That Denny Hamlin. Such a friendly fellow. Look at him there, giving a broshake to that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan! He's an equal-opportunity driver!

He's also found his mojo six races in. After being tagged as the 2010 version of Guy Who Will Unseat Jimmie Johnson, Really We Promise, Hamlin vanished into the murky depths of The Field, watching from back in the pack as guys like Paul Menard and Scott Speed ran up front.

Combine that with the fact that Hamlin was driving on a wrecked knee, and you've got the makings of a season that could very easily go in the biohazard bag along with the remains of Hamlin's cartilage.

But then Denny came through, charging to the front and overcoming a, shall we say, controversial decision to pit with what turned out to be four hairpin laps remaining. And as he drove, the Fox team noted that he had to get to Charlotte by 5:30 to get the surgery performed on his knee on Monday. (What, they were going to slam the doors on Denny's face?)

Anyway, he missed

So. Nice finish Monday at Martinsville, huh?

On an afternoon when Denny Hamlin dominated, it appeared that a late four-tire call would doom his chances for victory. But whether by luck or by design, a late caution put Hamlin in the second row of the green-white-checker restart, and when leaders Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth tangled with one another, the race suddenly became Hamlin's once again.

Gordon, who was mere feet from winning the race prior to the GWC -- he was less than a hundred feet from the start/finish line when Kyle Busch spun, bringing out the yellow flag instead of the white and restarting the field for a two-lap sprint -- appeared to have the upper hand. But Kenseth made his play, and Gordon didn't care too much for it. You can see where Kenseth ended up in the photo above, and watch the full video here.

"The 17 got into the back of me," Gordon said. "I made sure he wasn't going to win the race after that."

"I guess it looked like it was my fault," Kenseth said with

Kind of a shame that the best finish of the season so far had to happen on a Monday afternoon when a fair portion of the population had to, you know, work for a living. But fear not -- we've got the video for you right here. And on Tuesday morning, we begin the deconstruction. Start preparing your arguments now, fans of Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

Weekday racing! Is there anything finer? Well, not if you have to work. That kind of sucks. But for those of you who can get to a television (or can sneak open the Yahoo! Sports NASCAR chat on your desktop) Monday is a fine day indeed.

Everybody's wondering if Jimmie Johnson is going to win his fourth race of six this season. And let's be honest, he probably is. But that shouldn't deter you from watching, chatting, and yapping right here about the race, now should it? Heck no. Look at Kasey Kahne there, all Fred Astaire-like while he sings in the rain. You think he's going to mail it in just because Jimmie's going to win? Nope, and neither should you. Get on it in the comments and on the chat, and enjoy the weekday racing!

It takes a special mindset to strap yourself into a NASCAR car and rocket for nearly 200 mph for four hours at a stretch. But outside of those four hours, and assorted minutes of testing and repair, you've got a lot of time to sit around. A lot. And that can turn the mind in some, shall we say, interesting directions.

Rain spattered the proceedings all weekend at Martinsville, forcing drivers to spend lots of time inside their haulers and mobile homes. Veteran NASCAR reporter Dustin Long spent time discussing the ways of the world with several drivers, and one in particular yielded up some fascinating quotes.

Ryan Newman is a former Daytona 500 champion and one of the few college graduates behind the wheel in NASCAR. (He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue.) And he's got opinions; oh, does he have opinions. In conversation with Long, Newman ran through some typical topics -- his racing history, his dogs -- the talk took a strange turn:

"I'm pretty sure [the original

As a kid, open wheel and stock car racing were my passions. I'd plan my spring and summer Sundays around races and even became a big fan of a local realtor's half hour Sunday homes show because it usually came on right before a race.

Drag racing was off the radar screen. Sure, I read the briefs in the paper the next morning, but until a few years ago, I didn't start seeking out any NHRA events on the television.

My interest slowly grew, and I had the chance to cover my first drag race at Heartland Park in Topeka last year. I was hooked.

Due to the unseasonably hot weather, no one could make any full length passes down the strip because of the lack of grip, but for this first-timer, that didn't deter the rush when a car did make it the full 1,000 feet.

And it wasn't very often when both cars made it down the dragstrip under full power, so I can't imagine what it would be like to be a fan at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte this weekend.

The NHRA ran a four-wide exhibition

It's the dream of every company: get your logo on the hood of a NASCAR car and burn your image into millions of eyeballs. It comes with a price, yes, but many companies are willing to pay that price, as long as things are going well.

But occasionally, things go bad, and they go bad in a hurry. Back in February, Graceway Pharmaceuticals LLC sponsored Aric Almirola and Billy Ballew Motorsports in the truck series, hoping to win greater exposure for its "Aldara" product used to treat skin conditions such as basal cell carcinoma and -- cringe warning here -- genital and perianal warts. (Told you.)

Anyway, the bad news is, a generic product was launched in late February that Graceway claims infringes on Aldara. Even so, Graceway claims its Aldara sales have dropped by 85 percent.

As a result, the company has had to lay off about 40 percent of its employees. And while it's easy to say that the company should be paying employees rather than funding NASCAR sponsorships, that would be a false

The Martinsville hot dog. Is there a more legendary food in all of NASCAR?

Its ingredients are simple: pork, mechanically separated chicken, water, salt, as well as 2 percent or less of corn syrup, extrose, beef, flavorings, potassium lactate, sodium phosphates, sodium diacetate, sodium erythrobate, sodium nitrite and Red 40. Just like Mom used to use.

It's also allegedly only 110 calories. (Well, not including the slaw, chili, et. al.) They're so famous, Martinsville brought a shipment all the way down to Daytona earlier this year during the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on record as eating three to four a day.

And this weekend, Martinsville will dole out an estimated 50,000 of these bright red meat sacks, starting as early as 8 a.m. Hot dogs for breakfast? And for only a couple bucks? Must be a NASCAR track!

If you've sampled one of these delicacies and lived to tell the tale, by all means, share your story in the comments below.