By Dan Gelston

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) _ 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 overcame the early blown rubber, surged late and held on to solidify his spot as NASCAR's top rookie.

``I honestly didn't think it would be this easy,'' the 25-year-old Hamlin said.

Hamlin's introduction to the 2 1/2-mile triangle _ which he said was like driving on salt flats _ came Friday. But he had logged enough virtual hours to get comfortable, playing video games for three hours a day to familiarize himself with the comparatively flat Pocono track.

``It helps with track awareness,'' he 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.

Nothing slowed down Hamlin in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Chevrolet _ not even his tire problems _ winning a race in his 21st career start and jumping from 11th to ninth in the points standings. He's the third driver to win from the pole this season and he led 83 of the 200 laps.

``We're trying to get into the Chase and this is a great way to do it,'' Hamlin said.

Hamlin is trying to become the first rookie to qualify for the Chase in its three-year history. Hamlin is only the third driver to win his first time out at Pocono. The other two: Richard Petty and Carl Edwards.

``I knew right from the get-go we had a very strong car,'' Hamlin said.

Kurt Busch, who won here last July, was second.

Stewart, driving all 500 miles two weeks after breaking his right shoulder blade, gutted his way to a third place finish; he completed 38 laps at Dover International Speedway last week before using Ricky Rudd as a relief driver, but had no such plan Sunday.

Stewart felt close to full strength, with no soreness.

``I feel like I could run another 500-mile race right now and still feel the same,'' said Stewart, who moved up a spot to fourth in the standings.

Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five. Points leader Jimmie Johnson was 10th. His overall lead was sliced to 48 points over Matt Kenseth.

Gordon was knocked out of the race _ and the points top 10 _ 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.

The race was red flagged and delayed for 13 minutes as the foam barrier blocks were replaced. The hood of Gordon's car flew back as it was driven off the track.

Gordon was checked and released at the infield medical centre 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. ``One of the worst things you can ever ask for is the brakes to go out in turn one of Pocono.''

Hamlin put his No. 11 Chevrolet on the pole in his first career Pocono 500 start, and used that to dominate the first quarter of the race until he blew his left rear tire on the 51st lap. A hole also was ripped in his left fender.

``The whole crew did a great job putting the car back together,'' Hamlin said.

Hamlin spun into the grass, but made a nice save and avoided damaging the body. Hamlin, who won his first pole of the season with a lap of 169.638 mph, fell as far back as 40th before remarkably racing back into the lead shortly past the halfway point.

``I thought our hopes had gone down the drain,'' Hamlin said.

Some of the expected contenders were crippled by pit miscues. Kasey Kahne's crew dropped a jack on one pit stop and Edwards had a disastrous pit shortly after taking the lead for the first time just before the halfway point. His crew dropped the jack, was slow to recover and nearly 83 seconds in a stop that put Edwards two laps off the lead.

Hamlin is the first rookie to win a Cup race since Kyle Busch won at Phoenix last November.