Hamlin races like his job's in jeopardy
Never forget.
Marty,
Like you I'm a Virginia boy and I love my state. I'm from Richmond, so I want to talk Denny Hamlin. I saw you on the sideline with him at the Tech game in Atlanta, so I figured you probably know him pretty good.
I'm a big fan of his since he's from my hometown, and I just don't feel like people give him enough credit for what a great driver he is. He's always up front, but he's never mentioned with Johnson and Gordon and Busch and even Junior. Give it to me straight, man. Is he the real deal? Why don't people give him more credit?
-- Charles Garza, Richmond, Va.
I don't disagree, Charles. Your observation is valid. Hamlin is rarely mentioned with the Jimmie Johnsons and Jeff Gordons and Tony Stewarts in the "greatest drivers" conversation. Whether he deserves to be is debatable. I know this: He's really good. And really underrated. And he is not alone on that list.
Hamlin has had so many shoulda-coulda-woulda near misses that the stats aren't truly indicative of his performance during his career. I figure Hamlin's demeanor also is a major contributing factor. He's a funny guy, but he's unassuming. When he speaks to the media, he rarely gets riled up. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing him get overly riled up in an interview. He's not afraid to say what he thinks when asked, but he doesn't grandstand.
So maybe that's why you don't hear his name spoken in that conversation -- people simply forget about him.
Not that Hamlin cares much. He has a fast race car and a stable job and more money than he possibly could spend. Sure, there are mind-numbing fuel-pickup hiccups and the like. It happens in racing. And, sure, there are spats with his team at times when things don't go as planned. That happens in racing, too. For every driver.
But for the most part, he has it good. Really good. That's why his professional philosophy is so interesting.
"I never feel like I have something to prove, but I always race that way," Hamlin said, standing on the Virginia Tech sideline just minutes before kickoff against Alabama on Saturday. "There is somebody else willing to take my spot. I always race like my job is in jeopardy, even though it's not."
Kyle Busch told me that very same thing at Indianapolis. It is a prevailing thought among the driving corps.
"There's probably three or four guys that don't have that mentality -- the Jeff Gordons, with the lifetime contracts, and the Jimmie Johnsons with the championships," Hamlin said.
"I feel like at my age, I'm going to have a long career. I want to race until I'm 40-something years old if I have a ride. But in this sport, there is so much good up-and-coming talent and so many sponsors coming in. You never know when someone will pull the plug and say you are out of a ride because of sponsorship or performance.
"I always think, every weekend, 'This is the weekend I am auditioning for this car.' That is what makes me so successful."
To know Hamlin's story is to understand this philosophy.
Five years ago, he was the guy ready to pounce on someone else's job.
At 16, Hamlin won his first mini-stock title, at Langley Speedway near his hometown of Chesterfield, Va. He knew then, unequivocally, what he wanted in life. Five years later, in 2002, Hamlin was racing a family-owned late model all over creation. When he showed up, he was widely considered the man to beat.
But toward the end of that season, his parents were out of money. They'd mortgaged and remortgaged the house, and sold off cars to fund Hamlin's career. But eventually, the money ran out. And Hamlin, like so many talented drivers across the country, seemed to have met the one competitor he couldn't beat -- Benjamin.
But another driver overheard Hamlin discussing his plight and refused to let it happen. Jim Dean, a wildly successful late-model team owner, told Hamlin that if Hamlin wasn't competing the next week and Dean's team won the race, it wouldn't be satisfying. They'd know full well they hadn't beaten the best.
Dean told Hamlin to call him the next week; he'd see what he could do to help. Sure enough, Dean and his driver parted ways the day before Hamlin called, and Dean put Hamlin in the seat. The next weekend, Hamlin won the pole, led every lap and won the race. He then drove for Dean the next season and won 25 out of 35 races, at five tracks.
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At the end of 2003, Hamlin showed up at a diversity test for Joe Gibbs Racing -- the one in which the team found Aric Almirola -- to drive the cars a bit. Former Nationwide driver Curtis Markham was there and saw the young man wheel it. Impressed, he called J.D. Gibbs to come take a look.
Nine months later, Hamlin debuted for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Truck Series event at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Three months after that, he was in a Nationwide car at Darlington. Less than a year after that, he was in Cup, qualifying seventh in his first start, at Kansas.
And now here he is, four years later, standing on the sideline at the Georgia Dome as a guest of Virginia Tech and ESPN at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Had Dean not bought his ride, he wouldn't be standing right there, right then.
In fact, he said he'd probably be lying beneath a trailer, built by the trailer company his father founded 10 years ago to ensure Denny would have a life if racing didn't pan out. He might be wiring the trailer, or maybe installing a hitch or doing some fabrication.
"That is one thing my family did -- they really pushed me to race," Hamlin said. "That was a lifelong dream for me. We knew our chances."
Miniscule.
