Search Results for: Ty Gibbs

Is Denny Hamlin a Serious Title Contender? We’re About to Find Out

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Color me impressed. Seven months ago at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series season, if someone would have told me that Denny Hamlin would be the winningest driver on the season going into the final regular season race at Richmond, I would have laughed at them. I, along with many others in the NASCAR community, had written Denny Hamlin off as a serious title contender heading into 2012.

After all, it was Hamlin who entered this year reeling from a miserably disappointing 2011 season that saw the Virginian driver finish an unimpressive ninth in the standings with only five top-5 finishes on the year. 2011 (and the end of 2010 as well, of course) was so bad for Denny that he had to go see a sports psychologist to help reclaim all of his lost confidence. Not exactly the mindset known to be possessed by champions, to say the least.

But here we are, almost a full year later, and Denny Hamlin is on top of the NASCAR world once again.

Mirror Driving: The Bristol Verdict, Temper Temper And Silly Season Summary

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*After Bristol Motor Speedway made changes to the track over the summer, the track promoted racing closer to what fans saw prior to 2007. But did the track live up to the hype?*

Summer: Oh yeah. The helmet throw was enough for that to be a reality.
Kevin: I think it did. I wasn’t able to look away for both the Cup and Nationwide races, and in that regard I think the races were at least successful.
Mike N.: Closer to racing before the repave? No. Closer to before they put concrete down? Yes. It was different than we’ve seen there in the last 20 years. Prior to the concrete, they used to diamond the corners kind of like they did Saturday night. It was great racing.

The Bristol Hot Potato

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You can say what you want about the competition at Bristol. But Saturday night, a repaved Thunder Valley was a throwback to the great races of years past: unpredictable. From the second the green flag flew, for a pole sitter whose team has start-and-parked in several races (Casey Mears), you had as much of a chance of pegging the winner as predicting the right number on a roulette wheel. Only when the ball landed in Denny Hamlin’s court, tying a Sprint Cup season high with his third 2012 victory, did the race assume some semblance of normalcy down the stretch.

Five Points to Ponder: Imaginary Feuds, Keselowski’s Accusations, and Villainizing Villeneuve

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*ONE: The Jr/Jeff Feud…Move Along, Nothing to See Here*

If anyone needs further proof as to how uneventful a race Michigan was, even with the multitude of Hendrick Motorsports engine failures, just take a look at how much of an issue was made of the supposed Jeff Gordon vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. feud. In case one missed the race (or dozed off during it), there was a moment on lap 82 where Jeff Gordon’s radio stated that he should have wrecked his teammate in the No. 88. Later in the afternoon, when Gordon went behind the wall with engine troubles, he elaborated that he was upset with his teammate pulling a four-wide move in the first half of the event and a slide-job to follow.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not: Michigan/Bristol Edition

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With drivers the caliber of Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman fighting for the final wild card spot, many fans expected them all to get hot and combine to win a bunch of races before the Chase.

I was one of them. I guess I forgot why these teams were fighting for the second wild card spot in the first place: they haven’t been very good. Gordon earned a win (earned might not be the right word), and Newman has put together some decent runs, but with the sense of urgency high with only three races until the Chase, it doesn’t really seem like anyone wants the spot.