Hamlin's hot streak is interrupted at Bristol
Denny Hamlin had a bad Saturday.
Denny Hamlin had to start at the rear of the Sharpie 500 field after a pre-race engine change, then his engine blew up just 200 laps in, leaving him dead last.
But Denny Hamlin has been so hot this season that it’s hard to remember that this is only his second full year on the Nextel Cup tour.
“He was in contention for a championship the first year, and he’s definitely impressed me,” points leader Jeff Gordon said of the driver who has dogged him in the standings most of the season. “He’s done a great job, and he has handled himself well.
“Denny is a smart driver but also an aggressive one. That’s always something that’s stood out in my mind - a guy that does well, a guy that knows how to push hard but thinks about it at the same time.
“I think Denny has pushed Tony Stewart to elevate his game. So, it’s only making both of them better.”
Denny Hamlin is still as loose about life as ever. That has been one of his biggest attributes, not taking himself and his good fortune too seriously. Having the volatile Stewart as a teammate may have played a role in that.
It’s still not quite clear how much the teammates have done to resolve their Daytona run-in, when they crashed each other while battling for the lead.
Denny Hamlin said that the car of tomorrow may be the most important aspect of the last 12 races of the season. It will be used in six.
“We’ve been very, very strong in the new car, and we felt we had a good chance to win here,” Denny Hamlin said after Saturday’s race.
“I think the new car is going to play a large role in who wins the championship, for sure. The new-car races are on short tracks, so it’s going to have that element of ‘you can get in trouble anyway.’
“The Hendrick teams and the Gibbs teams have a good grasp on it. Those are the guys I’d really look for as championship contenders.
“Now you’re going to have guys from Richard Childress’ and Roger Penske’s run pretty good at most of the car-of-tomorrow race tracks, too. But I think for the most part you just need to look at who has run well in them, and it’s probably not going to change.”
Denny Hamlin says he’s still learning how to drive the car of tomorrow: “You just can’t charge a corner in these cars. I talked to Kyle Busch quite a bit last week, and he thought that’s why we really excelled at these races.
“Charging the corners really rewarded you with the older car, and it doesn’t reward you with these cars.”
