SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Denny Hamlin (foreground) had Jimmie Johnson in his rearview mirror in the final laps of the TUMS Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, but held on for the victory.

MARTINSVILLE -- After more than three hours of rootin'-tootin' racin' where tire marks were plastered on cars like sponsor decals, Sunday's finish in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 appeared set to match the earlier action.

A two-lap shootout pitted Denny Hamlin against his Martinsville Speedway rival Jimmie Johnson, as Juan Pablo Montoya lurked behind.

Hamlin, who lost the spring race here when contact with Johnson knocked him out of the lead late, never let Johnson or Montoya close enough to ruin this day.

Instead, Hamlin accelerated on the final restart like someone racing to the nearest rest stop. And in a way he was.

After beating his foes and performing burnouts and doughnuts, Hamlin radioed his crew: "Find me a Porta John, I've got to [go] like you wouldn't believe.''

So, there you are, the answer to the most frequently asked question of drivers: What do you do if you have go to the restroom during a race? For Hamlin, he waited until he won.

Good thing. Although out of contention for this championship -- and Johnson is making it difficult for anyone to have a shot at unseating him -- Hamlin earned his career-best third victory of the season. Johnson finished second with Montoya third.

Hamlin's win comes after back-to-back poor finishes ended any hope of a championship. He admits he's reset his goal to finish in the top five in points. He moved to ninth.

"It sucks to not have an opportunity to win the championship this year,'' Hamlin said after his seventh career victory and second at Martinsville. "Hopefully, we're setting ourselves up to be one of the favorites next year.''

It's hard to imagine Johnson won't also be a favorite next year. His runner-up result lowered his average finish in this year's Chase to 3.0 and extended his points lead as the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway.

The inevitability of Johnson's record-breaking fourth consecutive title is beginning to wear on him. He snapped after the race to a reporter's question about how he felt going into Talladega.

"I'm so tired of answering this question,'' he said. "I think you guys can all figure it out.''

To be fair, Johnson has faced the question almost constantly since the Chase began. His team's near-perfect run in the Chase lead some to believe that if he's not collected in a multi-car crash at Talladega, he'll again be hoisting the champion's trophy at Homestead next month.

So, in essence, Talladega could be a last stand for the competition.

It's not like his foes can do more, though.

"Are you kidding me?'' said Mark Martin, who finished eighth and fell to 118 points behind Johnson in the standings. "How could it change? If you're trying to win, you sure as heck start out trying to win. And we're trying to win now.''

Many of the drivers drove that way even early. NASCAR warned at least four drivers for aggressive driving. Montoya and Jeff Gordon engaged in a door-handle-to-door-handle body slam not even one-quarter of the way into the race.

The contact led Gordon to radio his team and say: "What the ... is wrong with him? He's got the best car out here and doesn't know what to do with it.''

They talked after the race and Montoya said "we're good.''

So was Hamlin most of the day. He started 17th, hung around the fringe of the top 10 the first 100 laps, later pitted out of sequence with the leaders and took the lead for the first time on lap 183. His car improved as the race progressed, while Johnson, who led often early, saw his car's handling go away.

That helped Hamlin lead the final 139 laps. Even so, it wasn't easy.

Johnson closed on Hamlin and had a chance to take the lead with about 40 laps to go. Hamlin's car hit the curb in turn 2 and Johnson slipped inside. Hamlin blocked and Johnson was not far enough forward to defend the position. With a championship at stake, Johnson backed off.

"After that I could match his laps, but he would just start inching away from me and had the best car there at the end,'' said Johnson, who has combined with Hamlin to win each of the last seven Martinsville races.

There was no catching Hamlin this time. Yes, Hamlin had a fast car, but never underestimate the speed of a driver when he's in a hurry to get somewhere, whether it's the finish line or a Porta John.