"We read in a book that the chances of a kid being a race car driver are one in 4 million," Hamlin continued. "It's a crazy number. So we are looking at that and thinking, 'Oh my God, I don't have a college education, what am I going to do?' We decided if racing doesn't work out, we'd have something to fall back on. We were going to start this [trailer] business together, and [I] would end it."
The family has since sold the trailer company. Now, it's all about racing.
Hamlin led 381 laps at Richmond International Raceway in the spring of 2008. He didn't win. RIR has eluded Hamlin. And as a result, it haunts him.
Hamlin is locked into the 2009 Chase, so there is but one focus Saturday night: to win.
"Your mentality changes, based on where you are in the points," he said. "People talk about being a second-class citizen -- that's what you are when you're out of the Chase. You just don't matter anymore. You really don't.
"Right now, we're going for race wins only, especially at Richmond," Hamlin said. "I think everyone knows how big a race that is for the whole team. You can only be so close so many times without breaking through. We aren't going there to finish second."
The Six …
Marty,
Wow. Nobody saw the RPM and Yates merger coming, I don't think. There are so many questions I have that don't seem to have answers. Who's in the 43? What does this mean for Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson? Who is running the team? Help!
-- Cristi P., Topeka, Kan.
"The King" said it perfectly, Cristi -- there are myriad details yet to be worked out in this merger.
And don't forget, it's still an agreement in principle. I fully expect it to come to fruition, though, because Ford gets Kasey Kahne back in the deal. As a result, it is going to do whatever it takes to solidify the transaction.
The decision to merge was made because Richard Petty Motorsports had no manufacturer support for 2010. The Dodge deal soured in the wake of the Toyota chase, and the Toyota chase never materialized. Chevrolet is cutting back its team support, too. So that leaves Ford.
Sorenson is looking for work, but he already was looking for work. I expect he'll land in a quality Nationwide car. And I still expect McMurray to land in Chip Ganassi's No. 1 Chevy. If not, he doesn't have many other options.
As far as the new RPM management structure, who knows? Will Max Jones run the show? Or will Robbie Loomis? Or both? Or neither? I expect Jones to get the nod at the new RPM, since he is a Roush Fenway disciple and already was running Yates Racing.
And what does this mean for the RPM motor shop? Team sources tell me it will be shut down, which means many jobs lost. (I've heard anywhere from 40 jobs to more than 60.)
And where will the team live? Team sources tell me it will live in the Yates shop over on the Roush Fenway campus, meaning the Statesville RPM shop also would close.
The big winners here are Jack Roush and Ford Motor Company. You can't help but wonder how Kahne feels about all this. He was sued by Ford several years back -- a case that eventually was thrown out -- when he accepted Dodge's offer to leave Ford and jump to Cup with Ray Evernham. What's he supposed to do? Ford said he wasn't ready yet. Dodge said he was. You don't get too many chances like that. And now Ford gets him back anyway.
I figure Kahne just wants to run fast. He appreciates Dodge -- the manufacturer has done a lot for him. But moving forward, his new Yates motors will be better than his old RPM ones. RPM motors have been reliable, mind you. They don't blow up. But they're well down on horsepower compared to those of the elite teams.
The biggest question I have in all this is simple: Why now?
Why announce this with 11 races to go, when Kahne is set to make a run at a championship? How are the RPM motor boys supposed to feel? Are they going to truly give a 100 percent effort for Kahne when they just got shuffled to the side? I can't answer that.
But it seems an odd decision.
Marty,
So it seems that next year the newly merged Petty team will possibly run the famous 28 on one of its cars to represent Yates Racing heritage. Add to that the signature No. 9 with the E design (Evernham) and the famous 43, and that's three significant car numbers, each once being the most identifiable with their former thriving teams, all under one banner. A real sign of the times, right?
-- Matt Schlosser, Blacksburg, Va.
Yes, sir. Absolutely. I'll predict Kahne in the 9, Elliott Sadler in the 28, A.J. Allmendinger in the 43 and Paul Menard in the 98. Again, just a prediction. Albeit one I hope is right. I love the 28.
Hey Marty,
I'm a massive fan of my countryman Marcos Ambrose and would have to say he has been pretty impressive in his first full year against the big boys in the Sprint Cup. What do you reckon his chances of seeing him getting a drive with a top-tier team in the near future are?
-- Ren Thompson, Adelaide, Australia
Well, first, Ren, check out last week's Door-To-Door for my thoughts on Ambrose. I'll admit I never dreamed he was this good. And second, he's doing pretty well with his current team.
Marty,
Is Richmond the right place to close the Race for the Chase? I thought maybe Charlotte would be better, since it's the home of the teams.
-- Jack Holland, Albemarle, N.C.
Richmond couldn't be more perfect, Jack. It's Saturday-night short-track racing with speedway speeds and multiple grooves from which to choose to make the car work best. Seriously, there is no better track than Richmond for a race of this magnitude.
That's my time, folks. Thanks for yours. Speaking of RIR, I'm off to the track now. Remember Sept. 11, 2001.
Marty Smith is a contributor to ESPN's NASCAR coverage. He can be reached at ESPNsider@aol.com.
