Notebook: Hamlin holds serve in Chase opener

LOUDON, N.H. -- Clearly, Mark Martin did what he wanted to do in Sunday's Sylvania 300. But so did Denny Hamlin, who ran second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the first race of the Chase.

Despite being pinned to the inside on a succession of late restarts, Hamlin powered his way past Juan Montoya during a three-lap run to the finish to claim the runner-up position. The result left him tied for second in the standings with Jimmie Johnson, 35 points behind Martin.

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Hamlin took advantage of Martin's conservative run into Turn 1 on the next-to-last lap, a circumstance that kept Montoya on the inside lane (watch video).

"I was the same way," Hamlin said. "I was stuck in third on every single restart and the 48 [Johnson] was on the outside, and I kept running into him because I was trying to gain positions, but the air is so bad down there that you can't go anywhere.

"The 42 [Montoya] was in a bad spot. Even though his car may have been quicker, it didn't matter, because the 5 [Martin] had position on him, and the 5 used it to his advantage. He just kind of held the 42 low, and when he did that, there's just no grip in your race car."

At a clear disadvantage on the restarts, Hamlin felt he got the best finish possible.

"I got killed every single restart on the bottom lane, and I'd get stuck three-wide in the first corner, and then I'd have to battle my way back," Hamlin said. "To come out second when I should have been about fifth with those restarts, I was pretty proud of that."

Collision clobbers Busch

Kurt Busch's sixth-place finish wasn't a bad start to the Chase, but it could have been better, had his No. 2 Dodge not run into David Ragan's Ford on pit road under caution on Lap 162. Nevertheless, the collision turned out to be a mixed blessing (watch video).

Busch

Busch was leaving his pits after a fuel-only stop as Ragan was entering his pit stall. The contact did minor damage to the nose of Busch's car and sent Ragan spinning backwards into his pit box.

"It was a fight," said Busch, who led 33 laps. "We had a good car. You could have thrown a blanket over the five that finished up front. It was just a matter of which [pit] sequence came through. What hurt us the most was the accident on pit road, [but] that put us on the right sequence. So we were good after that.

"[The contact with Ragan came on] a fuel-only stop. It happens every time. Fuel-only stops put everybody in jeopardy. I just didn't see him. It happened at the last minute. ... I don't know how the damage affected it, but the car was definitely off after that."

Stewart wants regular-season recognition

Tony Stewart isn't complaining about the way NASCAR resets the points when the Chase starts.

The two-time series champion knows the rules are the rules and besides, he won his second title during the second year of the Chase in 2005.

But after dominating the regular season, Stewart admits he'd like something --anything really -- for his efforts after his points lead was erased.

"I think there should be a $1 million bonus to be leading the points, and not just because it's us," said Stewart. "I think there should be something. It doesn't upset me that the points get upset, but I do think there should be a reward for the team that is leading after 26 weeks. That's an accomplishment."

Stewart clinched his Chase spot weeks ago and spent the last two months biding his time until the Chase started. If there was something else out there for teams to shoot for during the regular season, it might make for better racing.

"It gives them something to compete for," he said. "I mean, once you get locked in, what else is there to compete for besides those 10 bonus points? You'd have something to race for, some sort of reward. I don't necessarily think it has to be rewarded during the Chase. I think something that rewards you for that anytime is fine."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.