Without help from teammates, Denny Hamlin advances in Chase

What does a man get after emerging from a three-hour intense tussle on an island without the aid of comrades? For Denny Hamlin it was an ice-cold rag, a can of cool soda, and the knowledge that he had earned himself a spot in the semifinal round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Hamlin entered Sunday’s second-round elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway on the wrong side of the playoff cut line. To advance he would need some help from those ahead of him in the standings experiencing a problem of some sort, in addition to a good finish himself.

The first requirement came to fruition when Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. suffered engine failures negating strong runs for both. That left Hamlin to fulfill the second criterion, which become problematic when taking into account he wouldn’t have the aid of teammates to serve as drafting partners.

With Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth all relatively secure of progressing in the Chase, Joe Gibbs Racing elected to employ a conservative strategy where its three drivers would run comfortably in the back to better escape the multi-car accidents that frequently occur at Talladega. While a sound strategy, which ultimately paid off, it did present a downside: Hamlin would need to navigate the rigors of restrictor-plate racing without a teammate acting as a de facto wingman.

“Really, [our] guys would rather be in the situation where they feel like they’ve got to go win,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “But at the same time, it’s a playoff and you’ve got to do what is smart.”

Initially Edwards had said Friday he was opposed to running in the back. Such a game plan presented its own challenges, and if he was to get knocked out of the Chase it was far better to go down swinging. However, sound judgment prevailed when during a post-qualifying, company-wide meeting Saturday, JGR assessed its options and collectively decided to layup.

Unfortunately for Hamlin, he found himself placed in a quagmire where running in the back wasn’t a feasible option.

“You can’t sacrifice those three cars to try to get the last one in,” Hamlin said. “You’ve got to know you’ve got in your hand three aces. You can’t try to get the fourth and risk it, so I knew I was going to be out there alone.”

So as Busch, Edwards, and Kenseth had an uneventful afternoon -- Busch called it “dull” and “frustrating” -- Hamlin was thrust into the thick of the fray that often transforms Talladega into the most nerve-wracking race of the season.

Up front near the lead where he needed to finish, Hamlin raced three- and four-wide. Without any teammates to lean on for a push when needed, he had to scramble to find drafting buddies. Complicating matters further, there were few Toyotas outside of JGR’s four-driver stable to call on for an assist.

That meant Hamlin had to look elsewhere. Sometimes it was Ford’s Brian Scott answering the distress call, on another occasion it was Chevrolet’s Kevin Harvick, who cut Hamlin a break late by allowing him back in line.

These deeds did not go unappreciated, with Hamlin standing beside his No. 11 car on pit road postrace subtly thanking each so as not to disrupt the complicated dynamics of drivers from rival manufacturers forming an alliance.

“It was crazy. I mean, it was very tough in there not having any teammates,” Hamlin said. “But there were a lot of guys that acted like teammates today to me and can’t thank enough for that. They know who they are. I don’t want to get them in trouble with their race teams because they’re probably a different team, different manufacturer.”

The efforts of Scott and Harvick combined with his own willpower culminated in Hamlin finishing third, tying him with Austin Dillon for the eighth and final transfer position. But because Hamlin recorded the better finish (third) in the three-race second round than Dillon (sixth), he got the tiebreaker.

Having escaped a Chase knockout, Hamlin is now well situated to secure a career-first Sprint Cup title thanks to a favorable upcoming slate of races on tracks he says are his very best.

First up is Martinsville Speedway where Hamlin has won five times and is on a very short list of drivers everyone expects to contend annually. Then comes Texas Motor Speedway (two wins), then the semifinal elimination race Phoenix International (one).

A victory at any of these venues automatically qualifies Hamlin for the four-driver championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And if a win doesn’t happen, he’s still more than capable of pointing his way into title round on the South Florida track where he’s won twice -- a fact not lost on Hamlin.

“I’ve got my best racetracks ahead of us,” Hamlin said. “There’s no reason why we can’t be racing at Homestead for a championship.

“That’s what I expect.”

All a possibility because Hamlin found a way to successfully get off the island on Sunday.