Denny Hamlin tried to run down Dale Earnhardt Jr., but he was content with his runner-up finish in front of the home crowd. Credit: Autostock

Runner-up finish biggest race of Hamlin's career

Rookie confident about team's ability to make a run for the Chase

RICHMOND, Va. -- If Nextel Cup rookie Denny Hamlin makes the Chase for the Nextel Cup, he might be able to look at Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway as the turning point.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got his first victory of the season. Credit: Autostock

Crown Royal 400 Unofficial Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 2. Denny Hamlin Chevy 3. Kevin Harvick Chevy 4. Greg Biffle Ford 5. Kyle Busch Chevrolet • Complete results, click here • Driver standings, click here Victory LaneDale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his first victory of the year Final lapsJunior holds off Denny Hamlin on the final laps at Richmond Top finishersGreg Biffle and Denny Hamlin talk about their runs Early CautionsFive cautions in the first 100 laps at Richmond Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

With his career-best runner-up finish in the Crown Royal 400, behind winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin moved up three spots in the standings to 16th. He said he and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew weren't through.

"We feel like we're a Chase car," Hamlin said. "We feel like we're a top-10 car every week. We've just had a lot of bad luck.

"We've had kind of that Greg Biffle luck -- not as far as he's taken it -- but we've had a lot of good runs, too. I don't know where we're at in points but we're definitely steps towards that top 10."

Hamlin was burdened -- though only minimally, he said -- by 19 stitches in his left hand, but was startlingly competitive at his home track debut starting seventh on the grid.

"[Friday] night [the injury] might have been a small factor there at the end of the [Busch] race," Hamlin said. "I had quite a bit of soreness. I woke up [Saturday] just feeling really, really good.

"My hand had a lot more flexibility than what I had [Friday]. The whole Joe Gibbs training group helped me out and really wrapped it up good [Saturday]. It stings a little bit right now, but I was feeling no pain."

Hamlin's ready-made cheering section, which according to Earnhardt numbered "about 400" ticket holders that Hamlin took responsibility for, included family and friends. He said it had something to do with his success.

"It's a huge boost," said Hamlin, who is from Chesterfield, Va. "I feel like this is a race we definitely spend a lot of time focusing on. It doesn't pay any more points, doesn't pay any more money than the other ones [but] to have the hometown crowd cheering you on is a big deal.

"I saw all the cheers when me and Dale Jr. were side-by-side there with a few laps to go. I'm sure most of the cheers were for him, but all I could do was imagine in my mind they were for me and try that much harder."

Hamlin led 19 laps -- the first time he'd ever led a race at Richmond -- and was up front with as little as 52 to go.

	For 19 laps, the field was looking at the back of Denny Hamlin's car. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Denny Hamlin's 2006 statistics Race Start Finish Status Daytona 17 30 running California 5 12 running Las Vegas 16 10 running Atlanta 7 31 running Bristol 33 14 running Martinsville 41 37 crash Texas 8 4 running Phoenix 6 34 running Talladega 30 22 running Richmond 7 2 running

Even though Earnhardt had the strongest car at race's end, Hamlin said he was ready to ride the momentum from his best Nextel Cup career finish in just his 17th start.

"This is by far the biggest race of my career," he said. "I definitely would rather run second here than I would the Daytona 500 regardless of money or anything.

"It's something that's very special and to have so many friends and family here, it's awesome -- I can't tell you how I feel. I'll be riding this wave for months to come."

The night was a sharp contrast to Hamlin's two Richmond Busch races last season, when he started 30th and 11th and finished 13th and 34th, or even Friday night's Circuit City 250, where he finished 10th after starting 15th.

"This means a lot. It seems like I struggle at this place every time I come here," Hamlin said. "I put too much pressure on myself it seems like.

"When you have a great car like [crew chief] Mike Ford and those guys put under me, it makes my job a lot easier. They definitely made me look good today."

What made the evening even more special for both Hamlin and Earnhardt was their close friendship off the racetrack. For Earnhardt, those feelings weren't enough to make him show mercy.

"Well, I can appreciate Denny racing in front of his home crowd," Earnhardt said. "A little part of me wanted to see him get the win here, but I didn't want to be the guy he had to pass.

"You want to race against your friends and be with your friends. It's kind of a gift at this level to be able to do that. I had a lot of fun tonight."

For his part, Hamlin said he would have liked to have the shot to race wheel-to-wheel with Earnhardt at the end, but doubted he would have roughed him up.

"Last thing I want to do is wreck Dale Jr.," Hamlin said. "I have a decent fan base now. I don't want to kill it.

"It's just one of those things where it will pay off in the long run to race those guys clean. Hopefully they do it to me in the same situation later."

Hamlin beat Earnhardt when he won his first race in a Nextel Cup car, the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February.

But other than countless video game duels -- with a difference of opinion on the victory column -- this was the first time the buddies had raced for a win on-track.

"First of all, I couldn't tell you how many times me and [Earnhardt] have been in that situation on the computer," Hamlin said. "I usually get the best of him, but he got the best of me [Saturday]."

"Every time I raced him in video games, I won," Earnhardt said. "If I wasn't going to win, I made sure he lost. We raced a lot of times on video games -- I mean, a lot. We've had some pretty fun races."

But maybe none were as much fun as Saturday night.

"Denny's a real great friend," Earnhardt said. "He's a good, smart racer. He's going to win a lot of races -- he's going to have a successful career. I was just real glad to be able to race him."