On Friday at Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin acknowledged that he, too, was one of the drivers who was “secretively” fined for comments that he has made about NASCAR.  The Joe Gibbs Racing driver acknowledged that he was one of the two drivers that NASCAR levied fines, reportedly $50,000.00, and answered several questions regarding . . . → Read More: Hamlin Acknowledges The Fine]]>

(Photo courtesy of NASCAR)

On Friday at Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin acknowledged that he, too, was one of the drivers who was “secretively” fined for comments that he has made about NASCAR.  The Joe Gibbs Racing driver acknowledged that he was one of the two drivers that NASCAR levied fines, reportedly $50,000.00, and answered several questions regarding the fines.

Q: What can you say about the fine you received?

Hamlin: “I understand why, I know why they did it.  Whether you agree with it or not, it happened.  They’re in control.  I’ve always been raised to speak my mind and be maybe too over opinionated at times.  Like I’ve told those guys, I hope to be here in 15, 20 years and if that’s the case, I’d like to have a healthy sport going on to have a long career.  We’re all in it together and I understand that.  I definitely understand it.  I don’t really know what it was.  It’s more than likely the Twitter comments more than anything that kind of got me in trouble with them.  I guess the Chicago weekend talking about some of the Nationwide stuff.  Most of those conversations were all direct messages to one person.  It wasn’t really sent out to the public, to all the followers.  I understand it, but whether you agree with it or not, we all have to work together to make this all better.”

Q: How will this change the way you communicate your thoughts on the sport?

Hamlin: “I think there’s a better way to do it.  Up until two weeks ago, I didn’t have Mike Helton’s phone number or Steve O’Donnell’s phone number — nobody’s phone number.  How was I going to voice my opinion if I didn’t know how to get in touch with them?  I’m sure I could have, but on the other hand, Jim Hunter said, ‘Hey, voice your opinion through the media and it will get to us, it’s always worked.’  But they said don’t do that.  It’s kind of contradictory, but I understand there is a better way to do it now.  Still, it’s tough for me because I do feel like I want to make things better and I never really criticize anyone, I just want to voice my opinion and where I think we should go with the sport.”

Q: Why was this fine handled in a secretive nature?

Hamlin: “That I don’t know.  Without getting in word for word, what I asked was what the point of fining me if you’re not going to tell anyone.  They said, ‘Hopefully it will keep anyone from bad mouthing us.’  Well no one knows.  Maybe young guys coming up, if you say, ‘Hey you fined Denny Hamlin for an X amount of dollars for saying this,’ I think you’ll have people in the future saying they need to stay away from those comments.  I think in the future, all this coming out is a positive thing, it really is.  It’s going to turn into a good thing.  Even though they might not have wanted everyone to know, now that they do I think it happened for a reason and it’s going to make our sport better.”

Q: What are you not allowed to say?

Hamlin: “I don’t know.  They did give me a pretty good log book of all the negative things I’ve had to say over the last couple of months.  They were just for sure.  Anybody that follows me on Twitter, probably half of them follow me for the quotes here and there.”

Q: How much was the fine?

Hamlin: “I can’t say that.  There’s been illegal parts in the garage that have not gotten hit as bad as I did.”

Q: Are we going to lose the outspoken Denny Hamlin?

Hamlin: “It’s tough to say.  I don’t want to lose any more money but I just want to be myself.  That’s all I can say and that’s what I’ve told them over and over.  I said, ‘What if I don’t agree with something?  What do you want me to say?  Do you want me to lie and tell something I don’t really truly believe in because I’ve never been brought up to do that.’ And they said no but there’s different ways to do it.  We got to talking about that.  In the end I did see that.  I think you will still see it, but it’ll be a more toned down fashion.”

Q: Do you think NASCAR should have kept the fines secret or announced them?

Hamlin: “In just my opinion and I’m not bashing anyone, but I think I would have for sure said, ‘This person is getting penalized.’  To keep it from happening again.  If nobody knows, nobody is going to learn from the mistakes of others.  That’s one thing that this sport is all about is learning from someone else’s mistake.  For sure, in my opinion it should have been let out, but this garage is a very small family and it will get around anyway.  I think that people were going to find out one way or another.”

Q: Was the fine a surprise to you?

