Championship continues to elude Denny Hamlin

Ten years ago Denny Hamlin became the first, and to date, only rookie to capture the season-opening exhibition Sprint Unlimited. That set the tone for a season where the then 25-year-old would score two points wins, earn top rookie honors and seemingly set himself up for a multitude of championships that would inevitably soon follow.

But with the 2016 season just weeks away from commencing, Hamlin will head to Daytona International Speedway not as a multi-time champion, nor even the holder of a single Sprint Cup title. Instead, to the surprise of many, including himself, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still seeking his first championship, though he does own 26 career wins and four finishes of fourth or better in the standings.

“I thought I’d have (a championship) within the first three years of my cup career, just things didn’t work out for whatever reason,” Hamlin said during the preseason NASCAR media tour last week.

Not that Hamlin hasn’t come close in the past 10 years. In 2010, he recorded a series-best eight wins and led the point standings into the final week of the season. He would lose the championship to Jimmie Johnson after spinning out just 16 laps into the finale. Another formidable bid two years later saw Hamlin win five times, only for an electrical issue to sideline him during the Martinsville Speedway Chase for the Sprint Cup race.

Another wacky occurrence derailed Hamlin’s title hopes last season, this time in the form of a roof hatch continually coming ajar in the playoff elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway. By the time the No. 11 crew corrected the issue, he was multiple laps behind and finished on the wrong side of the cut line.

“I look back at all the chases I’ve been a part of and it comes down to, I’m still in it with one, two races to go and something bananas happens and it takes me out,” Hamlin said. “Eventually, that wave has got to turn in your favor.”

To help turn the tide in Hamlin’s favor team owner Joe Gibbs enacted a change in crew chiefs over the offseason, the third consecutive year Hamlin will have a new face calling the shots. Gone is Dave Rogers, who transfers to JGR stablemate Carl Edwards, and in Rogers’ place is Mike Wheeler, Hamlin’s close friend and a former longtime engineer on the No. 11 car.

In preparation for an eventual position as a cup crew chief, Wheeler dropped down to Xfinity Series in 2015 to gain experience. It was expected he would spend a few years honing his skills before ascending to NASCAR’s top division, but that was prior to the offseason crew chief shuffle.

Gibbs compares the rapport between Hamlin and Wheeler to that of Kyle Busch and Adam Stevens, who despite being in their first season together delivered JGR the 2015 championship. Similar to Hamlin and Wheeler, Busch and Stevens had worked with one another previously.

“Me and Mike were going to work together eventually,” Hamlin said. “We had kind of a handshake deal that when he moved to cup I was going to be -- no matter what the circumstances -- I was going to be made available for him.

“He’s my guy, he’s going to be my guy until I retire. There’s no doubt about that. ... This is what we’ve built toward. This has been in the workings for a very, very long time.”

Now with his preferred crew chief, Hamlin is optimistic the championship that seemed a certainty 10 years ago can become an actuality. Provided, of course, he can escape his annual bout of bad luck come the Chase.

“You always want to get that first one -- it’s always been right there in front of me,” Hamlin said. “I mean, it’s better than what a lot of guys can say but still, before my career is over we need to have multiple championships for sure.

“I’ve just had the silliest things happen to me at inopportune times,” Hamlin said. “I know as a team we’re very capable of doing a lot of great things. I think it’ll just be a matter of executing when it really, really counts -- September and October.”