Virginia's Hamlin so close at Richmond and in COT

Denny Hamlin nearly made his boyhood dream come true in his very first race at Richmond International Raceway.

Hamlin, who grew up on the .33-mile oval of Southside Speedway in Chesterfield County, finished second in his Nextel Cup Series debut at Richmond International Raceway last May. In the return trip this past September, he started from the pole and finished 15th.

"Just like any other driver feels a lot of pride racing in their hometown, this is the race I really want to win," Hamlin said. "I came close here in the spring when I fought with Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. there at the end, and then won the pole here in the fall and those two events go down as some of my best memories in racing."

Hamlin led 19 laps and said it was an experience he will never forget.

"When I took the lead here in the spring, I could see the fans up out of their seats cheering and I can't explain what that feels like. It was one of the coolest things," Hamlin said. "I just take a ton of pride in racing well here. I owe it to these fans because I know they take a lot of pride when there is someone from Virginia on the track. I was sitting in the stands here not that long ago."

Hamlin, who last year became the first rookie to make the Chase, is off to a strong start in 2007. He goes into the Crown Royal 400 (7 p.m. ET Saturday, FOX) fifth in points, with three top-fives and four top-10s in nine starts. Hamlin won't be satisfied with second this year.

"Unfortunately, success in racing is usually measured in wins so we are hoping we end our 'leading races but not winning races' streak we have going in these cars," said Hamlin in particular to the Car of Tomorrow, which will make its fourth appearance of the young season.

Hamlin has led a combined 372 laps in the first three COT races. He led 177 laps at Bristol, but a fuel-pump problem dropped him to a 14th-place finish. At Martinsville and Phoenix he finished third both times, despite dealing with loose lug nuts and overheating in the former and a pit-road speeding penalty in the latter.

"I felt like the cars I had in Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix were race-winning cars but things didn't go our way," said Hamlin, who started in the top 10 in all three races and earned the pole at Martinsville. "I think the only place I have been passed in this car is on pit road so that says a lot about our performance."

Instead it has been the Hendrick Motorsports cars of first Kyle Busch, then Jimmie Johnson and most recently Jeff Gordon that have made it to Victory Lane.

"We can get it done; we're just not getting it done at the right time," Hamlin said. "And believe me, Jeff Gordon and those guys have had great cars the last three or four, five weeks. But we've been as competitive, if not better, than they have. He's just kind of got all the breaks lately. ...

"When it turns around, it's going to be big. We are going to reel off a bunch of wins."

For Gordon, something's got to give Saturday night. He has not finished worse than third in any of the COT races, progressively getting better each time out. But he's also on a Richmond streak in which he hasn't finished better than 30th in four consecutive races.

"We tested here a couple weeks ago with the new Impala SS and I was pleased with the results," Gordon said of the Chevrolet COT model. "But we need to be sure to carry that over to this weekend. We've struggled here recently and we definitely want to turn that around."