HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- On Saturday, Denny Hamlin sent a message to Brad Keselowski by spinning him out in the Nationwide Series finale. On Sunday, Hamlin may have sent a message to the rest of the Cup field by winning the Ford 400.

"I tell you, we're going to be there, I promise you," Hamlin said, referring to Jimmie Johnson's championship celebration. "I promise you, the next couple of years, we're going to win a championship."

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I promise you, the next couple of years, we're going to win a championship.

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-- DENNY HAMLIN

There was no one who could claim to be Johnson's equal this season, but Hamlin's two wins and six top-10 finishes during the Chase certainly gives him confidence that his No. 11 Toyota can attain that level some day, especially when factoring that Hamlin had three races in which he retired before the finish.

"We were right there," Hamlin said. "But those guys have been the standard. They haven't made mistakes and that's who we ultimately want to beat, is the guys who are a dominating force like them. I think we're showing that we have that strength to compete with those guys. It's just that they've done a phenomenal job."

If anything, Hamlin said he's noticed a trend in the way the Chase plays out.

"It looks like the trend has been you get one bad race if you want to be a champion," Hamlin said. "The others had multiple bad races. But each one of those races where we blew up, we were leading, and if we had just averaged seventh or eighth, I think, in those races, then we're out on the front stage celebrating right now.

"But on the other hand, then the 48 maybe would have to run harder or perform better. So it's tough to play the numbers games and what if. But all I know is we've been competitive enough to run with those guys, and we've come a long way as a race team. You know, even though we had some parts failures in the Chase, the driver still made a mistake, which that can't happen in the Chase next year."

The secret, according to Hamlin, is figuring out how to maintain that level of performance.

"There's some things I need to do to get better," he said. "I feel like through the season I've gotten better. I'm figuring out what I need to make my race car better. [Crew chief Mike Ford] is starting to figure it out. We're getting on the same page now, figuring out what we need to be good at racing.

Hamlin wins finale

Denny Hamlin dominated the final 70 laps at Homestead and cruised to the victory.

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"One thing we're going to have to improve on next year is qualifying. We can't come from 38th like we did [Sunday]. It looks good on paper, but realistically you put yourself at more risk."

Ford is certainly of the same opinion.

"You look at the second half of the season, we hit a stride," Ford said. "We felt like we learned a couple things. We peaked early the last two years and kind of nosed over and were afraid to try things in the Chase, and that wasn't the case this year. We continued to learn throughout, but we put ourselves in a good position to start it.

"I think everyone being on the same page, being able to work through problems, it was a lot easier to make gains during the season and during races with Denny and myself being on the same page pretty much every week."

Between Hamlin and Ford, owner J.D. Gibbs sees a chemistry that may remind some of a younger Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus.

"I think one thing you forget, Denny's first year he winds up third in the points," Gibbs said. "I think it just kind of came natural. I think in the years following he kind of pushed hard in some areas and maybe tried some things you shouldn't try.

"I think what we've kind of learned is watching these guys kind of mature really taking a leadership role, Denny within the sport and Mike within our shop, really the future is exciting for us. So I think really both those guys work well together. They're quiet, they're not going to talk a lot about stuff, they just kind of get it done. That's what encourages me coming up the next couple years for JGR."

As far as delivering a message this weekend, Hamlin hopes 2010 picks up where 2009 leaves off.

"There's some things we need to do to be better, and I think this Chase has just made us stronger," Hamlin said. "Because now I think everyone is focused and everyone is fired up about next year, knowing that we're one of the few guys that can run with that 48 every single week."