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His left hand bandaged as the result
Dale Earnhardt Jr. burns some rubber after winning the Crown Royal 400 Saturday night.
Earnhardt (right) embraces Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane following the race. The longtime friends became fierce rivals Saturday as they jostled at the end of the Crown Royal 400 for the lead.
Denny Hamlin (11) held the Crown Royal 400 lead for 18 laps before finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Saturday night. |
RICHMOND--Separated by an entire continent, Manchester High School's most famous alumnus grabbed starring roles in two radically different sports dramas Saturday night.
In San Diego, Chicago Cubs rookie left-hander Sean Marshall continued his impressive run of early-season performances by mowing down the Padres through five no-hit innings at Petco Park. Three thousand miles away, Nextel Cup rookie Denny Hamlin found himself leading the Crown Royal 400 in his big-league debut at Richmond International Raceway.
Alas, neither enjoyed a big, splashy Hollywood ending.
Marshall lost his no-hit bid in the sixth inning and wound up with a no-decision in the Cubs' 2-1 loss. Hamlin, whose lead lasted just 18 laps, finished second to NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But if you don't believe second place is a happy ending, don't tell Hamlin. He was ecstatic after performing so well at a track where he used to watch races as a boy.
"This is by far the biggest race of my career. It's something that's very special and to have so many friends and family here, it's awesome. I can't tell you how I feel," Hamlin said. "I'll be riding this wave for months to come."
Life has been a wild ride for Hamlin over the last couple of years. The Chesterfield County native zoomed from weekly Late Model racing to the pinnacle of his sport--Nextel Cup--in less time than it takes to earn an associate's degree, then wasted little time proving he belonged there.
Hamlin posted top-10 finishes in three of his first five starts last season. In case anyone thought it was a fluke, he loudly announced his intentions by holding off teammate and defending Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart to win the first race of 2006, the non-points Budweiser Shootout.
Other than a Busch Series win in Mexico, that had been the high point of Hamlin's season until Saturday.
He was 19th in points and coming off a 22nd-place finish in Monday's rain-delayed Aaron's 499 at Talladega. He was also nursing a heavily bandaged left hand, the result of "horseplay" during Wednesday's testing session at Lowe's Motor Speedway; the severe cut on the outside of his pinkie finger required 19 stitches and left him questionable for the weekend of racing at his hometown track.
Hamlin acknowledged the hand was quite sore by the end of Friday night's Busch race, but said it felt much better when he woke up Saturday morning. It showed on the track, as he quickly moved forward from his No. 7 starting position and established himself as a threat to win the Crown Royal 400.
Hamlin--and everyone else on the track, for that matter--caught a break when Kevin Harvick's crew chief, Todd Berrier, advised Harvick not to pit when Martin Truex Jr. suffered a blown engine on lap 287. Easily the dominant car in the race, Harvick struggled on older tires and Hamlin blew past him for the lead with 70 laps remaining.
"You know there's a long way to the end and a lot of things could happen, but I could just feel myself lifting off the gas pedal down the straightaway because my foot was shaking so hard," Hamlin said. "It's hard to keep your nerves all together."
Hamlin didn't stay in front for long. Robby Gordon brought out the caution flag by hitting the wall on lap 346 and Kyle Busch won the race off pit road to take the lead.
Earnhardt and Hamlin both raced past Busch with 44 laps to go, setting up a duel to the finish between the most popular driver in NASCAR and the fan favorite in Richmond.
Two crashes in the last 15 laps worked against Earnhardt, who had pulled out to healthy leads only to be brought back to the pack by the resulting cautions. Hamlin got a good run on Earnhardt after the final restart, briefly pulling alongside the No. 8 car coming off turn 2, but Junior had just enough to keep the rookie in his rear-view mirror and pulled away over the final two laps.
"There was a part of me that wanted to see him get the win. This is his hometown and he's got a lot of family [here]," Earnhardt said. "He's a good guy and a good friend."
Hamlin and Earnhardt were buddies before they became competitors for the same piece of Nextel Cup turf. They hang out together away from the track and frequently go head-to-head in one of Hamlin's favorite hobbies--video racing.
Earnhardt joked that he almost always wins their simulated races--and when he doesn't, he makes sure Hamlin doesn't win, either.
After Saturday's race, Junior seemed genuinely surprised that Hamlin didn't return the favor. He even asked Hamlin why he didn't try to nudge him out of the way during their late duel.
"The first couple of laps [after the final restart], he was underneath me and that's what I anticipated it to be like every lap to the checkered. I was just really curious about why he couldn't get to me," Earnhardt said.
Hamlin said he would've been more physical if he had seen an opportunity, but he wasn't about to lose his head and ruin a memorable night of racing.
"The last thing I want to do is wreck Dale Junior," Hamlin added. "I have a decent fan base now. I don't want to kill it."
To reach JIM McCONNELL:
Email: jmcconnell@freelancestar.com
