Hamlin: Success of JGR's No. 20 Nationwide car a team effort
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, July 04, 2008
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Shared between four drivers, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car has been the toast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series garage area this season.
Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and newcomer Joey Logano have all taken turns in the car and all three have gone to victory lane.
Its No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing counterpart hasn’t been too shabby in Nationwide competition either, winning three times in 2008.
What makes the No. 20 team in particular so successful?
Hamlin, who took the car to victory lane at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, has a couple theories.
“[Crew chief] Dave Rogers definitely has a lot to do with that team’s success, but it goes beyond Dave,” Hamlin said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, where he’ll drive the No. 20 JGR entry in Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250. “It goes to the car chief, Rick Bray. Those guys are a tight group. Dave and I kind assembled that team over the last couple of years. We built that team together I feel like. A lot of the other guys in the group benefit from it right now. We went through the struggles. We went through running fifth through 10th for the last couple of years.”
Communication, Hamlin says, has been one of the biggest components of the team’s success.
“We sit down and we discuss, 'What do we need to work on? What areas do we need to focus on to make our cars better?' And we do that in the offseason and then they go to work,” Hamlin said. “I think a lot of it also has to do with running these COT cars full-time [in the Sprint Cup Series]. We were able to take all of that technology from the Cup side over to the Nationwide side. We almost leaped one extra year because it seemed like over on the Nationwide side we wouldn’t always get everything right away because everyone is secretive about what they’ve got.
“I think that has a lot to do with it, but more so it has to do with all of the hard work at the race shop. I witnessed it personally. It seems like the more success they have, the harder they work and that’s what it takes to stay on top of this sport right now. If you can not be happy with where you’re at, you are going to continue to get better.”
Hamlin takes little credit for how strong the No. 20 car has been this year. He believes the results have been a total team effort.
“It’s more than me, for sure,” he said. “Like I said, it goes way down to everyone in the shop. It feels good to me to know that me and Dave [Rogers] got together and when we discussed what things we need to work on, we hit those right areas and we did everything right when it comes to that. It’s their hard work on the race car. I’ve just given the feedback.”
Hamlin also has sentimental attachments to the No. 20 team. He ran the entire season for the group in what is now the Nationwide Series in 2005, finishing fifth in the championship standings with 11 top-10 finishes. For him, driving the No. 20 car is like going home.
“It is,” Hamlin said. “All the team guys and myself, we’ve been there for the last three or four years. We’re not just now reaping all of the benefits."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Denny Hamlin
Comments
1 response to "Hamlin: Success of JGR's No. 20 Nationwide car a team effort"
Tsfanpc Tsfan pc said:
Jul 4, 2008 at 5:01 PMDenny is correct. The effort that Dave Rogers, Denny Hamlin, the guys on the Nationwide 20 car and everyone at JGR are the reason this car and the 18 are so dominate in the Nationwide series. The Toyota horsepower is a big help also.
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