DOVER, Del. -- Denny Hamlin definitely broke precedent Sunday at Dover International Speedway, but crew chief Mike Ford said it was business as usual for Joe Gibbs Racing's championship-leading team.

“

I fully anticipated losing the point lead when I left here. But to be able to keep it is good. I've got a little buffer going into the tracks that I know we're strong at. I know those guys are charging, but this was our biggest obstacle we had to fight.

”

-- DENNY HAMLIN

Hamlin finished ninth Sunday in the AAA 400 -- one spot lower than he'd said he wanted to come out of the second event in the Chase -- but his average finish in his previous four career Chase races here was 26.7.

"We didn't have the best car [Sunday] but we fought through and made something of it," Hamlin said. "This is what we needed to do, get by this weekend and we feel like we can run with them from here on out.

"This was a huge obstacle for us because this track has bitten us in the Chase for the last four years -- we've either wrecked here or broke here or just ran like crap here in the past. It was important for us to survive [because] once it's derailed us, we've never gotten back on-track."

Hamlin never came close to leading Sunday -- in fact, he's only led in one of his 10 career Dover races -- but at least he was consistently near the front.

"I just didn't have a good car [Sunday] -- a mediocre day and I hate we didn't run any better -- so luckily we had that good [fourth-place] qualifying effort to keep that track position or else I feel like we probably would have finished worse," Hamlin said. "To get out of here with this kind of finish is a good lift for our team.

"I fully anticipated losing the point lead when I left here. But to be able to keep it is good. I've got a little buffer going into the tracks that I know we're strong at. I know those guys are charging, but this was our biggest obstacle we had to fight."

Ford, as much as Hamlin, feared the Monster Mile and what it's done to his team's Chase hopes three of the past four years, via finishes of 38th in 2007 and 2008 and 22nd last year. And so he equally relished the rather sedate day, which equaled Hamlin's best career fall Dover finish, which they earned in Hamlin's rookie season, 2006.

"With our history here, yeah I was as worried as Denny was about this place," Ford said. "This is the one we needed to get through and we've got this one behind us, so I think from here on out I'm happy to see what race tracks are coming up."

Hamlin was only scored outside the top 10 once on the 20-lap interval reports and unofficially he left Dover 35 points clear of race winner and four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. The margin is the largest after two races in seven Chases.

But the most significant factor might have been what Hamlin's JGR crew was put through since Friday, when Hamlin spoke from the heart about the controversy embroiling Richard Childress Racing in this Chase -- namely New Hampshire winner Clint Bowyer being severely penalized last week by NASCAR.

RCR's lead driver, Kevin Harvick obviously didn't appreciate Hamlin's opinion. Harvick repeatedly drove into Hamlin's car as they left the garage for Saturday's first practice. (Continued)