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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Hamlin Tries To Get Up To Speed
Denny Hamlin was one of the preseason favorites to capture the Sprint Cup title...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 24, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Denny Hamlin has three NASCAR Sprint Cup wins in 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

NASCAR racing has a way of humbling even the best and the brightest in short order.

When he ended the 2009 season with a commanding victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Denny Hamlin was already being hailed as the man most likely to dethrone Jimmie Johnson from his position atop the Sprint Cup world, a place he's held for four consecutive seasons.

So far, though, 2010 hasn't exactly worked out the way Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford had it planned. Through the first two races of the year, Hamlin has led just seven laps, finishing 17th in the Daytona 500 and 29th in the Auto Club 500. That was most assuredly not what Hamlin and Ford had in mind to start the year off for the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

Hamlin & Co. will have a chance to get headed back in the right direction this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's third Cup race of the season, the Shelby American.

It could be a challenge; in four previous Cup starts at the 1.5-mile LVMS oval, Hamlin has yet to lead a single lap. His best finish came in 2007, with a third-place run. Last year, he finished 22nd after being involved in two on-track incidents. Needless to say, he will be looking for a strong run after starting this season behind where he envisioned being at the end of last year.

“Vegas is a place where we have actually run really well in the past and even though last season wasn’t as good, we still feel like we can go there and really challenge for a win,” said Hamlin. “That’s our mentality despite what happened in Daytona and California and it will be for the rest of the season. We know from past experience that it is a very long season and we have some time to work with.”

Hamlin said he's not too worried about his early season struggles, as they've sort of become par for the course for the team. “I guess that’s the way it works for us — usually in a bit of a hole coming out of Daytona and then forced to chip away at the points,” said Hamlin. “The result at California didn’t help but we are focused on getting our performance right and we feel like things will fall into place. Hopefully we are getting some our bad luck out of the way early in the season when it can only hurt you so bad. We need that all out of the way by the end of the season.”

Crew chief Ford, who has been with Hamlin for his entire Sprint Cup career is optimistic based on the growth and maturity Hamlin showed in the second half of last season.


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