Hamlin Faces A Sleepless Friday Night

Denny Hamlin has won the last two fall races at Richmond International Raceway. He sure could use a third.

Hamlin arrived at RIR this weekend clinging to the final Wildcard spot in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. After challenging for the championship all the way to the final race of the 2010 campaign, the Fed Ex Toyota driver has been a model of inconsistency this season. He comes to Richmond ranked 12th in the championship standings and a 42-point deficit to 10th-place Tony Stewart makes him the longest of long shots to crack the Top-10. His best hope to make the Chase is via Wildcard berth, courtesy of his win at Michigan International Speedway in June.

That lone victory might be enough to get him into the Chase. Then again, it might not.

A win at his home track in tomorrow night’s “Wonderful Pistachios 400” would lock the Chesterfield, Va., native into the Chase and give his Joe Gibbs Racing team the boost of momentum they have been lacking all season. Hamlin could not have picked a better track at which to have his back against the wall. In addition to his two-race fall winning streak at RIR, he has also finished second -- to Kyle Busch – in the last two spring events there. A two-year average finish of 1.5 will give a guy all kinds of confidence, but as Hamlin learned in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, confidence won’t fix a badly mangled race car.

Hamlin will chase his fate Saturday night with an elusive combination of conservatism and aggressiveness. A win eliminates all doubt about his Chase chances, but a cut tire suffered while battling for the lead leaves him on the outside of NASCAR’s playoffs, looking in.

“We need to go out there, get a solid finish and try to win,” said Hamlin with typical understatement. “We know we’re in if we win.”

It’s a perfect recipe for a sleepless Friday night