Hamlin: “That’s the thing that I noticed is that other people before me, not to name names — Tony Stewart, have said way worse stuff than I have, way worse.  Direct hits at somebody and got away with it.  But the difference is that this year they said in January, ‘Listen, it’s really taking its toll on people’s outlook of the sport when you say something like that and it shows numbers of when they hear something negative, their interest level drops.’  So they said, ‘We’re going to be more aggressive when you say something that’s negative.’  Of course that’s been six months and my memory is really short so I was just gladly awoken last week.”

WOMR believes that NASCAR, quite possibly, has opened up a can of worms with this latest round of “secretive” fines.  If the sanctioning body,NASCAR, decrees that a team member is to be fined, then they should publicize the name of that person being fined, and the dollar amount of that fine.  If that is not done, the fine looses the affect that was intended by NASCAR!

What is your thoughts on this subject?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy of NASCAR)

The word in the garage area this week is that two drivers were fined $50,000.00 each by NASCAR for comments that NASCAR deemed to be “detrimental to the sport”.  However, NASCAR has decided not to identify the drivers that it fined, nor publish the statement that they deemed inappropriate!

Last year NASCAR encouraged the . . . → Read More: Censorship In NASCAR?]]>

(photo courtesy of NASCAR)

The word in the garage area this week is that two drivers were fined $50,000.00 each by NASCAR for comments that NASCAR deemed to be “detrimental to the sport”.  However, NASCAR has decided not to identify the drivers that it fined, nor publish the statement that they deemed inappropriate!

Last year NASCAR encouraged the drivers to show their personality and was additionally re-enforced this year when Robin Pemberton issued the now famous phrase, “have at ‘em boys”! This year NASCAR has basically taken a “hands off” attitude and the net results is beautiful races cars are turning into scraps of crumpled sheet metal.  Furthermore, without the dramatic increases in the safety equipment over the past nine years, in both the race cars and the racing facilities, the resultant affects would have been injuries to both the drivers and the spectators alike.

Suddenly this week NASCAR has decided to “secretly” fine two Sprint Cup drivers for comments that were made by them.  Most likely the two drivers that were fined were probably Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.  Hopefully NASCAR will decide to publish their names and their comments so that all can decide if their comments warranted the penalties.

Ryan Newman may be getting fined for this statement made after the Gateway fiasco with Edwards and Keselowski.

“[The policy] ‘have at it boys’ means even if we crash each other or get into an accident or lose respect for one another, you go talk about it,” said Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Newman. “That’s the ‘have at it boys’ [policy]. You go behind a trailer and you talk about it. We can get in each other’s faces. That’s ‘have at it boys.’

“Going out there and purposely crashing somebody, turning right or turning left just to crash ‘em on purpose, whether you’re winning the race or not, is not at all ‘have at it boys.’ Some people have thought of manslaughter or attempted manslaughter, but that’s closer to what [that] is.  Brad just needs to go up and just lap one across his lip, and everything will be fine!”

If Denny Hamlin was the second driver to be fined, it could be over his comment about the middle of some of these long race just riding around and not racing.

WOMR thinks that NASCAR is speaking with a forked tongue these days!  If they want some emotion and aggressiveness out of its competitors, then some of that emotions will spillover into comments about NASCAR and the competition.  You can’t have one without the other, it is a matched pair.

Now one of the most outspoken drivers in the garage area, Tony Stewart, has come out wholeheartedly in support of NASCAR’s secret fines!

When Tony Stewart said at an appearance at Syracuse University this week that he supported NASCAR’s decision to allow words deemed harmful to the brand to not escape the garages, was he saying what he thinks or was he avoiding the hammer?

Is Smoke being believable or is he learning to sing the company tune?  For a driver such as Stewart, who is quick to criticize NASCAR, G0oodyear,his team members, as well as other drivers who he thinks are not up to his standards, to do a complete role reversal, is very hard to take seriously and to believe!  Can we all sing “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore”?

What do you think NASCAR is doing with their “secret” fines?  Is NASCAR exercising their total control over the competitors?  What is your view?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy nascar)

Denny Hamlin notched his fifth victory of the 2010 season, winning the Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway. All  of Hamlin’s wins coming after the switch from the rear wing to the rear spoiler.  Additionally, it is the second win in a row and the third in the last . . . → Read More: Hamlin Wins At Michigan]]>

(photo courtesy nascar)

Denny Hamlin notched his fifth victory of the 2010 season, winning the Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway. All  of Hamlin’s wins coming after the switch from the rear wing to the rear spoiler.  Additionally, it is the second win in a row and the third in the last five races for the JGR #11 FedEx Toyota Camry!

