Can We Get A Mulligan?

In the game of golf, if you make a crappy shot you get a chance to try it again. You take a mulligan. The last shot is forgotten about, the new one is the focus and you move on. Wouldn't it be nice if NASCAR had mulligans?

No doubt Dover would be Denny Hamlin's mulligan. He was on a roll up until that point, posting 3 consecutive 3rd place finishes, making the Chase and being reset to 6th. Things were going great, the team was flying high. And it seems Hamlin finally got out of the dog house with his team.

Joe Gibbs has a deal with his three race teams, the one highest in points gets the best hotel rooms, and the guy in last place, well let's just say they better get up early because they have a long drive ahead of them. The only up side to that is teammate Kyle Busch had a worse day than Denny, not that that is a good thing.

It is devastating to have car problems. An accident you can blame yourself for, but a leaking rear gear, well that's just a tough pill to swallow. There are 26 races to get the trouble out and the final 10 are the do or dies. The Chase is the last chance of the season to show what you're made of and well.... race # 2 just didn't showcase the Fed Ex crew's true talents.

But it's not time to throw in the towel. Hide the white flag, don't panic and do not give an interview proclaiming that you're done. That would be a mistake. Anything is possible and while Denny may not be taking home the big trophy, he can still nest himself solidly in the Top 10.

There were tears, frustration and a little screaming. When I calmed down, I realized that Denny was back out on the track and able to finish the race. While a 38th place finish is never a good thing, it is always better than a DNF.

In spite of the difficult weekend, I am proud of Denny and the entire Fed Ex team. To rebound from adversity, focus on the goal of finishing the best they can and look forward to Kansas is awe inspiring.

To wake up on a rough day to find a comment from Denny on the blog, out of the blue... well that's just beyond description. On a random day, in the midst of Lowe's testing and just because he wanted to... that's just Denny Hamlin. It's what I've come to expect from him and while I must admit I'm not surprised at his heart, I am still awed by his friendship.

Kansas may not be Denny's best track, but anything is possible. There are 8 races left in the Chase and while there may not be a chance at a mulligan, something tells me Denny doesn't need it. Thanks for everything Denny... I will be watching at Kansas and rooting for my friend.

Budweiser Celebrity Billiards Shootout

NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Bobby Labonte and Clint Bowyer join NASCAR pit reporters Jamie Little and Shannon Spake, SPEED Personality Hermie Sadler and American Builder host Brian Gurry for the Budweiser Celebrity Billiards Shootout presented by NKS Beverage Group.

The 12 person field of drivers and celebrities will participate in a star-studded 9 ball tournament at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino on Friday, Sept. 19th.

The event begins at 7 pm following a full day of events on the track at Dover International Speedway.

The participants will shoot for a grand prize of $10,000 for the winner's charity of choice.

Tickets for this unique event are available now for $15 for General Admission and $30 for VIP Seating. To purchase tickets call (800) 711-5882

Music, Giveaways and much more will be part of the night.

Guests are invited to play pool on the tournament tables at the conclusion of the event. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

NASCAR returns to Dover International Speedway on Sept. 19-21, 2008. For more information, or to purchase race tickets, call 800-441-RACE or visit www.DoverSpeedway.com.

About Dover Downs Hotel & Casino

Owned by Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: DDE)

Dover Downs Hotel & Casino® is a premier gaming and entertainment resort destination in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The 165,000-sq.-ft. casino is open 24 hours daily and has approximately 3,200 video lottery terminals (slot machines) controlled by the Delaware Lottery. The most recent casino addition, The Colonnade, includes a casino lounge, shops and restaurants consisting of The Colonnade Marketplace, Swarovski, Godiva Chocolatier, Fashions of The Colonnade, Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House, Public House and Marabella’s.

The AAA-rated Four Diamond hotel is the largest in Delaware with 500 luxurious rooms/suites, indoor pool, sauna, exercise room, gift shop, Toppers Spa/Salon, 1600-seat Rollins Center® ballroom and 35,000 sq. ft. of multi-function space.

Additional amenities include eight restaurants/cafes, five bars, live harness racing and simulcast horse racing. For more information, please visit www.doverdowns.com.

Joe Gibbs Racing Continues It's Dominace At Dover

Denny Hamlin gets drenched in Gatorade as his team celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover

The Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart have been kicking butts and taking names in the Nationwide Series. Together, they have 9 wins and are dominant in the #20 car under crew chief Dave Rogers.

This week, 18 year old rookie Joey Logano climbed behind the wheel of the # 20 Toyota for his very first race in the series. He qualified 9th and finished an impressive 6th place in his debut. Some issues in the pits kept Logano from gaining the valuable track position he desperately needed. But all in all, he had an awesome first race and with crew chief extraordinaire Dave Rogers and the Game Stop crew.

But the man of the hour was Denny Hamlin in the Joe Gibbs Driven Hot Rod Oil Toyota. The car was financed exclusively by Joe and JD Gibbs and D Ham did not disappoint his car owners. After JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who was in the #32 Dollar General car of Braun Racing this weekend got taken out by fellow Braun Racing driver Jason Leffler, Hamlin took advantage of good track position and took the lead, never relinquishing the clean air and taking his 2nd checkered flag in the Nationwide series.

An excited, Gatorade drenched, slightly red-tinged Hamlin gave kudos to his young teammate Joey Logano and his 6th place finish. Hamlin had placed a side bet with a couple of the guys on his team that Joey would finish in the top 7 and made a little cash in the process.

