NASCAR Notebook topper--Hamlin looks to lift the curse
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--After a miserable 2018 season, Denny Hamlin has returned to the traditional white paint scheme on the No. 11 Fed Ex Toyota.
For the first time since the 38-year-old Chesterfield, Virginia native competed full-time at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series level in 2006, Hamlin was 0-36.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver knew it was time to turn his luck around.
“I just wanted a change and I’m convinced the other pain scheme was just bad luck,” Hamlin said. “They made a great change and really with the branding of Fed Ex, if you see Fed Ex it’s always on a white truck so it might as well be on a white car as well.”
To change the team’s luck—or direction—on the personnel side, JGR recruited Chris Gabehart to replace Mike Wheeler as crew chief. Hamlin feels their shared background in Late Model racing will prove fruitful particularly on short tracks. But establishing a strong level of communication between this crew chief—Hamlin’s fourth in nine years—is essential to getting off on the right foot.
“He’s aggressive and he’s always had that mentality especially in the Xfinity Series,” Hamlin said. “When I worked with Dave Rogers and him in the Cup Series, he always had an outgoing personality and ‘what do we need to do to win and win at all costs.’”
Hamlin feels strongly about “changing the narrative” of the No. 11 team. He hasn’t been to Victory Lane since the 2017 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. But if Hamlin wins early and locks into the Playoffs the team will have more leeway when it comes to taking risks throughout the regular season.
“You always feel you have something to prove—certainly this year in particular,” Hamlin said. “I’m very fired up to go out there and win not one race, not two races, not even three—like just multiple races and make sure that we contend every week.”
While 2018 was certainly forgettable, Hamlin smiles when recounting his 2016 Daytona 500 win. Hamlin said he was “right where he needed to be thanks to Matt Kenseth,” as the cars roared out of Turn 4. Over the last two years, Hamlin has come to appreciate the notoriety that accompanies the accomplishment.
“It’s the first thing they alway announce when they spit out your resume at a celebrity golf tournament or when you make an appearance somewhere it’s always 2016 Daytona 500 champion,” Hamlin said. “Before, it was just 25-time winner in NASCAR, Denny Hamlin. Now, you’re a champion of something.
“Even though I don’t have the Cup, I am a champion in one way, shape or form.”
The Favorite?
Ford Performance drivers have won half of the races at Daytona International Speedway over the last five years and 80-percent of the races at Talladega Superspeedway.
In his last two starts in the Great American Race, Ryan Blaney finished second in 2017 and seventh last season.
Could this be the year that Blaney breaks through in the Daytona 500?
“This race has been good to us the last couple of years, running second a couple years ago and led a ton of laps last year and it just didn’t work out for us at the end,” Blaney said. “I think our speedway cars have always been pretty good. The Penske group and Wood Brothers group does a great job. It is a combination of cars, having a great spotter - Josh Williams is my spotter and he gets better every single year. Having great teammates. All four of us work great together, Paul Menard included.
“These tracks, more than others, strength in numbers is your friend and we do a great job trying to work together. All the Fords do really. Our group in particular. Hopefully, we can just finish one off here.”
Blaney’s Penske teammates—Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano—have won eight of the last 18 restrictor plate races between Daytona and Talladega. He’s learned a lot from working with the veteran drivers.
Both patience and luck comes into play at Daytona. Blaney, who led a race-high 118 laps in the 2018 Daytona 500, knows the challenge is to be in position for the end game.
“If you can make it to the last 20-30 laps, you are going to be in a spot to try to win it,” Blaney said. “We have been fortunate to make it to the last 20 laps for the last couple years so hopefully we can do that again and find ourselves in the spot we were in last year, do a couple things different and try to win the race.”
Larson would better be lucky than good
Kyle Larson was one lap away from winning the Daytona 500 when the No. 42 Chevrolet ran out of gas.
Larson led lap 199 but was forced to coast on fumes as Kurt Busch passed him for the lead on the last lap to win the Great American race.
The moment was not lost on Larson after Busch became his teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing.
“I mentioned that the other day that I’ve given you a couple wins in fuel-mileage races,” Larson said of Busch. “Obviously, Daytona and then Michigan either my first or second year. We tried to stay out when the rain was coming and had to pit. As soon as I came down pit road and then left the road it started dumping, so if I was two laps later, I would have won.
“I don’t remember whether it was after Daytona or Michigan but we were at a restaurant—he was at one end and I was at the other—and he sent over a beer, and I don’t drink beer, but on the napkin, it said ‘Here’s a little extra fuel,’ so that was pretty funny.”