Hamlin led a race high 123 laps of the scheduled 200 laps Sunday, and pulled away from Kasey Khane after the last restart very handily.  Unlike last week at Pocono, Hamlin did not have to hold the field off after the NASCAR version of overtime.  This week at Michigan there was no such thing!  In fact, Hamlin had a lead as much as 10 seconds over second place Kasey Kahne at Michigan.

Rounding the top seven finishers at Michigan were Kurt Busch finishing in third place, Jeff Gordon following in fourth place, Tony Stewart closely behind in fifih place, Jimmie Johnson in sixth place, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. having a great day winding up in seventh place at Michigan International Speedway.

Hamlin’s wins this season has run the full gamut of race tracks, superspeedway, short tracks, and intermediate tracks.  It appears that, at this particular stage of the season, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hamlin have got a huge portion of momentum on their plate!  That is not exactly great news for the other 42 competitors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.

Hamlin’s performance highlighted the chasm between his team and the rest of the series at the moment. He’s won five of the last 11 races and is poised to make a serious run at ending Johnson’s long reign.

Do you think that Hamlin has a good chance of disposing Johnson as Sprint Cup champion?

Here is the unofficial results from Michigan.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Denny Hamlin won for the fourth time in just nine career races at Pocono Raceway.  The driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing #11 FedEx Toyota Camry dominated the second half of the race after Clint Bowyer dominted the first half of the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 this Sunday afternoon.

With 22 laps to . . . → Read More: Hamlin Prevails Again At Pocono]]>

(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin won for the fourth time in just nine career races at Pocono Raceway.  The driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing #11 FedEx Toyota Camry dominated the second half of the race after Clint Bowyer dominted the first half of the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 this Sunday afternoon.

With 22 laps to go, Hamlin restarted in 9th place and had to slice through eight very strong race cars.  Nevertheless, he did just that and Hamlin took the lead for the final time with just 12 laps to go in the race when he passed Sam Hornish, Jr.  Additionally, Hamlin had to survive one green-white-checkered  restart.  That green-white-checkered was the results of Kevin Harvick getting into the left rear bumper of Joey Logano in the tunnel turn and causing the JGR #20 Home Depot Toyota to spin.  However, Logano was able to keep his race car off of the retaining wall and finish the race.

There was no damage to his car, however, “Logano had blown a head gasket” from his anger!  This was not the first time that Harvick appeared to “dump Logano” during a race.  After the race ended, Logano drove his car up to Harvick’s parked car and appeared to quite possibly discuss Kevin’s heritage, or quite possibly offered a dinner invitation!!

On the last lap of the race there was a huge crash on the Long Pond Straight involving Richard Petty Motorsports team mates Kasey Kahne and A.J. Almendinger.  Kahne had a huge run on “The Dinger” and that group of cars, so he maneuvered his car to the inside to pass the group.  Unfortunately, Dinger  moved further left to block his team mate’s pass, and thereby, putting Kahne into the grass at 190 mph.  As Kahne corrected the car’s path, it shot back up on the track heading directly for the retaining wall, and was T-boned on the passenger side by both Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.  That sent Kahne airborne head-on into the outside retaining wall and collected many of the cars that was behind him.  Some of those cars were Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose,Ryan Newman, and Elliott Sadler to name  a few.

Kahne blamed Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Allmendinger for forcing him off the race track.

“I don’t know what A.J. was doing there,” Kahne said. “I don’t ever really talk to him much, but you can bet I’ll be talking to him this week.”

Allmendinger took responsibility for the incident.

“I’m not really sure what happened,” Allmendinger said. “Kasey had such a run on me, and I went to defend. By the time I defended, he was in the grass. That’s my bad. I feel bad about that — I really do. It is what it is, though.”

Pocono was a very good race and the dominate car won the race, which as we all know does not always happen.  Even though the Poconos are generally a “honeymoon” destination for East Coasters, for many drivers Pocono was no “honeymoon” Sunday!

P.S. One question for “The Dinger”.  When you go to “defend”, is that the same as blocking?  What exactly is your definition of “defending”?

What is your take on “The Dinger’s” word defend?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Has anybody seen the bus?

