5-Hour Energy 500 Falls Short

It is no secret that Denny Hamlin is a favorite each time NASCAR comes to Pocono and he wasted no time in establishing that his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota was still going to be the car to beat again this afternoon. Hamlin, who has won four times on the tricky 2.5-mile triangular track, quickly ascended from his fourth-place starting position into the top spot after just one lap of racing. He would dominate much of the first half of the race leading a race-high four different times for a total of 76 laps. Hamlin was running third when a caution flag came out with just 45 laps remaining in the race and he brought his FedEx Camry down pit road for fresh tires. Unfortunately as he made his way back on to the track it was discovered that his left rear tire had gone flat and he was forced to come back down pit road for a new tire. The bad left rear would completely blow as he made his way around the track to get back down pit road and the result would also cause damage to his rear brakes. Hamlin would restart the race with 41 laps remaining in the 21st position and amazingly despite all the challenges was able to manage a 19th-place effort.

Hamlin Golden At Pocono

Denny Hamlin will make his 100th Career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend at Pocono International Raceway, the site of his first career victory during his 2006 Rookie season. He sat on the pole for the Pocono 500 and swept both races that year. He finished 3rd at Pocono earlier in the season and has finished no worse than 6th in 5 career starts at what just may be his best race track.

Following an impressive third place finish at Indianapolis, surviving a disastrous race and using his brilliance for knowing what he has in a car and how to manage it appropriately he heads into Pocono riding a wave of momentum. Rebounding to 8th in points after falling to 12th, Hamlin is ready to strike back at the leaders, mostly teammate Kyle Busch and show them all that he deserves to run with the big dogs.

In his down time he enjoys playing basketball with his roommates. In this candid interview from NASCAR.com, D Ham discusses his love of Pocono, shooting hoops and giving away Toyota Hybrids. I hear Elliott Sadler is a huge basketball fan, I wonder if he’s ever invited E Sad over for a game? I for one would love to see that match up. My money’s on D Ham. Sorry Elliott….I hate to sell out one Virginia boy for another but I have got to stick with my boy.

Q: What do you like so much about Pocono? And why do you think you've been able to be so successful there in the past?
Hamlin: I think a lot of it has to do with just it being a flat track. We've had a lot of success at flat tracks in the past. [Crew chief] Mike [Ford], I think, has a great feel for that racetrack. It seems like ever since the first time I went there, it took about two laps of practice to kind of get it figured out. After that, once you win one race there, you just kind of feel like you know what it takes to win a race there in your car and you have that feel for it. So it's just one of those tracks I've got a great feel for, too.

Q: Everyone talks about how Pocono is so similar to Indy. How so?
Hamlin: I think as far as similarities, it's a high-speed, flat track. They're both two-and-half miles in length, so the corners sweep about the same amount. That's very similar. And it's a high-speed, braking track -- that's another way the two tracks are very similar. You kind of have to have the same speed at the end of the straight-aways, into hard braking. That's how they really relate.

Q: Obviously the surface at Pocono is different, though, so we can expect the Goodyear tires to hold up significantly better there than they did last week at Indy, right?

Hamlin: Yeah, the surface is different. Pocono's surface is abrasive just like Indy's is, but it's a different kind. There are rocks and whatnot. Indy, with that diamond grinding, it's almost like razor blades that you're running on. So it's a lot different.

Q: Everyone knew the tires would be a challenge with the new car running for the first time at Indy. But were you just as stunned as everyone else that it ended up being as bad as it was when you got there for practice, and that it never did "rubber in" the way everyone expected it would?
Hamlin: That's one thing for sure. I was amazed that the track didn't rubber up. I've never seen in history a track that wouldn't take rubber the way that one didn't. It was amazing to me the way it all worked out, but I think it was just a live-and-learn type of thing.

Q: So you don't expect any additional tire problems at Pocono?
Hamlin: No, I don't think there will be any problems at Pocono. I think it's going to be relatively the same race we've always had. We've raced that car at Pocono before and had no issues. We hadn't raced that car at Indy before; and I think everyone underestimated how hard these cars are on right-side tires. We see it every week, at every track we go to. The tire wear is more excessive on the right than on the left. But I think at that high-speed, high G-force racetrack, I think everyone underestimated it.

Q: Getting away from bad tires and the track for minute, you're pretty passionate about the sport of basketball, isn't that right?
Hamlin: Yeah, I definitely do love basketball. It's just something that I would try to play every day if I could. If I can get enough people together, I like to play every day. Unfortunately, I don't get that opportunity every single day. But it's definitely something I like to do.

Q: You've got a court right in your backyard, right?
Hamlin: Yeah, I've got a court in my backyard. We play there a lot. There also are a lot of people from Motorsports Management that play; they have their own kind of league where they play at a gym indoors, and I join them every now and then, too.

Q: Describe your game.
Hamlin: I'm more of a shooter, for sure. I'm not the tallest of guys at 5-11. So definitely I'm an outside shooter type of guy.

Q: What do you follow mostly as a fan, the NBA or colleges or what?
Hamlin: A little bit of the NBA. I'm a Charlotte Bobcats fan. I have season tickets on the floor, right next to the opponents' bench at Bobcats Arena [recently renamed Time Warner Cable Arena]. Last year I didn't make but about eight games, but I wasn't a season-ticket holder then. This year I'm going to try to make every game that I can.

