Hamlin Growing With Joe Gibbs Racing

Denny Hamlin is so hungry for a victory that, if given the chance at Bristol Motor Speedway, he most certainly would have moved teammate Kyle Busch out of his way.

"For sure," Hamlin said. "He's won too much."

He wasn't kidding, either.

Alas, he never had the opportunity to use Bristol's legendary "bump-and-run" on Busch because Hamlin couldn't get close enough to catch his teammate. He had to settle for a second-place finish Sunday that stretched his winless streak to 35 races.

So Busch left Bristol with his second win in three races, 10th overall since joining Joe Gibbs Racing last season. Hamlin, meanwhile, has won just once over the same span and can't help but wonder why his No. 11 team can't contend with Busch's bunch.

"Those guys are solid. They qualify well and as a result get a good pit stall," Hamlin said. "Their pit crew is always consistent, and they work really hard at it. And on the short runs, Kyle has a way of taking off really, really good. He's got that car. He's got that raw speed that I just don't have for 20 laps. And it pays big dividends to that race team.

"Luckily, we're in the same stable, so we know everything he has. If there's anything we need to work on, it's me."

That admission is proof just how far Hamlin has come after three full seasons with JGR. In the past, the problem would have been anyone's fault but Hamlin's, and he would have publicly placed the blame on his team.

But Hamlin came into this season determined to do things differently. Tired of being known as a driver with a ton of potential, Hamlin wants to finally start living up to his lofty expectations.

Although he's got four career victories, 61 top-10 finishes and a coveted spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in all three of his seasons, he's yet to consistently contend for the title.

He was a career-best third in the final 2006 standings but dropped off to 12th and eighth the next two seasons.

He spoke often during the offseason about his desire to become a champion, a goal that would require much more maturity from the 28-year-old former Chesterfield resident. His awakening coincided with two-time champion Tony Stewart's departure from JGR, leaving the organization in need of a team leader.

Hamlin wants to step up, and team owner Joe Gibbs has noticed the shift in attitude, the renewed commitment to his race team and the better communication with crew chief Mike Ford.

"Denny did really set his jaw. He's been on it. He's been after it hard," Gibbs said. "As much as anything, it's your attitude. We talked quite a bit before the year. I think he spent a lot of time with Mike. I think you can tell the way he reacts when something does happen to the race team, he's very strong about it.

"They're not going to leave anything unturned around our place to try and keep from getting everything we can for the 11 car."

It didn't work out Sunday, though, when Hamlin needed a flawless final pit stop to get him out first ahead of Busch. Although he did gain one spot on pit road, Busch beat him out and Hamlin was stuck in second the rest of the way. Any chance he had of chasing down his teammate was lost when Jimmie Johnson moved onto Hamlin's bumper, and Hamlin had to fight to hold onto his season-best second-place finish.

"I knew unless we got out ahead of him on that last pit stop, it was going to be tough," he said. "We were able to stay within two or three car lengths, but that's as close as we'd been all day on the short runs. Our car takes so long to get going. If we get out in pit road in front of him, he was going to have a time getting around me, I can assure you of that."

In the past, Hamlin's disappointment would have been overwhelming. Remember, he once publicly blasted his pit crew after they botched a late stop at Darlington, and it triggered a team shakeup the next week.

Then last August in Michigan, after his motor failed with six laps to go to put his berth in the Chase field in jeopardy, he openly criticized JGR's engine department and crew.

This time, he was able to see the positives. It was his second top-10 finish of the season, and it moved him up six spots in the standings to eighth. It also gave him some momentum heading into Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin won his only race last season in a breakthrough victory in his home state.

"You take [it]," he said. "It puts us in the Chase right now. So that's a good day for us."

Jenna Fryer - The Associated Press

Hamlin, Fed Ex Racing Storm To Second At Bristol

Once again – and for the third time in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway - Denny Hamlin drove the #11 FedEx Toyota forward from a mid-pack start into a battle for the win before ultimately finishing a Bristol career-best of second in Sunday’s Food City 500.

The second-place finish keeps a string of great runs at Bristol alive. One year ago, Hamlin held the lead before fuel pickup problems left him in sixth place, and last fall Hamlin and the FedEx team put together a solid race to finish third.

“We had a long-run car today - we didn’t have that short run car when we needed it at the end,” explained Hamlin after the event. “There were about 300,000 FedEx employees that were hoping that we were going to get a win today, I'm just trying to get a win for them but we came up a little bit short.

Congratulations to Kyle (Busch). It’s great to get a one-two finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and just can’t thank this whole team enough. A good job on pit road today, very solid. We feel like we deserve to be in victory lane and hopefully we’ll get that done next week,”

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch took the checkered flag after a long battle with Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson to make it a one-two JGR finish. The third JGR car, driven by Joey Logano, experienced engine problems late in the race and was scored in 38th place.

The second-place finish marks Hamlin’s best results of the still-young 2009 season and sees him jump from 14th to eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings through six races. The series now heads to Martinsville Speedway, a favorite track of Hamlin and the site of his most-recent Cup Sseries win.

From the drop of the green flag, Hamlin charged forward and quickly erased the memory of qualifying 24th from his mind. As he was putting most of the competition in his rear view mirror, the only problem the team encountered was a rising water temperature – a problem that was exacerbated when the yellow came out and the field was slowed.

By lap 55 Hamlin had cracked the top 20 and ran in 16th place but things were about to even get better for the #11FedEx Express team. On lap 64, with the team scored in 15th place, Crew Chief Mike Ford called Hamlin onto pit road and opted for a two tire change in effort to gain track position. The decision paid off for the FedEx team as Hamlin gained five sports and lined up to restart tenth.

Hamlin continued to carve his way through the field, claiming sixth place on lap 100, fifth on lap 110, and fourth place on lap 111 – all while turning the quickest laps of any car on the track.
When the caution flew on lap 123 Hamlin was running fourth and was very happy with the way his car felt. The crew made no chassis adjustments and a very quick stop by the FedEx team had Hamlin out to restart third behind leader Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson in second place.On lap 130 Hamlin claimed second from Johnson after a fierce, multi-lap duel with the three-time Sprint Cup Champion.

On lap 191, Hamlin made his fourth pit stop of the afternoon; this time Ford calling for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to in hopes of chasing down Busch and Johnson – the main rivals all afternoon. A long green-flag run ensued with Hamlin chasing Johnson for the second spot. On lap 300 Hamlin took over the runner-up spot from Johnson and set his sights on Busch and on lap 317 Hamlin moved to the point, dicing through lapped traffic to take the lead from his JGR teammate.

Hamlin’s lead would be short-lived, however, as the yellow came out on lap 319 and he pitted from the lead on lap 321 for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. Jimmie Johnson beat Hamlin out of the pits to retake the lead with Hamlin lined up in second.

Hamlin continued to run second to Johnson until lap 359 when JGR teammate Kyle Busch assumed the second spot. With 100 laps remaining in the Food City 500 Hamlin was in third place, 1.8 seconds behind then-leader Jimmie Johnson.

The FedEx Express team rose to the occasion on the final pit stop of the afternoon as Hamlin pulled onto pit road on lap 444. Hamlin came in third and pulled out in second –right behind teammate Kyle Busch – and it was a position he would hold for the remainder of the race.

On lap 495 a small window of opportunity opened for Hamlin to make one last charge for the win when Joey Logano experienced engine problems and brought out the final yellow of the day to set up a green-white-checkered finish. However Busch was very strong on the restart and Hamlin was forced to hold off a charging Jimmie Johnson to take second.