tweet

338

This past off season, many in NASCAR nation favored Denny Hamlin to end Jimmie Johnson’s regime, and keep the 2010 Sprint Cup title out of his grasp.

It was a reasonable pick; despite three Chase DNFs (two of which were engine failures), he had six top fives and two wins at Martinsville and Homestead. The rollercoaster Chase left Hamlin fifth in the year end standings.

Hamlin was in a position to build on the momentum he and his No. 11 FedEx team had built at the end of the 2009 season.

But this is NASCAR, and nothing is ever that simple.

In January, just weeks before the Daytona 500, the man many NASCAR fans had pegged to be their new champion tore the ACL in his left knee playing basketball, and hobbled about media day on crutches.

Hamlin’s injury would require surgery, which he first elected to have after the 38 race season, and dashed the hopes of many, including the driver. In reflected on the injury, Hamlin said he felt it and the required surgery would force him to sacrifice his season.

And it seemed as if that was the case during his dismal start to the 2010 season; in his first five starts, Hamlin cracked the top twenty just twice, with two 19th place finishes in Las Vegas and Bristol.

Then came Martinsville, and the injured driver’s season did a complete 360. Hamlin won the race at a track he’d always dominated out- one knee or two- but elected to have knee surgery two days after the win on his knee.

After an off weekend, Hamlin returned to the track in Phoenix, and despite having Casey Mears on stand by, he completed the 378 lap race two laps down with a 30th place result. But just a week later, Hamlin entered Victory Lane at the Texas Motor Speedway.

And then he won again at Darlington three weeks later. Three weeks after that, in Pocono, Hamlin won that race and the following race in Michigan. The ten races between that win and his sixth of the season was a mixed bag of results. There were five finishes outside the top 20 and off the lead lap, including two DNFs. But there were also three top tens as well, including a second place finish at the second Michigan race.

They said he was crazy to complete the race; that driving injured, despite the surgery, would surely dash his title hopes. But Hamlin proved time and time again that, injury or not, he was bound and determined to make due on a promise he made in Victory Lane in Homestead last November: that in the next two years, he would be the one sitting at the champion’s table at the banquet in Las Vegas. That he would be the sport’s champion.

“It was like, "you know what? I figured this out. I know how to win a Championship now,” Hamlin recalled. “And I said in Victory Lane, I said, "within the next two years, I'll be a champ." And I still stick by that. No matter what. If it's not this year, it'll be next year. But I just feel like I was championship-caliber, talent-wise, last year. But I didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle together like I did this year. And next year -- no matter what, championship or not, if I win it this year -- I'm gonna be better. And so, you know, I see my expectations just going higher.”

Hamlin won his sixth race of the year in Richmond, and took over the points lead from Kevin Harvick when the Chase started in Loudon, New Hampshire. He added two more wins to his six during the regular season, and going into Homestead this Sunday has a 15 point lead over his nemesis Jimmie Johnson, and 46 over Harvick, who dominated the regular season.

Hamlin will start the Ford 400, this crucial final race- one of the most important starts in his five full seasons in this sport- in 37th. It’s just a position better than he started in this race a year ago, and it’s not the first time Hamlin has had to dig himself out of a qualifying hole. His average starting spot in his eight wins this year is 14th; his average start in the nine races of the Chase is 17th, and his regular season average was just a spot better.

Between his early season knee surgery, his controversial fine from NASCAR this summer, and the pressure to be the man to dethrone Johnson has fueled Hamlin’s already burning desire to win. This Sunday will be his biggest test yet.

“I want to be that guy (who beats Johnson),” Hamlin said. “I want to be the guy who walks in and people are like ‘that’s the guy who beat Jimmie Johnson; kept him from winning five in a row.’ That, for me, would be the most satisfying feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

tweet

338