Hamlin shows wisdom behind wheel despite age

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- It'd be too easy to say Denny Hamlin's too young and too inexperienced to accomplish what he's done so far this Nextel Cup season, but after Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway there has to be a few more believers in the bunch.

Denny Hamlin moved up two spots to sixth in the standings at Bristol. Credit: Autostock

Sharpie 500 Official Results Pos. Driver Start Make 1. M. Kenseth 4 Ford 2. Ky. Busch 19 Chevy 3. D. Earnhardt Jr. 40 Chevy 4. S. Riggs 23 Dodge 5. J. Gordon 13 Chevy 6. D. Hamlin 6 Chevy 7. C. Edwards 39 Ford 8. R. Newman 21 Dodge 9. J. Burton 2 Chevy 10. J. Johnson 18 Chevy • Complete Results, click here • Official Standings, click here Victory LaneMatt Kenseth celebrates his Sharpie 500 victory at Bristol! Top FinishersBusch, Dale Jr., and Gordon talk about their race at Bristol Flying WheelJ.J. Yeley involved in spin and Clint Bowyer loses front wheel Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Hamlin got knocked around like a pinball Friday night while finishing 22nd in the Busch Series' Food City 250. But he used a lot of those lessons to finish sixth Saturday night.

It was Hamlin's sixth consecutive top-10 finish, and his 14th top-15 in his last 15 starts -- all lead-lap finishes.

And better yet, Saturday's finish moved him up two positions in the Nextel Cup standings, to sixth. That's 111 points clear of 11th-place Kasey Kahne with only two races remaining before the cutoff for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

"I really think [the team is getting better]," Hamlin said. "This team is gelling. When you talk about this Chase and everything, we're not backing our way in there.

"We're doing this because we're running well and that's the most important thing -- I'm just so proud of this team."

Hamlin, 25, is showing a lot of wisdom and reserve beyond his lack of years, or time in a Nextel Cup car.

And Saturday night, when he could have risked everything trying to pass Jeff Gordon for fifth, he was satisfied to settle for sixth -- looking at the big picture.

"I nearly got [Gordon] at the line -- it was really, really close," Hamlin said. "It's just one of those things. We would love to have a top-five but a sixth-place finish is great for us.

"We didn't put a scratch on it -- our car was perfect. It was good to come away with really no damage at a racetrack like this. We stayed in the top 10 and that's the key to keeping the car clean, just make sure that you are in good track position.

"If you can do that you can come home with a good run."

Now Hamlin has only two races remaining, California and Richmond, to reach the goal of every Nextel Cup operation: Making the playoffs.

"They're all fairly stressful from this point on in," Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said. "Each race has its own issues. Next week, you might not be worried about getting bumped and beaten on, but you've got mechanical issues.

"So I think each week has its own demons to fight. What Denny has done a good job of is being real patient and just kind of seeing the big picture.

"Denny realizes he's going to be here for a long time and he doesn't need to get too stressed out. He's enjoying it and not getting too worked up about it."

"We've just got to make sure that we keep doing the things we've got to do to stay in this top 10," Hamlin said, "and running top 10 every week is going to do it.

"We've just got to stay focused and make sure we stay focused on the job at hand."

Hamlin's ability to do that has kept his crew chief, veteran Mike Ford, sleeping well at night -- and he was even pretty relaxed Saturday night, he said.

"The objective [Saturday night] was just stay calm," Ford said, laughing. "If we stay calm, that means everything went well. No one got excited.

"We probably could have forced the issue and got a top-five, but keeping the big picture in mind, [Denny] didn't want to force anything that wasn't there [so] it was a good, solid day.

"We'll take it and go to Fontana. We're really, really happy with the guys."

Hamlin is in a prime position to improve his spot in the standings even more. He is just 21 points behind fifth-place Gordon and just 27 behind fourth-place Kyle Busch.

"Denny did a good job," Ford said. "He was very patient and worked the lapped traffic well and really there weren't too many hairy moments other than the end with [Scott Riggs] and [Gordon] racing each other in front of us.

"He did an excellent job. I think he was the only Raybestos rookie on the lead lap and I think that speaks highly of his patience and knowledge of what he needs to do."

Ford couldn't help but laugh when asked if Bristol was the race he and his team had really feared to affect their Chase hopes.

"Shoot, they're all big bullets," Ford said. "Fontana is a tough place on engines and you don't want to go there and have something happen. We're going to go there and try to have another solid run.

"I think we've got a really strong racecar to go back and try and get a top-five next week, if not a win. We're really looking forward to going to Fontana."

Ford said points racing isn't part of the equation.

"No, you can't go conservative at any point," Ford said. "What that does is if you do go conservative, that stops your learning for a period of time and you do get behind, whether it be a week or two weeks.

"You have to run hard. You have to be smart and know when to run but at no point can you be conservative at this level."