Momentum now on Hamlin's side
RICHMOND, Va. -- Denny Hamlin completed a lifelong dream on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, finally winning a Sprint Cup race on the track he calls home.
Now he can focus on an even bigger dream:
A championship.
Want a dark horse for the Chase? Look no further than the Chesterfield, Va., native who finally turned a dominating performance at the three-quarter-mile track into a trip to Victory Lane.
"They better watch us,'' Hamlin said. "I'm telling you, this team is dangerous.''
Hamlin has been an afterthought much of the season with all the attention on Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, who fell eight points short of the Chase with a fifth-place finish, and all the Hendrick Motorsports cars.
But to overlook him over the next 10 weeks would be a huge mistake. He's won two of the past six races and hasn't finished worse than 10th during that span. Nobody other than maybe Brian Vickers, who finished seventh to claim the final spot for the 12-car playoff field, has been more consistent of late.
"All efforts are focused solely on the 11,'' Busch said. "I'll do my best to help Denny out and bring Joe Gibbs Racing a championship. Denny has a lot going forward, especially winning here. He's going to have a big momentum boost.
"They've got it going on.''
Hamlin will start the Chase fourth, 20 points behind Mark Martin, who jumped to first with bonus points from the four wins he collected in the first 26 races. Hamlin's only 10 points behind regular-season points leader Tony Stewart and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
The way he was feeling Saturday night might be enough to carry him through half the Chase. He wanted to win at Richmond just as bad, maybe worse, than Stewart wanted to win at Indianapolis. He did everything he could to make that happen, from wearing the same hat he donned after winning at Pocono only a few days after his grandmother passed away to carrying his grandmother's key chain.
"Making sure we covered all [the] bases when we decided to drive today,'' Hamlin said.
Hamlin had the field covered on this night, which began with a shower of rain that delayed the start of the race and ended with a shower of champagne in front of a crowd that included close friends and family members.
He led a race-high 298 laps, easily holding off Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon on the final restart with 14 laps remaining. But Hamlin has dominated here before and not won.
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Brian Vickers made the Chase on Saturday night; Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth did not. The difference? One of the hottest drivers of the summer stayed that way at Richmond. Story
He led 381 of 400 laps in the spring race a year ago before a late flat tire left him 24th. He led 148 laps here earlier this season and finished 14th because of a bad final pit stop.
The emotion of finishing off the dream came pouring out for the entire team as Hamlin took the checkered flag.
"Great job!'' crew chief Mike Ford said. "You rule this joint.''
Said Hamlin in a softer but just as excited voice: "This is my house!''
This also could be Hamlin's Chase. He started the season showing a maturity level we haven't seen since he entered the series full-time in 2006. Ford saw it. Everybody at JGR saw it and believed it would translate into a performance that would make him a championship contender.
"Definitely they've been strong,'' said Stewart, who was Hamlin's teammate before this season. "They have been strong consistently. ... For sure, somebody starting the Chase off with a win has a lot of momentum on their side.
"You look at him tonight. He's on cloud nine.''
A lot of drivers were. Martin was so excited after enduring the pressures of getting into the Chase the last few weeks that "I feel like a whole new person.''
"A huge weight off my shoulders,'' he said after the fourth-place finish. "To make this thing is the icing. Now we're going to go race for the cake.''
Saturday's win was like the icing and the cake for Hamlin.
"Like winning the Daytona 500 for everybody else,'' he said. "It's by far the biggest win of my career.''
But this was only a piece of the cake that ultimately drives Hamlin. He wants the whole enchilada now that he's checked Richmond off his to-do list.
"Now we can solely focus on winning the championship,'' Hamlin said. "Had we not won this race, I probably would not have been as confident going into the Chase.''
“Like winning the Daytona 500 for everybody else. It's by far the biggest win of my career.
” -- Denny Hamlin
Hamlin wasn't confident in much of anything early in the season. He said the Hendrick cars of Johnson, Gordon and Martin -- as well as the HMS-supplied car of Stewart -- were 5-10 percent better than his.
"It's a challenge to keep up,'' Hamlin said. "I'll be honest with you, our cars have really got to be on to challenge them for wins.''
But he feels better now than he did two month ago, believing the deficit is down to 3-5 percent.
"We haven't had championship-caliber finishes except our rookie year,'' Hamlin said. "Now I feel like our performance on the track is better than it's ever been.''
Oh, did we forget to mention that Hamlin has the experience it takes to win the Chase? He finished third as a rookie, only 68 points behind Johnson. He was eighth last season.
He can handle the pressure of a playoff just as easily as he handled the pressure of Ghosts of Richmond Past on the final restart.
He's starting to get the hang of mind games as well. When Johnson denied he had a target on his back as the three-time defending champ, Hamlin interrupted and said, "I can see the target.''
And he said it with a twinkle in his eye like he's never had before.
You couldn't help but notice it. Johnson did.
"Denny has always been one on the track that has been able to balance aggression and patience at the same time,'' Johnson said. "He's going to be very competitive in the Chase.''
He could be downright dangerous now, particularly since showing he can compete on the mile-and-a-half tracks as well as short ones such as Richmond.
"Our big-track program is better than our short-track program,'' Hamlin said. "With six or seven of those big tracks [in the Chase], I'm looking forward to it. It kind of sets up nicely for us.''
It certainly does.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
