Long Pond, Pa. ? Rookie Denny Hamlin never turned a lap at Pocono Raceway before this weekend.

Well, not in reality, anyway.

So for his first career Nextel Cup win, the 25-year-old owes some credit to the makers of his video game.

“They got every tree on the site, everything’s mapped out perfect,” Hamlin said Sunday after winning the Pocono 500. “Visually, I know where my letoff points are.”

There was nothing virtual about the realities of this win, though: First, a blown tire sent Hamlin spinning. Then NASCAR’s elite drivers pushed him hard down the stretch.

But he never lost his poise, showing Tony Stewart, his champion teammate, that he might have some company in the points race.

“I think he’s on the verge of something big down the road,” Stewart said.

Hamlin held off the challengers – including Stewart – on the final five tenuous laps after the caution came out late following Jeff Gordon’s harrowing accident. Kurt Busch, who won here last July, was second.

Stewart gutted his way to a third-place finish. Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

Gordon was knocked out of the race by a late, frightening wreck. His brakes failed, sending his car hard into the wall with 10 laps left and destroying his No. 24 Chevrolet.

Gordon was never able to turn, cutting through the grass and mud, leaving parts strewn across the track. After several tense moments, he climbed out. Gordon was checked and released at the infield medical center and said he was fine other than a minor headache.

“I’ve either got a really hard head, or those guys at Hendrick Motorsports just build an awesome race car because that was one of the hardest hits I’ve ever taken,” Gordon said.