Hamlin focused on strong finish, staying safely in the top 12
By SceneDaily Staff
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Denny Hamlin craves a strong run in Sunday’s Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – and not just because it’s NASCAR’s second-biggest race.
With his 40th-place finish in the most recent Sprint Cup outing two weekends ago at Chicagoland Speedway, Hamlin tumbled from seventh to 12th in the series standings, leaving him 27 points ahead of Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer in 13th.
Now on the bubble among drivers vying for spots in the 12-driver field that comprises the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup, Hamlin needs to finish well at Indy to minimize the risk of falling out of the top 12 as the Chase draws nearer.
Beginning with Indy, seven races remain before the championship-determining field is set.
While a win at Indianapolis would be special, Hamlin says his top priority is improving his position in the points standings and widening the gap back to 13th-place.
“Coming to Indy with as much as we want to win, it's hard to look past how great it would be to just win this race, but we know we have to finish first,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. “We can't force the issue if we don't have a winning car, but we'll certainly take any opportunities we get."
Hamlin realizes he has an opportunity to earn the rare distinction of qualifying for the Chase for a third straight year. He doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity by looking ahead too much.
"Honestly we really want to lock down a place in the Chase first before we talk about challenging for championships,” he said. “The only way we'll do that is by running consistently and we'd like to believe that means running in the top five and challenging for wins every week.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Denny Hamlin
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