Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin needs a win, and soon
Kris Johnson
Kris Johnson joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2003. He is Assistant Managing Editor at NASCAR Illustrated and SceneDaily.com.
At the halfway point of the 2009 campaign, Denny Hamlin’s season, on paper anyway, doesn’t look all that bad. Stationed at sixth in the
standings, with a handful of top-five finishes and seven top-10s, he could be faring much worse (see Kevin Harvick).
Hamlin at several points appeared to have the car to beat in the last Sprint Cup Series race, at Daytona. His third-place finish had to be equal parts satisfying and disappointin because the glaring omission on his stat line is marked by a 0 in the win category. Hamlin, in fact, hasn’t visited victory lane since March 30, 2008, at Martinsville Speedway.
Winning might not be the only thing in NASCAR - consistency and good points days still count for a lot - but it’s the one thing that can
completely trigger a competitor’s confidence.
For Hamlin, who posted consecutive runnerup finishes at Bristol and Martinsville earlier this season, a victory can’t come soon enough. If he is to be a factor in this year’s Chase For The Sprint Cup for the first time since 2006, Hamlin will be better served by going into it on a winning note.
In this week’s issue of NASCAR Scene, staff writer Jared Turner delves into Hamlin’s season to date and his ongoing quest to regain the form he showed as a rookie during that magical 2006 season.
Having Kyle Busch as a teammate these days will almost certainly guarantee you are overshadowed; Hamlin candidly explains the difference in their driving styles and what has personally kept him from fully grasping greatness. Check it out.
