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 No. 11 Chevrolet for qualifying at California Speedway. ``Anything that happens from here on out is icing on the cake.
``I feel like, even if we fall completely on our faces from here on out, we still had a great season. ... All I could hope for at the beginning of the season is at this point of the season I have a chance at the Chase.''
That's a good attitude. By the end of Sunday's SONY HD 500, Hamlin easily could be on the outside looking in.
Hamlin, who ran seven Cup races in 2005 before racing a full schedule this season, is sixth in the standings. He's 27 points behind fourth place Kyle Busch, last year's top rookie, and 21 behind four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. But Hamlin also is separated by just 21 points from 10th-place Mark Martin, with Jeff Burton, defending series champion Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt in between.
Finally, Hamlin is just 111 points ahead of 11th-place Kasey Kahne, the only driver not in the top 10 with a realistic shot at getting in over the next two races.
``To me, pressure is always on,'' Hamlin explained. ``Every caution, I'd look around to see where guys were at around me in the points. I probably let it get to me more than it should, but it's the smart thing to do.''
Stewart, Hamlin's JGR teammate and a two-time Cup champion, has been impressed with the way the rookie of the year contender has handled himself.
``He doesn't let things bother him,'' Stewart said. ``That's pretty doggone mature. I'm betting on him making the Chase.''
As for his own chances, Stewart says he isn't worried.
``If you are solidly in the top 10, it will be business as usual,'' Stewart said. ``But, if you're 11th in points and have a shot at getting in the top 10, and it's down to the last two races, you're going to race just like you are racing for the championship.''
``I can see where guys who are on the bubble might race a little bit different in the last couple of races if it looks like they may not make the top 10.''
Kahne, the top rookie in 2004, is 90 points behind Martin and needs strong runs here and at Richmond to have any chance of making the Chase.
``This week, you're going to just have to be smart and get what you can,'' he said. ``Next week, at Richmond, we'll have to be aggressive. Everybody else is going to be the same way, so it will be quite a battle out there.''
