Hamlin took rubber match

LOUDON, N.H. - Denny Hamlin said his victory in last year's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his only triumph of the season and his third overall, ranked as "definitely one of my top highlights of my career."

The reason? Hamlin held off a late charge by runner-up Jeff Gordon. Hamlin vaulted to the lead after crew chief Mike Ford called for a two-tire pit stop on Hamlin's final stop. Hamlin thwarted Gordon, who had made a four-tire pit stop, slip-sliding through the last corner as he came down the frontstretch to take the checkered flag.

"It was really the first win that I got where I really had to battle someone at the end," Hamlin said Thursday during a break from his visit to Community Servings in Jamaica Plain, where he and several members of the Joe Gibbs Racing crew helped deliver a Toyota Prius to the organization that home-delivers free meals daily to 700 terminally ill patients, their families, and caregivers throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

"It was really that first win where somebody was coming on strong and you really had to worry about hitting your marks and not making any mistakes," Hamlin added. "The two [wins] before that at Pocono, I just kind of drove away from everyone."

Gordon indicated if the race had gone one more lap, he might have won it.

Now, he will have to go the extra mile. Tomorrow's race has been extended one lap and rebranded the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

"This is one of those tracks where two tires can really, really pay off for you, especially if you get out in clean air," Gordon said yesterday. "We came out of that last pit stop, and I think we were third or fourth, and had to fight really hard with Martin Truex to get to Denny. That fight right there didn't allow me to get to Denny soon enough and [led] to a last-lap banzai effort. It was a great battle."

Hamlin seemed to recreate that battle March 30 in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville, Va., where he outdueled a hard-charging Gordon for his first win this year. Gordon, meanwhile, has gone winless through the first 16 races of the season.

Will a two-tire pit strategy win out again at NHMS?

"Obviously, last year we won the race on two tires, but I didn't feel like we had the best car," Ford acknowledged. "It was track position that won the race for us. Many times, if you're in the front and you're leading, you tend to go for four tires thinking you're only going to back up a couple of spots, but you're going to have fresh tires and you're going to be able to get by guys who got two tires, but that's not the case.

"It wasn't the case at Loudon last year, so I'd say it'd be a little more difficult this year."

Said Hamlin, "This track has just been really good to us. New Hampshire is one of those flat 1-mile tracks that we always seem to perform well at."

Three for three

Hendrick Motorsports will part ways with Casey Mears, meaning the No. 5, driven last year by Kyle Busch, will have its third driver in as many seasons. "It's tough," said Busch. "That team obviously expected to run similar to what we did last year, but really, Hendrick Motorsports has not run up to what they were last year and their standards of last year." At this time last year, Hendrick cars had 10 wins in 16 races. This year, Hendrick has visited Victory Lane just once, with Jimmie Johnson doing the honors at Phoenix. Asked if Mears, whose only victory with Hendrick Motorsports came last May in the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., fell victim to the team's championship-level expectations established by Gordon and Johnson, Gordon said, "Coming to Hendrick Motorsports for the first time could make it difficult for anyone." Pointing to the first-half success of Dale Earnhardt's assimilation into the Hendrick stable, Gordon added, "But look at Dale Jr. - he's come in and done it, so it's not impossible." . . . With many Cup teams looking to sign young drivers with the hope of cultivating tomorrow's stars, Roush Fenway Racing signed seven-year veteran Greg Biffle to a three-year contract extension through 2011. "I believe that one thing that's going to happen as this sport becomes bigger and the money becomes bigger, you're going to see contracts become more sturdy and have more legs," Jeff Burton said.

Busch whacked

Kyle Busch backed out of driving for Kevin "Bono" Manion in today's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race because his boss at Joe Gibbs Racing, J.D. Gibbs, balked at the idea of seeing one of his drivers get knocked around by the Mods, as was the case last year with Tony Stewart, who got punted and was sent airborne down the backstretch. "I didn't even really know all that until this past week, when J.D. called me and asked what were my real feelings on this Modified race," Busch said. "I said that I was doing it for fun and it was no big deal and then they told me about that. I was like, 'Well, if you're not comfortable with it, and you don't feel good about it, then let's not do it.' " Busch will pull double duty today when he competes in the No. 18 Gibbs car in the Nationwide Series race, then runs over to Epping, N.H., to drive his Super Late Model car in tonight's Pro All-Star Series North Series race at All-Star Speedway. "We ran there last year and we won the race and had the win taken away from us," said Busch, "so hopefully this year we don't have that problem and we can try to win it right." . . . Two NASCAR manufacturers yesterday announced significant management changes at the top of their racing programs. Toyota announced that Lee White, senior vice president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development, would be named president of TRD effective Tuesday, replacing Jim Aust who announced his plans to retire Monday, while Brian Wolfe, a 26-year Ford veteran, was named director of Ford Racing Technology, replacing Dan Davis, who for the last 11 year's has overseen Ford's racing efforts and will retire Aug. 1 after 32 years with the company.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com