Joe Gibbs Racing driver ‘excited for my team’
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DOVER, Del. — Denny Hamlin left no doubt about his desire to advance into the Contender Round of this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, outside the top 12 in points when Sunday’s AAA 400 got underway at Dover International Speedway, raced his way to a 12th-place finish that, combined with the struggles of AJ Allmendinger who fell outside the top 12, was enough to guarantee Hamlin the opportunity to continue to contend for this year’s Sprint Cup Series championship.
“I wish we would’ve run a little bit better, but luckily we had good track position from qualifying and just kind of kept it all day,” Hamlin said.
“You never know what can happen. I knew we had a car that was capable of racing our way in, but I didn’t think it was going to be that close. We just started fading there at the end.”
It was “a little bit on the defensive on my part,” he said, “but still we lost the handle.”
Hamlin, who won at Talladega earlier this year to earn a spot among the original 16 Chase drivers, came into Sunday’s race 13th in points after finishing 37th a week ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
With the points being re-set for the next three-race Contender Round, he and the other 11 drivers begin all square. Bad finishes can be forgotten, and strong runs quickly become yesterday’s news.
“It just all starts over again, so you’ve got to obviously minimize your bad days again and you can’t have finishes like we had last week,” he said. “But, finishes like this – you’re going to have to perform a little bit better. I’m excited for my team.”
Crew chief Darian Grubb, winner of the 2011 Sprint Cup title with Tony Stewart before moving over to JGR, said the cutoff race at Dover provided “just the normal worry.”
“Your whole season boils down to those last 50 laps, that green-flag stop and fuel run,” he said.
Hamlin’s pit crew has been one of the best this season, and they didn’t disappoint on Sunday. He gained three positions the first time he came to pit road under the caution flag, two spots the second time and one under the fourth yellow. Combined with equally efficient work during green-flag stops, Hamlin was able to maintain or gain positions throughout the day.
“Something can happen at any given time,” Grubb said. “Kasey (Kahne) had that loose wheel, the 4 (of Kevin Harvick) had that left-front go flat.
“The pit crew did an awesome job gaining spots every time we pitted and had a chance to; Denny did a great job just maintaining and keeping the car where it needed to be.”
Hamlin said the remainder of the schedule provides tracks that “just keep getting better for us … so we’re sitting in good shape. We’re as level as anyone right now. This is going to be a great comeback story if we can keep going.”
Next up for teams will be Kansas Speedway, then on to Charlotte and Talladega.
“Now we’re (back) in it,” Grubb said. “We’re tied for the lead in points.
“We’re just as good as everybody else going into it … as long as we have the good attitude going in and do our best, we’re going to be fine.”
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