Larson hopes to lean on the veteran this season whether it comes to Busch’s knowledge and experience or pushing him to work harder behind the scenes. Larson would also like to pick Busch’s brain about running the double when the time comes to one day compete in the Indianapolis 500. Busch started 12th and finished sixth in his Indy 500 debut.
“That’s definitely one thing I would like to ask him, get his opinion on it, see how tough or not tough it really is to try and help my confidence out when it comes to running that race,” Larson said. “That’s always something I wanted to ask him since he ran it—just to see how it is in dirty air. How it compares to anything I’ve done in my past.
“I haven’t really talked to Chip about it at all, but someday.”
One race Larson might put on his schedule this season is the Driven2SaveLives BC 39 midget race at The Dirt Track at IMS, Sept. 4-5. Larson had a conflict with his own race last year but hasn’t ruled the USAC event out.
“I have my go-kart race that I promote on in California so it’s hard for me to get to Indiana in time to run,” Larson said. “Coming from Sacramento and landing in Indy at 3:40 then rush to the track is kind of tough. It’s so far away, I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but I’d like to run the race.”
Kyle Busch close to a contract extension
When Kyle Busch held court at Daytona 500 media day, he expressed no desire to retire any time soon.
Busch confirmed that he’d like to compete in the sport as long as his body holds out.
For now, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota says he’s in discussions to continue down his current path.
“We’re talking,” Busch said. “It’s all been agreed to, it’s just a matter of putting the pen to the paper. We’re all good.”
Busch is currently 11th all-time on the NASCAR Cup win list with 51. While he’s compiled 194 victories across NASCAR’s top three tours Busch doesn’t believe that Richard Petty’s 200 Cup wins is attainable. For now, he would like to concentrate on reaching Jeff Gordon’s mark of 93 victories or potentially David Pearson’s total of 105.
“I don’t think I can get there,” Busch said of Pearson’s wins. “I’d like to think I could get there. What am I at now, like 51? So if I could get another 50 in the next 10 years, that would certainly be nice to go out with 100 Cup wins. Nobody will ever touch 200.
“If I’m fortunate to be here for 10 more years—I’m Tom Brady factoring right now—I have to work on this fine frame to make sure it lasts that long.”
But the next generation of Busch’s might be well on his way. Busch’s three-year-old son Brexton has caught the racing bug.
“We took a video of him the other day, he saw all of the quarter midgets out in the infield the other day and he was like, ‘I want to race quarter midgets,’” Busch recounted. “And I was like, ‘How soon?’ And he was like, ‘Right now!’ I was like, “I don’t know about that.’
“So we sent the video up to my dad and told him to get ready because he’s going to be the teacher. That was interesting. He’s into it. He’s certainly intrigued. He enjoys the racing. We asked him if he was ready to get back on the circuit and go back to Daytona. He’s said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m ready dad. Let’s go to the race track.’ So he’s rockin’ and rollin’.”
Dark horse or favorite? Blaney looks to bank on previous Daytona success
Ford Performance drivers have won half of the races at Daytona International Speedway over the last five years and 80-percent of the races at Talladega Superspeedway.
In his last two starts in the Great American Race, Ryan Blaney finished second in 2017 and seventh last season.
Could this be the year that Blaney breaks through in the Daytona 500?
“This race has been good to us the last couple of years, running second a couple years ago and led a ton of laps last year and it just didn’t work out for us at the end,” Blaney said. “I think our speedway cars have always been pretty good. The Penske group and Wood Brothers group does a great job. It is a combination of cars, having a great spotter - Josh Williams is my spotter and he gets better every single year. Having great teammates. All four of us work great together, Paul Menard included.
“These tracks, more than others, strength in numbers is your friend and we do a great job trying to work together. All the Fords do really. Our group in particular. Hopefully, we can just finish one off here.”
Blaney’s Penske teammates—Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano—have won eight of the last 18 restrictor plate races between Daytona and Talladega. He’s learned a lot from working with the veteran drivers.
Both patience and luck comes into play at Daytona. Blaney, who led a race-high 118 laps in the 2018 Daytona 500, knows the challenge is to be in position for the end game.
“If you can make it to the last 20-30 laps, you are going to be in a spot to try to win it,” Blaney said. “We have been fortunate to make it to the last 20 laps for the last couple years so hopefully we can do that again and find ourselves in the spot we were in last year, do a couple things different and try to win the race.”
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