Denny Hamlin News

Denny Hamlin feels like a kid who sneaks into a stadium and winds up sitting in the front row. Heading into Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the rookie was among five drivers still within reach of the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship. While most of the attention will be on series leader Jimmie Johnson and second-place Matt Kenseth, who trails by just 63 points, Hamlin is all smiles about being tied for third with Kevin Harvick. Harvick ...

Dennis Hamlin recalls his son's first go-kart race with a chuckle. ``He was seven years old,'' Hamlin said. ``He finished the race and we couldn't get him to stop. We were chasing after him telling him it was time to get out, and he wasn't listening.'' Denny Hamlin, now 25, is a lot better at listening to his parents these days, but he's also just as determined to race. Heading ...

ADJUSTED CHASE POINTS: 5,030 TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing HOMETOWN: Chesterfield, Va. AGE: 25 CAR: No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet CREW CHIEF: Mike Ford BEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISH: -- OUTLOOK: The surprise of the Chase field, the rookie has been impressive and thrust himself into Chase contention by sweeping the Pocono races. He lacks the experience to win the title this year, but could pull off a stunner like he did at the ...

Denny Hamlin is seventh in the Nextel Cup driver's standings and coming home to Richmond, Va., hoping to secure his spot in NASCAR's 10-race playoff. He will make the Chase for the championship if he finishes at least 16th Saturday night in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, even if Kasey Kahne wins the race and leads the most laps in his last-chance effort to get one of the 10 ...

The pressure is escalating for drivers on the bubble with just two races remaining until the start of NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. But ask rookie Denny Hamlin, by far the least experienced driver among the seven battling for the final six spots, about pressure, and he just grins and shrugs. ``We're already exceeding expectations,'' the 25-year-old Virginian said Friday as his Joe Gibbs Racing team prepared his ...

There were some snide muttered comments and knowing head shakes as soon-to-be rookie of the year candidate Denny Hamlin answered questions in January during a media tour of Joe Gibbs Racing. The 25-year-old Hamlin, who won a pole and had three top-10 finishes in a seven-race NASCAR Nextel Cup warmup last fall, was showing a little too much confidence for some of the veteran observers at the session. ``I don't ...

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) _ Denny Hamlin completed the Pocono sweep on Sunday, blowing away the field for an easy second victory that pushed the rookie into championship contention. While Hamlin was cruising around Pocono Raceway, teammate Tony Stewart nearly self-destructed and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took another hit in his pursuit of the Nextel Cup title. Stewart, the two-time and defending Nextel Cup champion, was black-flagged early in the race ...

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) _ As Denny Hamlin celebrated his second win of the season, chaos reigned in NASCAR's garage. Carl Edwards threatened to beat up Tony Stewart. Clint Bowyer also wanted to, but couldn't get close enough to try. Stewart, meanwhile, was pining for the days when the late Dale Earnhardt policed the garage and kept order on the track. Just another day at Pocono Raceway, where Hamlin completed ...

By Mike Harris BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) _ Suddenly, Denny Hamlin is a star. Well, at least he's being treated like one. The rookie won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race last week at Pocono Raceway, vaulting him into ninth place in the season standings. Hamlin has a second-place finish and hasn't come in worse than 11th in his last five races, turning him into a legitimate contender for a berth ...

By Dan Gelston LONG POND, Pa. (AP) _ Rookie Denny Hamlin never turned a lap at Pocono Raceway before this weekend. Well, not in reality, anyway. So for his first career Nextel Cup win, the 25-year-old owes some credit to the makers of his video game. ``They got every tree on the site, everything's mapped out perfect,'' Hamlin said Sunday after winning the Pocono 500. ``Visually, I know where my ...