Coming off two weeks of frustration, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin finally got the finish he felt he deserved in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup LifeLock 400.
Hamlin, who had seen strong runs the last two races derailed by a cut tire at Dover and a fuel-pump issue at Pocono last weekend, suffered no setbacks Sunday as he finished third at Michigan International Speedway.
“We got a new race car here,” Hamlin said after netting his third top-five and fifth top-10 of the season. “We were strong all day. We had a top-five car all day. So, it's good to finally finish where we belong. I'm proud of this whole team. We were definitely a car that could contend for a top-two or top-three spot all day.”
Hamlin trailed only Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle off pit road following the day’s final pit stops with 46 laps to go. But after failing to close in on Biffle and getting passed by eventual race winner Mark Martin and the race’s dominant driver, Jimmie Johnson, it appeared Hamlin might have to settle for a fifth-place finish.
Biffle and Johnson both ran out gas in the last two laps, however, and that allowed Hamlin to move up to third in the final running order.
While certainly satisfied with his finish, Hamlin didn’t enjoy having to be mindful of an uncertain fuel-mileage situation with almost all the frontrunners in the closing laps.
“I kicked myself for not running harder because I was rolling the [throttle] pretty big at the end," he said. "But, I think it was just a bait thing. I think [Biffle] baited [Johnson] to come get him, and they ended up both running out of fuel. We were all in the same boat there; it's just who wanted to risk winning the race versus finishing. I think that's what happened."
With his solid performance, Hamlin not only broke out of his recent mini-slump but also moved above the cutoff spot to make NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
After entering the day 12th in points, Hamlin is now 10th and has a little more breathing room with 11 races before the field is set.
"I hate running like that, but that's what you have to do to get to the end,” Hamlin said of the fuel-economy run. “I'm just proud of our whole team. We worked on fuel mileage a little bit during testing at other race tracks and it paid off here at Michigan.
“For the most part, it was a solid day. We had a top-four or top-five car all day, and it paid off at the end."
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