Q: Do you know any of the Bobcats?
Hamlin: I actually know Raymond Felton and Sean May pretty well. Raymond even came to my house one time to play basketball -- 2-on-2 with me and my roommate going against him and his buddy. And Sean May, I have a pretty close relationship with him as well.

Q: So Felton and his buddy played you and your roommate? How did that go down?
Hamlin: The truth of it was that it was a game to 15 and they spotted us nine points. But we did end up beatin' 'em.

Q: Did you hit the game-winner?
Hamlin: No, I can't lie. My roommate Austin did. But it was pretty fun.

Q: We understand you also did a nice thing last weekend in Indianapolis, where you guys gave away a Toyota Hybrid to Second Helpings, a charity organization that helps feed needy folks. Could you talk a little about that?
Hamlin: We gave away a Toyota Hybrid to Second Helpings, and this is the second event where we gave one away. What Second Helpings does is they gather up meals and distribute them to people that are chronically ill or to children's homes, homeless shelters, different places. Basically what they do is gather up excess food from restaurants, they prepare 'em, make sure they're healthy, and then send them off for good causes. Obviously fuel prices are an issue for everyone right now, and especially for charities like that who have to run around all the time. They were hurting them a lot because they deliver so much. We thought it would be a great way for us to give back to them, because they're always giving to the community and not getting much back in return. It was a token of our appreciation, giving them a new Toyota. We also did it in Boston earlier this year, and will do it in two more cities we go to later in the year. We're glad to be able to do some stuff like that."

Thinking Of Chris Gillin

Denny Hamlin and Car Chief Chris Gillin (right) wait on pit lane at Texas Motor Speedway

During the pre-race show for the Pocono 500, I heard that Car Chief Chris Gillin had fallen ill and was taken to the hospital. My thoughts and prayers are with Chris and I hope that he is feeling better and back with Denny and the team soon. The crew had to shuffle people around to fill Chris' spot and did a fabulous job taking care of the Ground car and Denny.

Denny Hamlin, Others Visit Infield Care Center After Hot Race At Pocono

Denny Hamlin loves Pocono. He swept both races there his rookie season and his average finish is 2.8 for the 4 races he’s run at the Long Pond, Pa track. He usually leaves there feeling pretty good, and with good reason. But after yesterday’s race, Hamlin was complaining. He wasn’t feeling well and had even made a trip to the infield care center.

He slumped into the post-race press conference, along with Brian Vickers, who also complained of not feeling well. Combine a long race with 90-degree temperatures and even well-conditioned athletes -- and yes, NASCAR drivers are athletes -- struggle for survival by day's end.

''I'm about to fall over,'' Vickers said. ''I hate to see one of my friends and comrades [Hamlin] down, but just knowing I'm not the only one makes me feel a little bit better. It's brutal. These cars. A…''''They're hot,'' chimed in Hamlin. ''They are hotter than the old car, by far.''
Apparently, the new car holds in the heat more than the old one did. Vickers and Hamlin were prime examples of just how devastating the outside temperatures combined with a hot car can leave a driver after a grueling 500 mile race at Pocono.

''We want to keep the cars light and go fast, but we're killing ourselves,'' Vickers said. ''We're going to the infield care center after the races and that's ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and say we have to do something to cool these cars down and help us. It's extremely ... hot out there.''

Vickers lead the call for a shorter race during his press interview. ''Absolutely, 500 miles is way too long,'' he said. ''It always has been, and I love Pocono for all of the reasons I just told you. But there's no reason to run 500 miles.''

An exhausted, over-heated Hamlin whole heartedly agreed.''This is the longest race I think I've ever been a part of,'' he said. ''It just seemed like it took forever, and a lot of the reason is we never run 500 miles where the average speed is 155 miles per hour. If we run 500 miles, it's Atlanta where we are running an average speed of 180 [mph].''

Of course, the only guy who seemed no worse for the wear at day's end was the winner, Kasey Kahne.

He seemed to gauge the race's marathon-length perfectly. Plus, he had the fastest car, which helps.''You know it's so much different when you have a great car,'' he said. ''And for us, we had to go to the back, so those 60 laps coming back to the front flew by. It just happened so quick. So, I didn't think it was that long of a race.''

But then Kahne, who won for the first time here, broke into a grin.''But every other 500-miler here in the past I thought was way too long,'' he admitted. ''So, I don't know. I just think how you run, how good your car is and where you finish determines how long you think this race should be.''

Vickers, Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger, another driver who had to visit the care center disagreed. Vickers went on to say: "We're going to the infield care center after races and that's ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and ... do something to cool these cars down and help us."
Hamlin believes the problem may be with the exhaust system.

"It's closer to the floor panel and that's going to make the car hotter itself," he said. "Here, the pace (of the race) is so slow, once the car is loose, (the race) just takes forever.
"It's tough on us drivers."

No doubt the drivers will continue to search for ways to keep cool in the coming hot months. Hamlin, who has lost over 30 lbs. and in the best physical condition of his life, has fallen ill after over heating during a race before. He nearly fainted at Texas during a post-race interview and had to sit down with a cold towel on his neck.

This is a concern with temperatures continuing to rise as Summer kicks into full swing and should prove interesting in the next few months. Maybe they need to find out what Kasey Kahne is doing to look so fresh and be able to show such a bright smile after 500 grueling miles in 90+ temperatures. Of course, winning doesn’t hurt either.