Not only did Denny Hamlin, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing  of the #11 Fed Ex Toyota Camry, throw his teammate, Kyle Busch, driver of the JGR #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, under the bus- he flat ran over him as well!

Just when all had thought that the . . . → Read More: The Hamlin-Busch Feud Rekindles!]]>

(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)

Has anybody seen the bus?

Not only did Denny Hamlin, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing  of the #11 Fed Ex Toyota Camry, throw his teammate, Kyle Busch, driver of the JGR #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, under the bus- he flat ran over him as well!

Just when all had thought that the heated, vulgarity laced, discussion between Kyle Busch and his teammate Denny Hamlin had been pacified by team owner Joe Gibbs last Saturday night, the feud continues!  Kyle is quoted as saying on Thursday, “For me I am over the Denny Hamlin issue.  It’s done, we’re moving forward and we look forward to the rest of the year and the [Coca-Cola] 600 this weekend.”

However, Denny Hamlin was considerably more blunt about the matter when discussing his feelings.  “I definitely wouldn’t change anything that I would do and nobody in my position would,” said Hamlin. “I challenge anyone to be in that position and to change the way that I drove. The thing is that he [Busch] was never there, there was never a hole for his car to fit in, so he has a gas pedal and a brake just like I do. He could choose to check up and pass me in the next corner or put his car in the fence like what happened.”

Hamlin didn’t just stop with that blunt statement.  He was asked if he would work with his teammate, Busch, he expressed his displeasure with the hot tempered Las Vegas native.

“I’m not going to put too much effort in it, to be honest with you,” Hamlin said. “Kyle brings this stuff up himself and he gets mad at the media for asking him questions about his blow-ups and stuff, but he does it to himself. I don’t want to be part of it. Any drama that he wants to create or anything is on him. Anything he says on the radio is on him. [That’s] all I’m going to say and I’m going to be done with it. Each year I think Kyle’s going to grow out of it and he just doesn’t. Until he puts it all together, that’s when he’ll become a champion. Right now he just doesn’t have himself all together.”

And then, for good measure, this little parting rim shot from Hamlin:

“I didn’t say that I was going to take over this team or be the leader of this team, but somebody’s got to be the leader—it ain’t going to be Kyle.”

Hey Joe, looks like you have your work cut out for you this season!  Maybe you should try the Rick Hendrick technique of “milk and cookies” used at one time with Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson when they were feuding!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy John Harrelson/Getty Images)

After starting on the pole because qualifying was rained out, after two encounters with the outside retaining wall, after a hard charging pack on the last restart, Kurt Busch in the Penske “blue deuce” captured a cool million dollars for the victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night by winning the NASCAR . . . → Read More: Kurt Busch Wins The All Star Race]]>

(photo courtesy John Harrelson/Getty Images)

After starting on the pole because qualifying was rained out, after two encounters with the outside retaining wall, after a hard charging pack on the last restart, Kurt Busch in the Penske “blue deuce” captured a cool million dollars for the victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night by winning the NASCAR All Star race.

Busch appeared to have the dominate hot rod early in the contest.  But his choice of racing lanes, “high, wide and in his case not so handsome”!  Yes, my friends, he was driving the Penske #2 Miller Lite Dodge way up high and not afraid to die.  But two encounters with the retaining wall slowed his Dodge up through the middle part of the contest, and dropped Kurt out of the top ten.  That allowed Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and little brother Kyle Busch to contend for the lead.

By the last 10 lap dash segment, the Miller Lite pit crew got Kurt patched up, changed a couple of shocks, sent him back out in 11th place, and allowed the “blue deuce” back into contention.  Denny Hamlin, driving the JGR #11 FedEx Toyota faded,  little brother Kyle Busch, driving the JGR #18 M&M’s Pretzel Toyota, crashed after his fellow teammate Denny “Gimp-Along” Hamlin squeezed him up into the fence.  Jimmie Johnson spun out, leaving only Martin Truex, Jr., and Joey “Sliced Bread” Logano to challenge Kurt.

Neither Truex nor Logano had anything for the #2 Miller Lite Dodge and Busch motored away to his first ever NASCAR extracurricular activity race victory, ie the All Star race or Bud Shootout race.

