Auto racing Q&A with Denny Hamlin
Chase for the Nextel Cup driver Denny Hamlin is eighth in points heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway. With four races left in the season, his bid for a championship is running out of time. He answered some questions this week about the Chase and Atlanta, where his average finish in four starts is 19th.
How do you like racing at Atlanta?
I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable running here, which comes with experience and track time, but I’m not yet one of those drivers who really gets excited about this track. Those are the guys that have been doing this longer than I have and know the different ways to use what this track gives them to move their car around on different lines throughout the race. We had a solid run in the fall race here last year … we’ll be looking to build on that this weekend.
What has been your problem at Atlanta?
Handling seems to be the biggest issue we struggle with at Atlanta. It’s such a fast track and has a reputation for changing drastically over the course of the race; as a result you end up battling your car while trying to beat 42 other cars. As always, we’ll have to respond the best we can to the changing conditions, and hopefully our adjustments will give us a good car when we need it at the end.
What are your thoughts about your position in the Chase?
It’s no secret our chances for a championship diminished after a tough string of finishes at Dover (38th), Kansas (29th) and Charlotte (20th). Like I said before the Chase started, you have to consistently post top-five and top-10 finishes, and have some luck along the way if you want to have a chance. We haven’t been able to do that. Last week at Martinsville was a prime example where we had a car that should have finished in the top five but we couldn’t find a way to make it work. With that said, we are now focused on finishing the Chase in the top five. There’s only one short track (Phoenix) left on the schedule, but we’ve had some success at Texas, and I’m looking forward to the final four races. Our strategy will probably start to resemble the strategy we had once we were locked into the Chase — we’ll be able to take a few more chances to get us in the top five when the checkered flag drops in Miami.
