Denny Hamlin celebrates a golden hour victory at Richmond Raceway. (Photo: Molly Gastineau | The Podium Finish)
After a trying six weeks kicking off the NASCAR Cup Series season, Denny Hamlin delivered in grand fashion on Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
Prior to Sunday’s Toyota Owner 400 at the 0.75-mile short track, Hamlin kicked off his year with some uncharacteristically poor finishes. The 41-year-old Chesterfield, Virginia native logged a 37th place DNF at Daytona, a 15th at Fontana, 32nd at Las Vegas due to a drivetrain issue, 13th at Phoenix, 29th due to a crash at Atlanta and 18th at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Undoubtedly, Hamlin and crew chief, Chris Gabehart, believed in themselves despite the difficult start. With fast No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry cars in their fleet and a determined crew capable of reeling fast stops, it was only a matter of time before the Virginian snapped out of his cold streak.
Moreover, Hamlin had three wins at Richmond in 2009, 2010 and 2016, all during the fall. As youngsters may say, Hamlin understood the assignment at this Dominion State short track.
In the case of Hamlin, it was time to party like it was 2009, 2010 and 2016. (Photo: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
Starting 13th, Hamlin tallied an 11th in stage 1 and 14th in stage 2, finishes hardly indicative of the pace and potential winning combination prevalent with Hamlin’s car. A timely pit stop late in the race allowed Hamlin to overcome a nearly 14 second deficit with leader, William Byron, in the final 25 laps.
On lap 397, Hamlin put the spurs to his No. 11 car, zipping past Byron before besting Kevin Harvick to the stripe by 0.552 seconds.
Needless to say, Hamlin expressed elation and faith with himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing camp.
“It was just a matter of time,” Hamlin said. “We weren’t just going to hang back where we were, but everyone worked so hard on my JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Toyota Camry team.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to thank my sponsors – SportClips, FedEx, Coca-Cola, the Jordan Brand, Toyota – such a huge partner of ours, and our new sponsor – Logitech. Great to have them on our car now. You just have a tough season and things aren’t going well. It seems like everything is not going your way and the law of averages say things are going to work out and we’ll get our performance better and today’s the day where it all matched up.”
Beyond extracting the most out of his Camry in the late Sunday afternoon sunshine, the mild mannered Hamlin sang his praises for Richmond while recalling some valuable lessons he learned from the past.
“I love it,” he expressed. “I love this track and the techniques that it takes to get around here. I watched some of the greatest short track racers in the world at Southside Speedway and Langley. I’ve learned so much from those guys watching from the stands. When I finally got the opportunity to apply it for myself, I did.”
For a driver who won on 46 prior occasions in 18 years, even a driver of Hamlin’s caliber still has to keep learning as much as he can, particularly with this current Cup car.
“The challenge to this one is figuring out what this car likes, how it makes speed,” Hamlin offered. “I got to start all over again when I come to these racetracks. That’s the biggest challenge of it beyond any shifting, braking or steering, anything like that.
“Those are all challenges, but it’s more just figuring out what makes this car tick and what makes it go around the racetrack in the shortest amount of time, and what is my role in that.”
Before Hamlin can consider next Saturday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway, he plans to soak up his latest Richmond success, particularly with the legends he patterned himself after as a young racing fan.
That’s speedy delivery to you, sir. (Photo: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
“It’s just special because I sat in the stands here and watched the greatest short track drivers run around here,” Hamlin said. “I watched different techniques. This track hasn’t changed, the shape of it hasn’t changed.
“I watched guys like Rusty (Wallace) that were extremely good here. Their lines entering turn one, that changes with cars and stuff, but still the way they make speed is such an art form. You just try to do your best as the driver.”
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
Blaney-Byron-Chastain-Truex-Kyle Busch/Elliott-Bell-Logano-Keselowski-Harvick
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Truex-Bell-Chastain-Logano-Blaney/Elliott-Harvick-Kyle Busch-Larson-Keselowski
Toyota Owners 400 Top 10 Finishers
Hamlin-Harvick-Byron-Truex-Larson/Bell-Blaney-Bowman-Kyle Busch-Austin Dillon
