Associated Press

Denny Hamlin crosses the finish line to win Sunday's Sprint Cup TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

MARTINSVILLE -- For the second time during the Chase, NASCAR officials delayed throwing a caution flag Sunday on the last lap even though a parked car remained near the finish line.

It's a delicate situation series officials are placed. Throw the caution too early and the parked car could drive off and fans are left with an anticlimactic finish. Wait too long and there's the chance more cars could wreck.

Sunday at Martinsville, NASCAR officials waited before throwing the caution with John Andretti's car parked on the inside of the track near the finish line. A similar thing happened at New Hampshire in September.

For a series that prides itself on its attention to safety, such actions at the end of races raise some concern.

"I see that they are consistent and waited until the last possible second to throw the caution out so that the finish could be as exciting as possible,'' Jimmie Johnson said. "It makes me a little nervous as I'm charging into the start/finish line there's a car sitting there. I wish it would be thrown a little bit earlier for safety reasons."

Hamlin said he didn't have a problem with how NASCAR reacted.

"They're doing all they can,'' he said. "They don't know what's going on inside that race car, if the guy has given up on starting it or is he continuing to try to get it going."

A NASCAR statement through spokesman Kerry Tharp stated:

"We do everything we possibly can to let the race play out until the end, all the time keeping the safety aspect at the forefront of any calls we make. (Andretti's car) was located towards the bottom half portion of the track, trying to start back up. Once we determined that he wasn't going to be able to start back up, we displayed the caution flag as the field approached turn 4 and the race was over."

Andretti said he would have gotten out of the way if he could but the car was too damaged.

"It wasn't a bad call,'' Andretti said of NASCAR delaying the caution. "To me, I wasn't in a great position, but I wasn't in an overly dangerous position.''

Four-time champ?

Understandably, there will be fans who hate to see a team or individual dominate a sport, such as Jimmie Johnson has done with three consecutive championships and a possible fourth title in a row looming.

For as much as some might not like Johnson's dominance, just consider what he's done the Chase in five years. In 56 Chase races, he's:

Won 17 (30.3 percent).

Finished first or second in 26 (46.4 percent).

Scored 31 top-five finishes (55.3 percent).

Had 42 top-10 finishes (75.0 percent).

Watch out

Juan Pablo Montoya will need a heavy dose of luck to win this year's title but, if nothing else, he's learning in his first Chase what it takes to win a title.

"We're learning to see what we have to do, how aggressive you've got to run,'' he said after finishing third on Sunday. "I think one of the things we learned, next year, somehow we've got to win some races before the Chase (and collect the 10-point bonus for each win)."

Griese suspended

ESPN confirmed Monday that college football analyst Bob Griese has been suspended for one game for his comments about Juan Pablo Montoya during a game on Saturday.

As ESPN promoted the broadcast of the Martinsville race and showed the top five in points, one announcer asked where Montoya was (he had fallen to sixth in the standings after Charlotte). Griese, laughing, said: "He's out having a taco.''