Denny Hamlin looking ahead to 2012 season after poor start to Sprint Cup – NASCAR news
Last year’s runner up Denny Hamlin is already looking ahead to the 2012 season after a dreadful start to the Chase for the Sprint Cup has all but put him out of contention for the 2011 Cup.
Speaking before the race at Dover International Speedway, Denny Hamlin said that sitting 12th in the standings actually takes the pressure off him to perform and he can now take more chances.
He said that when you one is in the running for the Championship, their mind is on the bigger picture and not just the race itself. Therefore, the position he is in, he can now focus on winning a few races before the season is over.
Hamlin also echoed Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman in claiming that the gentleman factor has now been removed from the game. He believed that the new factors brought into races had raised the intensity level and the gentleman agreement no longer held any value.
Tony Stewart has been especially vocal on this point as he believes that the attitude of drivers in the race has changed and they are not willing to give anyone a break anymore.
While Denny Hamlin was still not willing to admit that he was out of the race, he did admit that it was unlikely that he will win this year. He said that they will have to put together eight great weeks and hope that other results go their way. However,
it was a very tough ask for a team that had not performed consistently throughout the season.
Speaking on his relationship with crew chief Mike Ford, Hamlin said that he appreciated the hard work that Ford had put in and felt that he was being blamed unfairly for this year’s poor performances. He felt that the whole team should share the blame and
it was wrong to point fingers at one particular person.
He also felt that during the season, Ford and his relationship had been a little off track but they have improved that and it is just the results that are not coming their way which are making things look worse than they actually are in the team.
“We finished bad the first Chase race for different reasons. We had cut tires. I can't help those things. Mike can't help those things. This week we ran out of gas. It's just one of those years where we just can't get some momentum going and get it rolling,”
he said.
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