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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Hamlin Caps Season On Strong Note
Denny Hamlin finished ahead of Jimmie Johnson five times in the Chase...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 22, 2009   Homestead, FL
Denny Hamlin crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin showed on Sunday that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future, as he scored a dominating victory in the season-ending Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

And yet he still has to be scratching his head, wondering what might have been.

Hamlin’s victory at Homestead was his fourth of the season and his third in the final 11 races of the year. In the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hamlin scored two victories, two runner-up finishes and six top-five finishes. But engine failures at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, combined with a crash at Auto Club Speedway, meant that Hamlin finished fifth in points, 317 behind champion Jimmie Johnson.

“With three DNFs — you look at the final point standings and call a DNF 100 points and we were right there,” said Hamlin. “But those guys (Johnson’s team) have been the standard. They haven’t made mistakes and that’s who we ultimately want to beat are the guys that are a dominating force like them. I think we’re showing that we have that strength to compete with those guys. It’s just that they’ve done a phenomenal job. Four in a row for them and I couldn’t be happier for him (Jimmie Johnson). There’s no more deserving champion than them.”

Still, on balance, Hamlin said he was extremely happy with the progress that his Joe Gibbs Racing team had made over the course of the season, finishing on an extremely strong note. “It’s been a great year,” said Hamlin. “To get four wins and to win on a track that people don’t necessarily expect us to win on is a great deal. … Starting this car in back and coming to the front was a show. We hope to be where Jimmie is at in a couple of years and we’re showing that we do have a little bit of strength.”

Hamlin had a great night at Homestead, leading 71 of 267 laps on the night, including the last 45. The team was also excellent on pit road, consistently picking up places during cautions.

Also, the driver and crew chief Mike Ford have dramatically improved their communication on the season. That much was evident within the race. “Me and Mike went back and forth with adjustments all day and just kept getting it a little bit better,” said Hamlin. “Then we’d go take a step back and he’d make it two steps better the next run. That shows what communication that we have between us and how strong our relationship is.”

It also gives the team a lot of hope for next year.

“I don’t see us getting weaker soon,” said Hamlin.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to




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