The All Star victory made his boss’ trip to Charlotte all worth the flight.  Earlier in the day Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves won the pole for the 2010 Indianapolis 500, so “The Captain”, Roger Penske, had a great Saturday afternoon and evening.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin pulled off the Darlington double, winning both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races this weekend!  That feat has only been accomplished 3 times in Darlington’s illustrious 61 year history!

Denny Hamlin restarted the Showtime Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway Saturday night in the lead driving his JGR . . . → Read More: Hamlin Pulls Off A Double At Darlington]]>

(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin pulled off the Darlington double, winning both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races this weekend!  That feat has only been accomplished 3 times in Darlington’s illustrious 61 year history!

Denny Hamlin restarted the Showtime Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway Saturday night in the lead driving his JGR #11 Fed Ex Toyota with 20 laps to go, and had no problem holding off the field to get the victory.

However, the two drivers who appeared to have the best shots at beating Hamlin in the Cup race – Jeff Gordon in the HMS #24 DuPont Chevy and Jeff Burton in the RCR #31 CAT Chevy – blew their chances at victory by making mistakes on the final pit stop of the evening. Gordon missed the commitment cone while trying to pit and Burton was penalized for running over a hose in the pits.

Jamie McMurray, driving the EGR #1 Bass Pro Sports Chevy, who started from the pole, finished second. On Friday, McMurray finished third in the Nationwide race.  So, big weekend for McMurray – though not a surprising one to him and his teams.

Kurt Busch, driving the Penske Racing #2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished third. A very welcome third.  “I haven’t had a solid run like tonight since Ricky Craven and I battled it out for that win,” Busch, whose brother Kyle finished second to Hamlin on Friday, said. “It feels good to get our Miller Lite Dodge back up front. It came down to a strategy where I though two tires would be the way to go at the end. We had the right strategy, we just didn’t have enough speed.

Gordon came back to finish fourth, after missing the pit entrance.  Then as he re-entered the pits on the second attempt, a yellow flag cam out.  With that yellow flag being waved, Gordon drove right through the pits again to rejoin the pack, then next time by Gordon took the wave around.

“That is what happens when you make a make a mistake,” Gordon said of missing pit road. “You have to make it up to your guys who worked so hard all weekend long to give you a race car like that.

Rounding out the top five was JPM, better know as Juan Pabl0 Montoya, driving the EGR #42 Target Chevy.

So the “track too tough to tame” has again given the race fans a great weekend of racing.  The Southern 500 has put another exclamation point on a NASCAR season already full of exciting finishes.  Even more interesting is that Deny Hamlin has shown that no “stinkin’ ACL surgery” will put a hamper on his competitiveness, durability, focus, and drive!

What is your take on Hamlin’s toughness?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy NASCAR)

Less than six weeks removed from ACL surgery on his left knee, Denny Hamlin opted for a weekend double at the track he considers one of the most grueling on the NASCAR circuit.

So far, so good. Staying out on old tires while other contenders came to the pits under caution on . . . → Read More: Hamlin Dominates The Royal Purple 200]]>

(photo courtesy NASCAR)

Less than six weeks removed from ACL surgery on his left knee, Denny Hamlin opted for a weekend double at the track he considers one of the most grueling on the NASCAR circuit.

So far, so good. Staying out on old tires while other contenders came to the pits under caution on Lap 123, Hamlin held off teammate Kyle Busch, who also stayed out, to win Friday night’s Royal Purple 200 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at Darlington Raceway.

Hamlin had the lead on the restart but was passed briefly by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Hamlin, who led a race-best 111 laps, quickly recaptured the lead and then began to walk away from Kyle Busch.  The final margin of victory was about 10 car lengths.

It was the ninth time the two JGR drivers have finished first and second to each other in a Nationwide race.

Jamie McMurray, who restarted sixth, charged to a third-place finish.

Darlington Raceway truly lived up to its nickname Friday night, “The track too tough to tame”!  The infamous “Darlington Stripe” adorned many of the race cars by the end of the race.  Some of the competitors, however, were not so lucky as to just get “the stripe”.   Some of the very unlucky cars had to be put “on the hook”, lifted back into their haulers, and headed for the scrap heap!

The race was a domination of the Joe Gibbs Racing tandem of Denny Hamlin and ol Kylie Busch.  However, Hamlin’s #20 JGR Z-Line Toyota was most definitely the class of the field all race!

