Denny Hamlin never finished worse than 6th in each of his 5 previous starts at Pocono, the site of his rookie season first career victory. Last week, however, he logged a disappointing 23rd at what is easily his best track.
Despite handling issues that ultimately kept the team from challenging for the victory, the team more than accomplished the second goal as they enacted a great fuel strategy, and Hamlin stayed calm behind the wheel to deliver an eighth-place finish in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen. The result sees Hamlin climb from tenth to ninth in the points standing heading to Michigan next weekend and he now sits 83 points ahead of Clint Bowyer in 13th.
From the drop of the green flag, Hamlin was never quite as comfortable as he felt in practice on Saturday. Handling issues left him unable to drive the #11 FedEx Ground Camry as deep into the corner as he would have liked, and as much as he needed to in order to hold off the cars behind him. He fell from his starting position of tenth back to twelfth within ten laps and held that position as the field reached the first fuel window.
With 21 laps remaining, Hamlin restarted sixth and had just dropped to seventh place before Ryan Newman spun his #12 Dodge on the turn to the main straight and nearly caught the #11 as Hamlin tried to squeak by the incident.
Then, with only ten laps to go, Hamlin had his hands full trying to hold off the cars behind him without losing touch with the cars immediately in front. He did this well but the race was again interrupted when a melee ensued deep in the back. The multi-car incident forced NASCAR to red-flag the race for nearly 45 minutes as they removed the cars, cleaned the track and made repairs to the safety barriers.
Hamlin restarted in sixth place but, still fighting handling problems, couldn't hold off Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson as he dropped back to eighth place. It was a tough day, but in all reality the day the team needed to keep their Chase hopes on track with only four races remaining before the cutoff.
If anyone doubts for a second that Denny Hamlin has what it takes to lead a trio of young guns in a series that is gruelingly unforgiving, just remember that Hamlin won his first race after spinning out and going laps down due to repairs to the battery compartment of his car. If that doesn’t scream ability, nothing does.
This week Hamlin found himself battling to stay in the points fight as the races tick off in the Race to the Chase that begins in just 4 races, following the Centurion Boats @ the Glen. He has never been outside the Chase since his Sprint Cup debut in 2006 and this year is certainly no time to start trying new things.
Heading to Watkins Glen with a record of good performances at the famous road course, Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team had their focus trained on racing for a win - but knew, in lieu of lifting a trophy, they also needed a solid run to move ever closer to securing a place in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Despite handling issues that ultimately kept the team from challenging for the victory, the team more than accomplished the second goal as they enacted a great fuel strategy, and Hamlin stayed calm behind the wheel to deliver an eighth-place finish in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen. The result sees Hamlin climb from tenth to ninth in the points standing heading to Michigan next weekend and he now sits 83 points ahead of Clint Bowyer in 13th.
"We did what we had to do today," said Hamlin. "We were just a little off today but this FedEx Ground crew worked hard and we brought home a top-ten finish. I really couldn't push the car more than I was or I would have wrecked it and that would have been a worst-case scenario. We had good strategy today, some good calls by Mike (Ford) and the crew but our car wasn't quite there. Congrats to my teammates, though. Kyle and Tony were really fast today. We know what we have to work on and we're ready to go to work to get back to our best and get into this Chase."
From the drop of the green flag, Hamlin was never quite as comfortable as he felt in practice on Saturday. Handling issues left him unable to drive the #11 FedEx Ground Camry as deep into the corner as he would have liked, and as much as he needed to in order to hold off the cars behind him. He fell from his starting position of tenth back to twelfth within ten laps and held that position as the field reached the first fuel window.
With fuel mileage always playing a part on road course races, crew chief Mike Ford and the #11 FedEx team set their strategy early. Ford called Hamlin in on lap 24 for fuel, tires and a small wedge adjustment, and the #11 team worked quick to send Hamlin out to cycle through in tenth place.
The second of four total cautions on the day flew on lap 49 and, with Hamlin running in 13th place, Ford called him to pit road for track bar and air pressure adjustments intended to give Hamlin the grip he was looking for. This would be the last stop for adjustments before the end as the final stop was now set up to be a very quick, fuel only stop.
Hamlin restarted the #11 machine from the 20th spot and held on as fuel strategies came into play almost immediately - and much of the field turned on to pit road for what would be their final stops of the day.
Ford waited until lap 56 before calling Hamlin in a for the fuel-only stop and sent the #11 team out to cycle through in eight place before the caution flag flew on lap 64.
With 21 laps remaining, Hamlin restarted sixth and had just dropped to seventh place before Ryan Newman spun his #12 Dodge on the turn to the main straight and nearly caught the #11 as Hamlin tried to squeak by the incident.
Then, with only ten laps to go, Hamlin had his hands full trying to hold off the cars behind him without losing touch with the cars immediately in front. He did this well but the race was again interrupted when a melee ensued deep in the back. The multi-car incident forced NASCAR to red-flag the race for nearly 45 minutes as they removed the cars, cleaned the track and made repairs to the safety barriers.
Hamlin restarted in sixth place but, still fighting handling problems, couldn't hold off Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson as he dropped back to eighth place. It was a tough day, but in all reality the day the team needed to keep their Chase hopes on track with only four races remaining before the cutoff.
Impressive as usual, Hamlin did what he does best. He came through under pressure and proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with in the sport’s highest series. While teammate Kyle Busch is running away with the points lead, Hamlin is making his name known to his competitors and will be difficult to knock off in the standings. He comes through in a pinch and somehow finds his way to the front when it really counts. Bad luck may seem to follow the team, but through it all the Fed Ex crew finds its second wind and makes it past another tough obstacle.
This week finds Hamlin and the team in Michigan, and the Joe Gibbs Racing front man, following the impending departure of team veteran Tony Stewart, will show his nay-sayers why he deserves the respect his team owner gives him so easily. Hamlin will be the veteran on a team that also boasts first - year points leader Kyle Busch and possible Stewart successor Joey Logano.
If anyone doubts for a second that Denny Hamlin has what it takes to lead a trio of young guns in a series that is gruelingly unforgiving, just remember that Hamlin won his first race after spinning out and going laps down due to repairs to the battery compartment of his car. If that doesn’t scream ability, nothing does.
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