Time To Step It Up

Denny Hamlin started the season at Daytona on a high note. He drew fifth for the Budweiser Shootout. He even won a few friendly wagers with his buddies during the selection show, without question the funniest part of the entire night. He finished in a blaze of glory caught up in a crazy crash which saw him finish 13th.

Then he started his Gatorade Duel 13th and finished fifth, a pretty impressive turn around with numbers that have me shaking my head and chuckling to myself. Strange.

He rolled off the grid tenth for the Daytona 500 and once again went down in a blaze of glory at the hands of none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr, who made the Neanderthal move of the year when he deliberately turned into Brian Vickers below the yellow line right in front of the leaders, and Hamlin found himself 26th when the smoke cleared. And to add insult to injury, he is currently 27th in the Sprint Cup points standings, behind none other than Dale Jr himself.

This week Hamlin leaves the sun and sand of Daytona behind him and heads to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. During the first practice Hamlin turned in the sixth fastest time with a speed of 180.298. His qualifying effort, however, sees him starting 23rd on Sunday.

No reason to panic, yet. That's the thought that comes to mind, but I have erased that notion and replaced it with no need to panic, ever. This is Denny Hamlin we're talking about after all. Daytona may be the season opener, but it does little to display a driver's talent. It's not that hard to mash the pedal to the floor and hold on. The hard part is staying out of other people's way and avoid their bone head moves.

California has the chance to set Hamlin apart from the rest of the field. What he does come Sunday when the green flag waves will be the true test of what he's made of and how his season will go for 2009. Forget Daytona, focus on Cali. I CAN I WILL. It's time to put that into practice and show that swagger that makes me write this blog, refuse to miss a single second of the Fed Ex Toyota driver's seat time and cheer until I'm hoarse and my cheeks are tear stained. Step it up or shut up!