into a Late Model Stock car at Motor Mile Speedway for the first time since 2004, Benny Gordon held off local favorite Jeff Agnew in a thrilling multilap shootout to win the Heritage Trucks 250 USAR Pro Cup Series feature.

Gordon executed an extended burnout on the frontstretch, celebrating his fifth win in eight career starts here.

"That's pretty good, isn't it?" Gordon said. "I love racing here. What a place!"

It's a place that Agnew knows well. The 43-year-old Floyd native began his career in a Late Model car years ago. And as he closed in on Gordon's bumper in the final 20 laps, he had a slew of well-wishers pulling for him in the grandstand.

Agnew repeatedly ducked inside Gordon on turn 4 but couldn't quite make the pass. The 1998 Pro Cup champ actually got Gordon's car to wiggle with nine laps to go, but it wasn't enough to slip by.

"Jeff had a better car," said Gordon, who is running a part-time Nationwide Series schedule this year. "I love racing with Jeff. I know he really wanted to win here. I really figured he was going to get around me and be a little rougher than he was. And if he would have been, that would have been fine."

Agnew must have been tempted. He's in the midst of perhaps his most difficult season in 12 years of Pro Cup racing, collecting three DNFs in six starts before Saturday. He entered the night 11th in points.

"It's a good night. We finished 250 laps," Agnew said. "I think we'll have something for them the rest of the year."

For Gordon, who has struggled in the Nationwide Series thus far, the return to Victory Lane was sweet.

"We knew what we were up against moving up," said Gordon, who also won the Pro Cup race at Motor Mile last season. "We've got three employees and myself."

His driving skill showed in the final laps Saturday, though. Gordon kept his car glued to the inside lane of the track. It appeared there was no way for Agnew to get by without wrecking him.

Agnew was satisfied that he'd done all he could.

"Pretty much," Agnew said. "He knew that. Benny's been good in enough in the years he's run this [series] to win a lot of races.

"He knew if he got on the bottom, it was going to be very hard for anyone to pass him."

Clay Rogers finished third, challenging Agnew for second on the final two laps. But Agnew avoided the kind of disaster that has plagued him all season and drew a hearty round of applause from the home crowd.

"It's good to run good anywhere right now," he said. "We've hit on a little something. If we can just keep making it a little bit better, we're going to have a lot to look forward to."

Hamlin -- in town during a Sprint Cup off week -- kept a low profile while the featured race ran. He qualified fourth for the 150-lap Late Model Stock race and challenged for the lead early and often in a division where the top four drivers are within 20 points of each other in the standings.

Midway through the race, Hamlin and Motor Mile regular Chad Harris raced side-by-side for the lead. Shortly thereafter, though, Hamlin's car flattened out and he finished fifth.

Frank Deiny Jr. won the race, followed by Harris and Philip Morris.