Mind-set brings improved results for Hamlin in 2010

Denny Hamlin, to paraphrase Warren Zevon, has always been an excitable boy. In his free time Hamlin can be found in his courtside seats for NBA games, or hobnobbing with the likes of Michael Jordan in his Charlotte nightclub, or -- in the days before his torn knee ligament, at least -- taking part in high-level, full-court pickup basketball games. On the race track, he was once so demandingly critical that it took a toll on his crew. None of that should be a surprise coming from a 29-year-old with a wealth of physical talent, and energy and intensity to burn.

And yet, as the final laps wound down Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, and with his black and orange race car leading the field by more than a second, Hamlin asked for only one thing.

Radio silence.

Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson lead the field with three wins each.

Hamlin in '10

Cup Series statistics

No.	Race	Start	Finish	Points
1.	Daytona	25	17	117
2.	Fontana	25	29	198
3.	Las Vegas	27	19	304
4.	Atlanta	20	21	409
5.	Bristol	15	19	515
6.	Martinsville	19	1	710
7.	Phoenix	26	30	783
8.	Texas	29	1	973
9.	Talladega	11	4	1138
10.	Richmond	30	11	1268
11.	Darlington	8	1	1458

As Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 11 team crept closer to its third victory of the season, the only sounds over the radio were the hum of Hamlin's engine and the voice of crew chief Mike Ford, counting down the laps in five-circuit increments. The Southern 500 was a race for complainers, for drivers unhappy with their cars, or their crew chiefs, or other competitors, at the kind of treacherous, narrow race track where such things often come to a head. And there was Hamlin, in a race so long and difficult that he passed out in the shower afterward last year, with a surgically-repaired left knee that had to be throbbing, keeping quiet and allowing the performance of his car to speak for him.

You've heard of the new Kyle Busch? Well, meet the new Denny Hamlin, a more patient, more mature, and more calculating driver who has learned how to keep his emotions under control.

"The excitement level is not there, the heart rate is not nearly as high as it used to be. I would just have maybe a bad stop or something, I would instantly peak way high. It would affect on track performance, then I'd get caught up in a wreck," said Hamlin, whose Darlington victory tied him with Jimmie Johnson for the most in Sprint Cup so far this season.

"I feel like I'm a little bit more patient now on the race track, even though at times it seems like there's maybe an aggressive move here or there. But I still am well in control of my destiny throughout the day, even when things go bad. I've just learned you can win these races. You don't have to win them in the first half. Really, you just want to be somewhere around that top eight or so the first half, somewhere around the top five with 100 to go. You don't need to panic when you're not in the lead the whole race. To me, that's just a different mind-set that I've had, and it seems to work because I've had the equipment at the end when I needed it. When I needed to push it, the envelope, I had the car to do it, especially at the end." (Continued)