CUP: Hamlin Second At N.H.

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hamlin Second At N.H.

Denny Hamlin Finishes Second...

Tom Jensen | Posted September 20, 2009 Loudon, NH

Denny Hamlin driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota finished second in the NASCAR Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Denny Hamlin wasn’t able to win his second race in a row, but he finished a strong second behind Mark Martin in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

And that should bode well for Hamlin’s chances at a first NASCAR Sprint Cup title, as the Virginia driver left the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup 35 points behind Martin, the same as three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson.

To come away from New Hampshire second was a good result for Hamlin, particularly since he didn’t especially like how his car was running in the early stages.

“It was a solid run,” said Hamlin, who won last week in Richmond and has three top-five and five top-10 finishes in his last five races. “You know, we didn't really have a race winning car until probably 50 (laps) to go after we came out there on the green flag pit stop and we were catching the 5 (Martin) and the 2 (Kurt Busch) really, really fast, a half second a lap, and I was like, ‘Man, if this thing goes green we've got a shot at it.’”

Unfortunately for Hamlin, though, the spate of late-race cautions all found him restarting on the bottom lane, not the fast way around the 1.058-mile NHIS oval.

“The caution came out, and I knew that wasn't going to be good for us because it put us in the bottom lane,” he said. “I got killed every single restart on the bottom lane, and I'd get stuck three wide in the first corner and then I'd have to battle my way back. To come out second when I should have been about fifth with those restarts, I was pretty proud of that.”

Hamlin was also happy that he survived some very aggressive driving by his fellow Chase racers, several of whom showed they were perhaps a bit nervous in the opening race of NASCAR’s playoff round.

“I think everyone is just — I think everyone panics,” said Hamlin. “When you see at the beginning of the race the top 10 and they're all Chase guys, you're like, ‘Man, I've got to fight for every position I can.’ And track position means so much that I think every hole that you see on the racetrack you immediately go for because it doesn't matter if your car is two tenths faster than the car in front of you. If he runs your line, you're not going to get around him.”

And that made the race challenging on the nerves.

“Everyone is just jumping to every opportunity that they can, and that's why you see the three-wide is everyone is just trying to make up all the spots they can, and a lot of it has to do with the excitement of the start of the Chase,” said Hamlin. “Five races in, not sure if you'll see that.”

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

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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