 | | Both Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. exceeded some experts' expectations this season. Credit: Autostock |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
November 20, 2006
01:31 PM EST (18:31 GMT)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Before Sunday's Ford 400, the finale of the Nextel Cup Series season, both Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had said winning the championship was an afterthought. But Sunday evening, as the climax to Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway unfolded, they both showed plenty of emotion on a night when their fortunes throughout the race ultimately flip-flopped.  |  | | Credit: Autostock |
| |
| Ford 400 |
| Results |
| Pos. |
Driver |
Make |
| 1. |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
| 2. |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Chevy |
| 3. |
Denny Hamlin |
Chevy |
| 4. |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
| 5. |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevy |
| 6. |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
| 7. |
Scott Riggs |
Dodge |
| 8. |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
| 9. |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevy |
| 10. |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevy |
|
 |
Hamlin started 33rd and twice had to battle to the front of the field before he finished third. Earnhardt started 14th and charged into the top 10 within a matter of laps, but the handling on his car was never perfect and he ultimately ended up 19th after smacking the wall. Hamlin, who came into the race fourth in the standings as the first rookie to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup, showed exactly how much spirit and commitment it takes to excel at NASCAR's premier level when he exploded over the radio at his team after a pit stop miscue just past halfway in the race. "Fine -- I was fine," Hamlin said, belying the tone and content of his message to his crew when told he had to return to the pits. "I had a lot of emotions going on because we had just preached a nice, easy, smooth stop -- nothing fast -- and we missed some lugs [because] we dropped the jack before the lug nuts were ready. "I was very frustrated because I had spent 170 laps trying to get to the front from starting 33rd and finally got in the top seven or eight and that happened." Just how much the championship standings meant to Hamlin, who had said coming in his team in effect was just happy to be here, was obvious. "I figured we just fell back to fifth or sixth in points and who knows where we were going to end up," Hamlin said. "I was angry at the time, but I settled myself back down." And he showed just how deeply he was able to focus in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet as he pushed the issue with some lug nuts on his right rear tire aside, and dug his way back to score his second consecutive top-three and his fifth consecutive top-five to close the season. That moved him into third in the championship -- the best Modern Era performance by a rookie; which eclipsed the fourth place by his Gibbs Racing teammate and two-time series champion Tony Stewart in 1999. Rookie of the year James Hylton finished second to champion David Pearson in 1966, which is the all-time record. "It's been a great year for us," Hamlin said. "I'm ecstatic the way we ran. This is the way I wanted to end the year is with a top-five finish [because] these guys deserve it." Hamlin said the achievement meant a lot to him in a season when Stewart could not even get into position to defend his 2005 Nextel Cup championship when he failed to make the Chase -- but he had a long way to go to approach his teammate's record. "It's just fun to be competitive with Tony in that kind of way," said Hamlin, who added that his 'bet' with teammate was simply a handshake deal. "We were able to finish higher in the points than he did in his rookie year [but] I would trade it for just his stats alone when I'm done with my career." While Hamlin was a scant two positions on the track away from passing championship runner-up Matt Kenseth and moving into second at the end of the race Earnhardt, who came into the finale 115 points behind eventual champion Jimmie Johnson, actually lost 32 points to the champ by the time he finished 19th with a battle-scarred No. 8 Chevy. The difference was, Earnhardt and his crew battled and massaged and cajoled his ride throughout the race until they managed to lead 47 laps in two different segments near the midpoint. Earnhardt actually closed to within 50 points of Johnson one-third of the way into the race, when he took the lead at Lap 118 while Johnson was running 16th. After that 45-lap stint in the lead ended at Lap 162, the running commentary on Junior's in-car radio was classic. Five laps after the race restarted on Lap 165, Earnhardt was literally screaming into his radio that he was loose. That exchange came to a head when the sixth of 11 cautions flew at Lap 175. "We ain't doing nothing to the tires," Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., said over the radio, before taking a paternal tone. "If it gets loose, I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it and you'll have to deal with it. "I'm trying to do all I can to win this [expletive] race." "Man, you need a break," Earnhardt shot back as he circled the track behind the pace car. "Then you can go hunting and do all the [expletive] you want to do." The bond between Earnhardt and Eury Jr., his cousin, as well as their crew was instantly apparent a few seconds later. "I didn't want you to think I was giving up and just riding around," Earnhardt explained his complaints. "You guys are so good, we were just leading this race and we can get back up there and do it again." After a race-long battle, the team never solved Earnhardt's fluctuating handling issues until he was finally forced to apologize to his crew after he side-slapped the wall through Turns 1 and 2 with about 42 laps remaining and running in the top 10. "Sorry, I pushed up and hit the wall, there," Earnhardt sheepishly told his crew a few laps later. "That [Jeff Burton] was pushing me pretty hard." Afterward, while Junior remained apologetic about the incident, he had nothing but fire in his heart for "his boys." "I got to tell you, man, my team -- I am real proud of them," Earnhardt said. "They have got a lot to be proud of over what they have been able to accomplish this year [and] the kind of cars they have been able to build. "They are kind of down on themselves about tonight. But they have a lot to be proud of; they realize that. I am excited about 2007. "My guys are kind of bummed out tonight [because] we had a great car tonight and they are really bummed out about how we finished -- but we have had a great team all year long and we have so much to look forward to. "We just have to maintain a great positive attitude going in through this offseason; just get some work done, get some good cars built and put it to them next year." Earnhardt acknowledged the magnitude of what his crew had accomplished after not making the Chase in 2005 and basically having to almost start from scratch before this season. He began the year sixth in the standings and only fell out of the top 10 twice, each for only one week and only into 11th. "I can't express how proud I am of this team -- I just have a tremendous team behind me," Earnhardt said. "They just never gave up all year. We battled back when we are down race after race -- we battled back today. "We made the Chase and we fought hard and we are going to try and do that next year [because] we have a great team -- just a really, really great team." | 
