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 and Hamlin are 90 points behind the leader and 15 points ahead of fifth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

``I'm excited about this weekend,'' Hamlin said, grinning. ``We're in the position we can be so aggressive that we really have nothing to lose. It looks like we'll lose one spot in the points if we're terrible. And we have everything to gain.''

Although he understands that the title is likely out of reach, unless Johnson and Kenseth falter badly, Hamlin has a goal he considers much more reachable: finishing better than Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart, now a two-time Cup champion, did in his first season.

``Tony set a standard when he finished fourth in his rookie year and we'd like to better that,'' Hamlin said. ``I feel we have a legitimate chance to do that.''

Hamlin's season has already been a huge success. He said the Gibbs team and sponsor FedEx expected a learning curve, and there hasn't been one.

``I'm very confident of where I'm at with my team and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else,'' he said. ``I know my potential as a race car driver is not nearly at its peak yet. I feel like I've still got a lot of learn. Being that we're successful and running well, the way it is now, that just tells me that in the future we're going to be very hard to beat.''

So Hamlin and his No. 11 Chevrolet team are relaxed and ready going into Sunday's race.

``We have as good a chance as Harvick, and the way Matt's been running, if he finishes 13th or something like he's been running, hey, we could be second in points,'' Hamlin said. ``Then, if something bad happens to Johnson _ hey, it can happen. We've seen it with (Jeff) Burton and a ton of the drivers. Anything can happen.''

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CASEY'S CASE: Casey Mears has come close to winning races for Chip Ganassi Racing in the last four years, but he has only one more opportunity to give the team a win before he leaves for his new ride at Hendrick Motorsports.

Mears was fastest in the first practice Saturday and ninth in the ``Happy Hour'' final practice. He will be replaced next year in Ganassi's No. 42 Dodge by former CART and Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya, who will make his Cup debut Sunday in another Ganassi entry.

Ganassi said he considered putting Montoya in Mears' car, which was automatically qualified for Sunday's race because it is among the top 35 in car owner points. Instead, he put Montoya in the No. 30, which the Colombian driver had to qualify.

Montoya, whose previous stock car experience before this weekend consisted of two ARCA races and three Busch Series races, made it easily, qualifying 29th.

Meanwhile, Mears said he has extended a friendly hand to Montoya, who has generally ignored it.

``I've given him all the advice I can when I can,' Mears said. ``I've let him know he can ask me anything he wants at any time. I think he's used to being the guy, and I don't think he's used to asking other people for advice much.''

Mears said he told Ganassi he would do anything to help Montoya get up to speed, but that Montoya hasn't seemed very open to listening.

``If I was in his position, there would be more communication. I'd be trying to learn as much as I could,'' Mears said.

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HISTORY ON HIS SIDE: Johnson goes into Sunday's race with a win and four runner-up finishes in his last five starts and knowing he needs only to finish 12th or better to wrap up his first Cup title.

Since finishing 25th as a rookie in 2001, Johnson has three top 10 finishes. But he also has seen how quickly a good day on the 1.5-mile Homestead oval can turn bad.

Last November, he was still in contention for a top 10 finish in the race and the series title when a blown tire sent his No. 48 Chevrolet into the wall halfway through the race. That relegated Johnson to a 40th-place finish and fifth place in the points.

``All we can do is go out there and hope that none of that stuff _ flat tires, a parts failure, engine problems _ happens to us,'' Johnson said Saturday. ``We're going to just go out there and run our race and, hopefully, that will be good enough.''

Johnson, who will start 15th Sunday, was solid in Saturday's two practices, running 10th in the first session and sixth in ``Happy Hour.''

Jeff Burton, one of the 10 drivers who qualified for the Chase for the championship but already is eliminated from contention, was fastest in practice at 172.916 mph, followed by Ryan Newman, another non-contender.

Kenseth was fifth in the final practice, while Hamlin was seventh, Earnhardt 12th and Harvick, who had brake problems during ``Happy Hour,'' was 18th after being second to Mears in the opening session.