No. 11 FedEx Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew Chief: Mike Ford

The Rundown

Denny Hamlin, at age 28, is one of those talented drivers who seems to be just a notch below living up to his full potential. Whether it’s bad timing, a bad car part, or just plain bad racing luck, something always prevents him from crossing the threshold that separates stars from superstars at the Sprint Cup level.

But while the No. 11 team made the Chase in 2008 for the third straight season, Hamlin acknowledges that postseason appearances are far different than postseason success. “We’re happy to make the Chase,” he says. “It’s a big accomplishment, but we definitely want to run better in it. That’s what’s next for this team — making sure that if we are in the Chase, we have our best ready to go during those final 10 races.”

That’s something Joe Gibbs Racing as a whole struggled with. When the Chase was over, Hamlin was the highest-ranked Gibbs driver of all three, just eighth in points, with Tony Stewart ninth and Kyle Busch 10th to waste their regular-season success.

The Gibbs organization will undergo a major transformation in 2009, as veteran driver and team leader Stewart leaves for newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing. His departure puts Hamlin in the veteran driver’s role at JGR, with younger teammates Busch and rookie Joey Logano. 

It’s hard to say what effect Stewart’s absence will have on Hamlin. Some drivers struggle after losing a team leader and mentor, while others thrive with a newfound sense of freedom and opportunity. However, Stewart’s departure has already led to problems, as some of Hamlin’s requested offseason changes were denied due to fear of rocking the boat during the transition period of Logano’s arrival.

Regardless, Hamlin should once again excel on the circuit’s short and flat tracks, where he has recorded each of his four points-paying wins (Loudon, Martinsville, Pocono twice).

One other question regarding Hamlin in ’09 is the possibility of lingering effects following the massive hit he took at Talladega in October — not necessarily physical effects, but psychological ones. There’s an old saying about young drivers being at their fastest until their first really hard crash, and Hamlin’s impact was as hard as they come — he blew a tire while leading the superspeedway race and careened into the wall at full speed. 

Hamlin was hospitalized overnight with concussion-like symptoms following the crash. He skipped the Nationwide race the following week and almost missed the Cup race as well, though he did compete.

Should he get over the hump, Hamlin could very well return to his third-place form of 2006. But we’ve said the same thing every year.

Opposing Crew Chiefs’ Take

Denny Hamlin, who, like Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, has made the Chase every year in his career, needs to get better on the intermediate tracks that form the bulk of the schedule. “He’s one of the best at tracks a mile and under,” says one rival crew chief. “The flatter the track, the better. He needs to work on his diversity in the racecar, but he’s obviously very talented.”

Another crew chief adds: “With their team, he’ll be a force. (Tony) Stewart’s leaving, but Kyle Busch is still there (at Joe Gibbs Racing), and Denny’s always got plenty of data to draw from at Joe Gibbs’ other teams. He’s a real good driver. From what I can tell, though, he’s not the most popular guy with his team. He kind of takes all the credit when he wins and makes his guys into scapegoats when he doesn’t, or that’s what you hear. You wonder how that team would react if things started to go downhill.”

2008 Recap

Comparing Denny Hamlin’s 2007 and 2008 season statistics reveals some eerily similar numbers. While this might be interpreted as an indication of the team’s consistency from one year to the next, it could also be viewed as a lack of growth. Hamlin had the same number of wins (one), top-5 finishes (12), top-10 finishes (18), and poles (one). 

On the plus side, he finished four spots higher in the standings (eighth last year versus 12th in ’07) — though he led 140 fewer laps than the previous season and had two more DNFs.

Hamlin’s lone victory in 2008 came early in the season, at Martinsville in March. Adding two of his remarkable eight third-place finishes last season at Phoenix and Talladega, the Gibbs driver ended April in solid shape, only 99 points out of the points lead in fourth place.

At Richmond the following week, it looked like Hamlin was prepared to break out at his hometown track. Leading 381 of the first 382 laps in a dominating performance, the No. 11 was prepared to cruise into victory lane when a flat tire suddenly deflated his chances.
Hamlin never quite recovered from that heart-wrenching defeat, with only five top-10 finishes in the next 13 races. While still making the Chase for a third straight year, he was never a factor for the title, scoring only three top 5s while leading only 66 laps in the postseason.

Still, making the banquet in New York was an important goal. “It’s a big deal,” he says. “You want to get on stage and you want to thank your crew and thank your sponsors and everything. They deserve it.” 

Hamlin also ran 19 Nationwide races in ’08, winning four of them.

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