CUP: Hamlin Made Good On His Word As A Title Contender

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hamlin Made Good On His Word As A Title Contender

Buoyed by eight wins, Denny Hamlin just missed out on the 2010 championship...

Kenny Bruce | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted December 27, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Denny Hamlin enjoyed his best year ever in 2010. (Photo: Getty Images)

After he won the season-ending race at Homestead in 2009, Denny Hamlin said he would contend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in 2010.

And while Hamlin was seen as a favorite to unseat Jimmie Johnson for the title, few likely expected the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to enjoy the success that came his way.

Hamlin won a career-best eight races, doubling his career total, and was atop the points standings when this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup got under way. And despite losing the lead after a 12th-place finish at Kansas, he was able to battle back and regain it five weeks later.

He led Johnson by 15 points heading into the final race before the title slipped away with a 14th-place finish.

While obviously disappointed, Hamlin said the near-miss in the title battle would only help prepare him and his No. 11 team for the 2011 season.

“It’s going to be fuel for me,” Hamlin said. “I’m just going to try to get better. There are things that I can improve on as a driver. I’ve got to work on qualifying. I’ll study that in the offseason. I’ve got to work on my outright speed on the short [runs], on restarts. Those are the things that I’ve got to get better at, and as a team I’ll debrief with them and tell them [how] I feel like our cars need to be better in the future.

“I can assure you that we’re going to hold our heads high because we came close this year. We had a great year.”

Contending for the title seemed to be more of a pipe dream for the team after Hamlin stumbled out of the gate, finishing 17th or worse in his first five starts. With plans to undergo knee surgery the week after the spring race at Martinsville, few expected the team to bounce back as quickly as it did.

Hamlin won the Martinsville race, and then showed just how badly he wanted his team to succeed by staying in the car at Phoenix — just 11 days after the surgery.

The 30th-place finish might have looked bad in the rundown, but the effort spoke volumes.

“I knew that if I got out of the car, I was going to hear all kinds of stuff from everybody else saying I gave up on the team,” Hamlin said after the race. “That’s one thing I’m not going to do is give up on these guys. … I felt like it was important for me to be in that car.”

Hamlin proceeded to win four of the next eight races to climb to third in the points standings.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said he expects the team to build on its 2010 success and continue to improve.

“Denny and Mike [Ford, crew chief] have an unusual feeling for each other. Their team here is very solid … and I think they proved that this year.

And, of course, Denny is maturing. He’s still young so hopefully we’ve got a lot of good years in front of us.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kenny Bruce

SceneDaily.com

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