What do you think about Hamlin’s durability after going through ACL surgery four weeks ago?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy Jonathon Ferrey/Getty Images)

After winning Martinsville, Hamlin headed off to have his knee surgically repaired via an ACL replacement surgery.  In eleven days he was back in the cockpit of his race car.  Just the thought of that seems to be extremely ambitious!  But Hamlin hung in there a raced the entire race, even when . . . → Read More: Hamlin’s Knee: Post Race Interview]]>

(photo courtesy Jonathon Ferrey/Getty Images)

After winning Martinsville, Hamlin headed off to have his knee surgically repaired via an ACL replacement surgery.  In eleven days he was back in the cockpit of his race car.  Just the thought of that seems to be extremely ambitious!  But Hamlin hung in there a raced the entire race, even when the pain increased and the racing luck turned not so great.

After the race, Hamlin, who finished 30th, talked about the knee.

Question: How are you feeling after racing the entire race today?

Hamlin: “We had a lot more issues than my leg today. We had a subpar car and we just killed ourselves trying to change – we had electrical problems. We shouldn’t have had a problem and then when we tried to fix it, we got ourselves behind on pit road and lost two laps. Just fought all day and it was just a miserable experience. To be honest with you, I would have been too embarrassed to give Casey (Mears) the car I had today. It’s not what we’re accustomed to.”

Question: Did you think you were going to finish the race when it started?

Hamlin: “I got a lot of encouragement from the team. Through thick and thin, we’re a team. I feel like they’d give their left leg for me and do everything they could do to make sure we were successful and I felt like it was my duty and my job and that’s what I’m hired to do, is to try to do the best I can and keep this team as good as we can. We had problems on the race track.”

Question: Was there a reason you stayed in the car the entire race?

Hamlin: “I was going to do all I could do. I reached a point, probably 160 laps in I looked at the score board to see how much more time I had to stay in there and that’s about the time we went about two laps down. I knew that if I got out of the car, I was going to hear all kinds of stuff from everyone else saying I gave up on the team. That’s one thing I’m not going to do is give up on these guys. It didn’t matter if I knew we weren’t going to gain one more position today and I knew it once we went two laps down. I felt like it was important for me to be in that car.”

Question: Would you have considered getting out of the car if Mike Ford (crew chief) or Joe Gibbs (team owner) suggested it?

Hamlin: “I would have considered it, but to me I can’t watch somebody else get in there.”

Quesiton: Do you feel better today than yesterday?

Hamlin: “I was on my feet a lot, even during practice (yesterday). I was on my feet for four or five hours even though I wasn’t necessarily in the race car for Friday. Today I was able to stay off of my feet until I got to the race car. That was the most important thing. I didn’t have to strain any energy until I got in that car.”

Please, will someone tell me why people do not think that race car drivers are tough athletes?  Hamlin just proved to his team that they, are in fact, at team!  They win together and they loose together.

That is what a team does!

What is your opinion of Hamlin’s efforts at Phoenix?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

(photo courtesy John Harrelson/Getty Images)

On that final restart, Gordon, who had taken the lead after Hamlin pitted for his tires the caution before, was bumped by Kenseth. Gordon retaliated, Kenseth re-retaliated and amid all that angst Hamlin blew to the lead and he went on to win.

So, there sat Gibbs in the media . . . → Read More: Hamlin’s Win: Good Strategy Or Lucky?]]>

(photo courtesy John Harrelson/Getty Images)

On that final restart, Gordon, who had taken the lead after Hamlin pitted for his tires the caution before, was bumped by Kenseth. Gordon retaliated, Kenseth re-retaliated and amid all that angst Hamlin blew to the lead and he went on to win.

So, there sat Gibbs in the media center. He didn’t even wait to be asked about the call by Ford.

“For Mike and Denny,” Gibbs said, “I told Mike for the record, I never doubted him. But in reality I was cussing him up top the pit box.”

That’s when Gibbs got the laughs.

But, seriously folks: Gusty call or foolish call?

Gibbs opted to stick with successful call.

Workingonmyredneck would  have to agree with Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, and Jeff Hammond on FOX Monday when they were completely appalled by Mike Ford’s call to bring Denny Hamlin into the pits with about 7 laps remaining in the race for tires!  It appeared that the call to the pits had just erased Hamlin’s chances for a victory at Martinsville.  What a surprise and gutsy call by Mike Ford!

What did you think about that decision by Hamlin’s crew chief, gutsy move or extremely lucky?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!