Before the race began, Hamlin gave some words of advice and encouragement to Logano telling him to be patient and to just let it come to him. Seems like D Ham was the one who showed patience and avoided trouble to take the 18 car to victory lane. It was nice to see Denny smiling after the tough week he’d had following an on track incident with Brad Keselowski and the fall out from the post-race may lay that the press took off and ran with.

Hamlin’s efforts to show his frustration were misinterpreted as feelings of superiority and entitlement. Many Nationwide regulars took offense at Hamlin’s comments about Keselowski being “just a Nationwide driver” and not having the ability to race in the Cup series. Bobby Hamilton Jr. especially took the Virginia native’s comments to heart and expressed his dislike for the 2006 Rookie of the Year.

My personal feelings on the matter are that Hamlin felt that Keselowski showed inferior ability to his (meaning Hamlin’s) and simply meant that if he had more experience racing in the elite series he would have learned some give and take. The desire to succeed and impress the boss by winning at any price had gotten Keselowski in over his head and came back to bite him in the ass. I honestly believe that none of last week’s events would have taken place had the 88 not hit the 20 from behind under caution.

I loved the fact that Denny expressed his dislike for being made out to be the bad guy. I agree D Ham….I’m tired of you being the bad guy too. The best way to redeem yourself is to let your on-track performance do the talking and Hamlin did just that. Nothing backs up your smack talk like going out and winning the next week. Way to go Denny, you did just that. Congratulations on your Heluva Good! Win. You truly are the man.

FedEx Racing Express Facts - Dover

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY RACE INFO:
Event: Autism Speaks 400
Date/Time: June 1, 2008/ 2:30 p.m. EST
Length: 1.0 miles
Shape: Quad-Oval
Banking: 24 degrees
Distance: 400 laps/400 miles
2007 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
2007 pole winner: Ryan Newman

EXPRESS NOTES:

Hamlin, FedEx Deflated at Lowe's: On a night when Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team fought handling, track position and freak damage during a restart stack up, it took a flat tire with two laps to ultimately force them out of contention. Though not leading the race and like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart, who also lost a tire and had to pit late in the race, Hamlin was on his way to a top-ten run when he was forced to pit on lap 398. It was a cruel twist for a team that worked to repair substantial front-end damage to Hamlin's #11 FedEx Freight Camry suffered during the restart on lap 307. The 24th-place finish keeps Hamlin in fourth place in the points standings through 12 races - the same position he held at this point in the 2007 season.

Hamlin at Dover International Raceway: This weekend will mark Hamlin's fifth career Sprint Cup start at the Monster Mile and he'll be looking to return to a streak of top-ten finishes that was interrupted by a DNF in the fall race last season. Hamlin had led 61 laps, and appeared set to challenge for a win, before a lap 308 incident with Kyle Petty ended his race early. In two previous June races at Dover, Hamlin recorded finishes of fourth and 11th, respectively.

Autism Speaks 400 Chassis JGR 189 and 204: Chassis 189 will carry the #11 FedEx Kinko's livery this weekend. This will be the third start of the season for this car, including a 23rd-place finish in the non-points All-Star race. This car debuted at Atlanta where Hamlin qualified 22nd and finished 15th. It then finished fifth at Texas. 204 will serve as the backup this weekend. Hamlin drove it to a ninth place finish at Las Vegas in its sole start of the 2008 season.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION - DOVER INTERNATIONAL:

You are a third of the way through the season now. How do you feel about the #11 team's season so far?:
"Given the fact that we feel we missed some opportunities to win races or finish better than we did, to still be sitting in fourth is a good place to be. It was great to get a win at Martinsville but more important is the fact that we've been strong at all of the races, on all of the different types of tracks. But we know with as competitive as this sport is, there is no time to rest on what we've done. You need to improve as much as the other teams or you get left behind. We know we left something on the table at Bristol where we had fuel pickup problems, at California where we hit water on the track and at Richmond where we had a tire go down. It's just freak things that go wrong but it's a part of this sport so there is no use dwelling on it. The fact that we've had race-winning cars gives us a lot of confidence moving forward - we are hoping to hit our stride with ten races to go."

In the June race at Dover last year it really looked like your comfort level at the track improved significantly - what clicked?:
"A lot of it was having some experience to rely on going to that track. Nothing prepares you more than some track time for a place like Dover. I know it helped me not only on the track, but also to communicate what the car was doing back to the crew. Racing at Dover is unique and really demanding so knowing what to expect and how to manage both the physical and mental part of the race is really important. It's an easy place to get in trouble and once you are in trouble, it's a place that can end your day in a hurry."

A year ago the teams were facing the daunting prospect of taking the COT to Dover for the first time. With a full year of racing since, how do expect the car to perform?:
"We, along with every team in the garage, have learned a lot about this car in the last year and have clearly already made big gains. It's a much better car now, but unlike the old car there just isn't as much that we can do with it. The tolerances of this car are so much smaller and NASCAR has done that on purpose, to keep the cars on a more level field. We are finding ways to make gains but this car punches a huge hole in the air and its proven pretty hard to pass and it's getting harder and harder to pass. This is a track where we know it's hard to pass no matter what - in the new or old car. You really have to work on someone to pass them here and it usually takes a couple of laps to get by someone here - to see where there is an opening. All we can do is bring the best we have and see how it performs when we get onto the track Friday. From there, we're working to make it better with each lap."