Hamlin Overcomes Damage to Score Top-Ten

For the final time this season, Denny Hamlin would have to hop between two tracks as the NASCAR Busch Series raced in Memphis, while the Nextel Cup Series raced in Atlanta.  With Hamlin scheduled to miss all on track activity until the race, the #20 team would once again turn to up and coming Busch Series drive Kertus Davis to assist them in setting up the race car.

On Friday, as the team dodged raindrops, Busch Series practice began.  Shortly into practice, the team learned that all on-track activity in Atlanta had been canceled, so Hamlin was on his way to Memphis.  Arriving just in time for another rain delay, Hamlin was able to spend about an hour and half in the car feeling it out.  Still struggling by the end of practice, the team at least had a direction to aim for in order to get it ready for Saturday.

Saturday morning the weather cleared and the teams got ready for action.  Hamlin, forced to drop to the rear of the field due to missing qualifying, would have a lot of cars to pass as he worked his way to the front.  As the green flag flew, Hamlin quickly went on the move.  By lap 20, he had moved up to 28th, and 18th by the time the first caution flew on lap 47.  Hamlin followed the leaders to pit road, where he received a large amount of changes for an extremely tight handling car.  

Even with all the changes, Hamlin returned to the track in the 17th position.  With 15 cars a lap or more down, the restart looked like the start of the race as they were side by side through most of the field.  On the second lap, contact was made between the sixth and seventh place cars and a huge pileup ensued.  In a fine piece of driving, Hamlin was able to slow his machine and only receive minor damage to the rear bumper.  Back in the 17th position, the field restarted.  This time the 78 car came down on the 20 causing significant front end damage.  Hamlin would wait for the next caution to make several repairs in an attempt to get the handling back on his machine.

The next 150 laps made for some interesting racing as Hamlin worked his way from the 32nd position up to the 6th position when the checkered flag fell.  The finish would be Hamlin’s 20th top-ten finish in 32 races.

“We really had to work for this one today,” commented Hamlin following the race.  “The car was not the best at the beginning but got a lot better as the race went on.  Dave (Rogers) made some good calls and the crew gave me some great stops.  After we got all the damage fixed, I told the crew ‘we are going to finish in the top-ten’.  I wasn’t quite sure how, but I was going to drive the wheels off of it until I got there.  I knew I had a long way to go and it seemed every time we would start going another caution would fly.  I think with some more green flag laps, we had a good shot at a top-five or even a top-three run.”