{"id":21467,"date":"2018-08-31T16:05:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T21:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=21467"},"modified":"2018-09-02T10:35:37","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T15:35:37","slug":"denny-hamlin-hoping-confidence-past-darlington-success-will-lead-to-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/31\/denny-hamlin-hoping-confidence-past-darlington-success-will-lead-to-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin hoping confidence, past Darlington success will lead to victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin<\/strong> leading into Sunday\u2019s Bojangles\u2019 Southern 500<\/strong> at the historic Darlington Raceway<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Throwback Toyota, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 31, 2018 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it\u2019s nicknamed \u201cToo Tough To Tame.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, last year Hamlin, 37, swept the nostalgic NASCAR<\/a> weekend \u2013 also hoisting his fifth Xfinity Series race trophy as well. All five victories came from the pole position, too. And in the three Xfinity races Hamlin didn\u2019t win, he finished runner-up \u2013 all this in an eight-race span between 2006-2017.<\/p>\n

So, when it comes to Darlington Raceway and this particular race on Sunday, September 2 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Hamlin is understandably sentimental. And confident too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really not sure,\u2019\u2019 Hamlin said of why he races so well at arguably the toughest venue on the Cup circuit. \u201cI tested here when I was kind of auditioning for a ride at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) in 2003, I think it was.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/DR_MENCS_Hamlin_083118.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u201cI was at a test here with Tony (Stewart) and really the first lap I killed the wall in Turn 2 <\/i><\/b><\/span>and I think we ended up hitting the wall 19 or 20 or maybe even more times during that test \u2013 enough to where we didn\u2019t have any sheet metal left on the right side of the car. It had worn completely through.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince that point, it just kind of clicked. I came here for my very first Xfinity start and finished eighth and just from that point on \u2013 I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s just something about the race track that fits my particular driving style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin\u2019s style has resulted in 31 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophies \u2013 including the 2016 Daytona 500 – and he\u2019s won at least one race every year since he started racing full time in the series. In 2010, he won a career best eight races and finished runner-up in the Cup championship. Four times he\u2019s won three or more races in a season.<\/p>\n

But in 2018, Hamlin is still looking for that first win \u2013 an important element in challenging for the Cup title. Although he is currently safely ranked 13th with the top-16 drivers Playoff eligible, Hamlin wants that victory to boost his team and maintain a personal mark of achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important,\u2019\u2019 he acknowledged of the win streak. \u201cI think that there\u2019s only a handful of drivers that have won over 10 years straight. It\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still believe that we will win a race before the season is over, if not multiple. It\u2019s got to start this weekend. The countdown is on. In 2013, we waited until the last race of the year to win. A little bit of an asterisk because I was hurt most of that year, but still it\u2019s a streak for certain that is important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin\u2019s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has been close to victory. He finished third in the season-opening Daytona 500 and has six top-fives and 12 top-10 showings through the first 24 races. He won back-to-back pole positions at Watkins Glen International and Michigan International Speedway, just prior to the last race at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

A win is assurance, a win is confidence. Multiply that 10-fold when you\u2019re acquiring good will at a tough place in a difficult race, like Darlington. And no one\u2019s raced it better in the last decade.<\/p>\n

Including his first Southern 500 Cup win in 2010, Hamlin has finished sixth or better in seven of the last eight races, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013 and last year\u2019s second victory. He\u2019s led laps in six of the eight races and twice he led at least 100 laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what makes it difficult is in the Southern 500, it\u2019s such a long race,\u2019\u2019 Hamlin explained. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of attrition and things that can happen. That\u2019s what makes it hardest to repeat or win multiple times.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a lot of great drivers have run one race this year because it\u2019s just a test of your mental state, your physical state \u2013 I\u2019ve fainted in the shower I think twice after this race just because you just get so dehydrated.<\/p>\n

And, he added, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you, it\u2019s definitely one of the most physical race tracks that I can think of – way more than the Coke 600 or any other race track. I consider this the endurance test of all and so you got to have it all put together.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have a car that you don\u2019t make any mistakes. You\u2019ve got to have a fast car when it\u2019s dusk there towards the end and then when it goes full night at the end of the race, you\u2019ve got to have a car that performs well. It\u2019s just truly a test of a lot of different things and that\u2019s why it\u2019s hard to repeat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It\u2019s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin leading into Sunday\u2019s Bojangles\u2019 Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway. Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it\u2019s nicknamed \u201cToo Tough To Tame.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":21447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[651,41,16],"class_list":["post-21467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-darlington-raceway","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/357552.jpg?fit=4064%2C2705","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5Af","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21467"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21470,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21467\/revisions\/21470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}