Denny Hamlin ready to build on 2009 momentum
Denny Hamlin is considered a preseason favorite after his strong finish to 2009. // Chuck Yadmark, NASCAR Illustrated
A lot of fans and media are comparing Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin to Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, not because of the way they drive but the way they ended the last two seasons.
Edwards finished 2008 with six wins in the last 16 races, including three of the last four, making him a preseason favorite entering 2009. Hamlin finished 2009 with three wins in the last 11 races.
Does that make Hamlin the favorite to knock four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson off his perch? Or will Hamlin be like Edwards, who went winless last year following his nine-win season in 2008.
“A lot of people try to say that it was a similar situation with Carl,” said Hamlin, who wound up fifth in the standings last year thanks to four finishes of 20th or worse in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. “I’m not Carl. I’m with Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m not with Roush. I’m really confident in where our team’s heading going into this upcoming year. I feel I’m as focused as I’ve ever been when I get to a race track and as confident as I’ve ever been.
“We might not go out there the first six months and win six races, eight races before the Chase, but I guarantee you when we get to the Chase, we’re going to be set up and prepared to make a run similar to what we did this past year. We learned a lot by just easing our way into the season and peaking at the right time. We were most competitive the last 10 races, and that’s what counts. The driver didn’t have his head on his shoulders for one race and we didn’t have the reliability for the other two. Other than that, where were we going to be? I don’t know. We’ll find out.”
Hamlin said that catching Johnson still will be tough.
“Those other guys, they’re not going to rest on, ‘We’re four‑time champions. It’s going to come easy,’” Hamlin said. “We know they’re working just as hard as we are to continue that dominance. We’ve got to take two steps to their one.
“He’s the standard. He has got all the pieces of the puzzle with him right now – crew chief, team, talent, reliability. All those things are what you have to have in the Chase. That’s what they’ve just done over the last four years. They put it all together. When you have all that, and nothing changes year to year, no personnel changes, it’s hard to beat.”
