When Denny Hamlin's grandmother, Thelma Hamlin, died last week there was a part of Denny that didn't want to be at the track this weekend.

With a heavy heart, Hamlin came to Pocono Raceway and snapped a 50-race winless skid. He took the checkered flag at the Pennsylvania 500 on Monday and dedicated this victory to his late grandmother.

"She understands the competition of the sport and she understands how much she means to me," Hamlin said. "Like today, she's pretty proud."

Hamlin held off Juan Pablo Montoya over the final riveting laps, then choked up with grief in Victory Lane. Hamlin knew what the win, not only meant for him, but also the rest of his family. It was a perfect way to honor his grandmother. Hamlin couldn't hold back the tears after his victory, three days after the passing of his grandmother.

"We definitely had some angels with us today," Hamlin said.

Hamlin, with the victory at Pocono, is now fifth in points and the only rider in the top 12 that is employed by Joe Gibbs racing.

Three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson battled an unruly car all day, falling three laps down and needing a carburetor change with 60 laps left before rebounding with a solid 13th-place finish.

Tony Stewart, who won Pocono in June, finished 10th and increased his points lead to 197 over Johnson.

JJuan Montoya rebounded nicely after the crushing disappointment of losing a victory last week at Indianapolis because of a pit road speeding penalty. Montoya insisted when he got to Pocono that he had moved on and kept his eye solely on the points standings. He went from 10th to eighth in the standings and is in good shape to make the Chase for the first time.

Montoya used the same No. 42 Chevrolet as last week.

Clint Bowyer, who wasn't won in 47 races, moved up to 15th in the Chase standings. There are five races left before the 12-driver field is set for the 10-race sprint for the title.

Here are full results from Pocono Raceway:

1 Denny Hamlin
2 Juan Pablo Montoya
3 Clint Bowyer
4 Sam Hornish Jr.
5 Kasey Kahne
6 Brian Vickers
7 Mark Martin
8 Jeff Gordon
9 Kurt Busch
10 Tony Stewart
11 Matt Kenseth
12 Kevin Harvick
13 Jimmie Johnson
14 Ryan Newman
15 Greg Biffle
16 Kyle Busch
17 A.J. Allmendinger
18 Carl Edwards
19 Martin Truex Jr.
20 Jamie McMurray
21 Jeff Burton
22 David Ragan
23 Scott Speed
24 Elliott Sadler
25 Casey Mears
26 Paul Menard
27 Joey Logano
28 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
29 David Reutimann
30 John Andretti
31 Michael Waltrip
32 David Stremme
33 Robby Gordon
34 Marcos Ambrose
35 Reed Sorenson
36 Bobby Labonte
37 Patrick Carpentier
38 Sterling Marlin
39 Joe Nemechek
40 Dave Blaney
41 David Gilliland
42 Tony Raines
43 Mike Wallace