MARTINSVILLE, Va. --- When rain turned to sleet and sleet to snow at tiny Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Denny Hamlin's team kept its cool in the final laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500.

The decision not to change tires during the final pit stop seemed curious, but it proved smart on the half-mile short track that seemed more like a skating rink over the final 100 laps.

New tires weren't much help on the cold, slippery concrete, and they certainly were no match for the track position Hamlin gained by staying on old tires. He improved his position by three spots during the final pit stop.

After that, he easily worked past Jeff Burton with 73 laps to go and ran away for a victory worth $207,391.

"We've had a lot of bad luck lately, so the curse is over, I hope," Hamlin said after finishing four car lengths ahead of Jeff Gordon. "We've been so close so many times. To finally break through means so much. Our car performed in the long run, and that's where we beat those guys."

Hamlin was in position to win two weeks ago at Bristol, Tenn., but his car had trouble getting fuel from the gas tank to the engine in the final five laps, and he sputtered to a sixth-place finish.

Gordon said new tires took too long to gain grip in the light rain and 39-degree temperatures at the end of the race. Cold tires and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow made any late-race passes nearly impossible.

"I was trying to figure out why my car had no grip in the last couple laps, then when I got out of the car I figured out why: It was raining," Gordon said. "I was spinning the tires that whole last run. Denny took (no tires), and that seemed to be the good call.

"It looked like it was snowing out there. I've seen worse conditions, but never worse conditions when we were running green flag laps. You have to thank the fans for staying here, and they saw a typical great Martinsville race - bumping and banging, all the great action that happens here."

Burton settled for third.

"The 11 (Hamlin) came up there pretty hard, and he got by me," Burton said. "... There were some pretty inconsiderate drivers -- actually just one in the (No.) 00 car (Michael McDowell). ... The 00 is going to learn some manners or I'm going to teach him some."

Hamlin's win gave Toyota its second victory of the season in the Sprint Cup Series. It also snapped a three-race winning streak for Hendrick Motorsports at the 60-year-old short track.

Gordon had second thoughts about his team's late strategy.

"I questioned why we took any tires," Gordon said. "There was no grip. I don't know what was going on there.

Reach Don Coble at

don.coble@morris.com.