Where's the Respect Denny?

You don’t see me posting very often on Skirts and Scuffs, mainly because it takes a lot to get me involved in a story. It appears that Denny Hamlin is one issue worth breaking my silence for.

The Denny Hamlin/Clint Bowyer feud appears to have come out of nowhere. Better writers have covered the story, including right here, so I don’t need to delve into details. Had Denny made only one comment here or there, I wouldn’t even feel the need to comment, but it was thing he said in particular that got this writer up in flames.

On one side you have a driver, who many picked to win the NASCAR Cup title this year. On the other, you have a driver who actually won the first race of the Chase, backed by a team with decades of experience in NASCAR. The team and the teammates are what brought about the latest issue.

Maybe the problem is that Hamlin doesn’t understand how teammates actually work. When Harvick and Joey Lagano exchanged words earlier in the season, neither he nor Kyle Busch got involved. When Kyle had problems with a number of drivers in previous years, Hamlin stood idly by, twiddling his thumbs and waiting for the conversation to cycle back around to him. When he made his comments this week, perhaps he didn’t realize that Bowyer’s teammates and car owner would get involved.

That’s exactly what happened when Harvick gave him a minor bump both on Pit Road and on the track, during a practice session. Hamlin later said he knew something was coming because crew members wished him luck and made comments about the track. He then told reporters, “It's unnecessary that the team guys have to get involved in it…”


Wait a second, what? Let’s look at that again. “It's unnecessary that the team guys have to get involved in it.”

I’m sorry? Does anyone else remember the Nationwide race in Charlotte two years ago? I know I do because I was sitting on the Start/Finish line, when the checkered flag dropped. I watched his crew get into a scuffle on Pit Road with Dale Earnhardt Junior’s crew and Brad Keselowski’s crew. Hamlin and Keselowski exchanged bumps during the race, which led to an altercation after the race.

Afterwards, Hamlin made his infamous “concrete block” comment and seemingly had no problem with his crew getting involved in an incident that involved the two drivers. When the shoe’s on the other foot…

To quote Limp Bizkit, “your mouth’s writing checks that your *** can’t cash.” Maybe Hamlin expected RCR to lie down and take whatever he said. Maybe he even thought other teams would jump on his bandwagon. We’ve learned that other drivers, including his own teammates, are letting him float in the wind. No one has his back and no one is even willing to say they believe him.

What it all boils down to is a driver that’s worried about his own future. He may have the points lead now, but Harvick had it for weeks and he’s not that far removed from it now. If he truly wants, “to just keep focused on trying to win a championship,” then why all the comments now? Focus on your own driving and keep your mouth closed when it comes to others.

Can anyone see him doing this if Dale Earnhardt was still alive and racing? Dale would put him in the wall and close the case on the story. You would think that a younger driver would have more respect to the ones who came before him and the teams that helped make NASCAR what it is today. Then again, what do you expect from someone who brought Paris Hilton to a track?

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Denny Hamlin on "Bowyerpalooza"

On Friday, Denny Hamlin had his own opinions about Clint Bowyer and what Jeff Gluck appropriately calls "Bowyerpalooza."

After last Sunday's race at Loudon, New Hampshire, in which Clint Bowyer held Denny Hamlin off for the win, Bowyer's 33 car was taken in for further inspection. It was found that his car was illegal and NASCAR took action, since the 33 Hamburger Helper/ Cheerios team had been warned the week before that their cars was borderline legal. NASCAR fined both Bowyer's crew chief, and his car chief $150,000 each, deducted 150 points from both Bowyer's Chase points and Richard Childress' owner points, and suspended Shane Wilson, his crew chief for six weeks.

Denny Hamlin a bit to say about that by starting with "I'm not too discouraged with what we ended up with [at New Hampshire], but I know we were the fastest legal car."


In the media center, he continued, "NASCAR has been very, very lenient on this car. And they've given these guys chances. It's not Richmond, I think they should just be happy they're in The Chase at this point because they were warned, and they werre warned before Richmond. Everyone in the garage knows that, so they're the ones who wanted to press the issue to make sure they got in The Chase, they got in The Chase and got busted."

"One thing I can tell you is that my car- this is the car I had at Atlanta, we blew up at Atlanta, okay- they towed this car all the way in and they destroyed the trunk, the tow truck destroyed the trunk. But, we never replaced one thing on the tail of this car and it just went through inspection fine. So, my car went through way more destruction than what his did just getting a simple push and my car is fine. You know?" he continued on to say. Very valid point made by Hamlin.

"At this point, I think that they're just trying to salvage their season basically and they're going to do everything they can. I understand that. The whole appeal process that they're gonna go through."

"There has to be a point where it's not black or white and it's no longer grey. If they let them get away with this sixty thousandths of an inch, then when do you stop? When do you break it and say "Okay, now we have to penalize." because there has to be a point of tolerance. If you go past it, you're in trouble. If they're gonna let him go, they're gonna open up the entire field to do what they want."

He continues on to say that some teams play closer to that line than others, there are other things that happen out on the track that effect the car that could make you wrong, but you have to take that risk. He makes a valid point in saying that if you go out on the race track saying "I can't get one bump on this car." you're not going to do well. But, then came the shocking, "In the garage, everyone has known for months. This isn't two weeks old, this is something that's been going on for months. It's been going on for a long time. way before Richmond."

Here's my opinion on this whole matter. I do agree with Hamlin, but if everyone has known for a long time, then why didn't anyone go to NASCAR and say "Look, the 33 team is messing around with their car and it's on the borderline of being illegal." I suppose if I were a driver just outside The Chase bubble and I knew this information, I would go straight to the source.

Later yesterday, Denny adressed some more on Twitter. Here are the posts:

"sorry all RCR fans.. im not bashing clint, richard or anyone else.. just defending Nascar on this one.. all these teams work damn hard"
"we all want a level playing field. Nascar just has to make that happen and facts are facts.. they had no choice."
"richard might have a compelling enough case to convince them and this will all go away for them. nobody wants to be called a cheater"
"ok ive reached my twitter limit for the day.. its time everyone just worries about themselves.. me included..."

It was surprising to me that Denny defended NASCAR on this one. Especially after he was fined $50,000 after his commments about NASCAR on Twitter.

So, here's my question. What do you think about Denny's take on "Bowyerpalooza?" Leave your comments below and I would like to do follow-up article about your thoughts and opinions.

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and not necessarily those of the site or its administrators.

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Hamlin holds off Busch for Darlington win

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 7, 2010) —Talk about a glutton for punishment.

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, in the No. 20 Z-line Toyota, held off teammate Kyle Busch, in the No. 18 Z-line Toyota, who also stayed out, to win Friday night's Royal Purple 200 Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Hamlin led the final 63 of 147 laps in winning his 10th race in the series in his second start of the year. On Saturday night, he'll start eighth in the Showtime Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

"Great race car," Hamlin said in Victory Lane. "Congratulations to (crew chief) Kevin Kidd. This is his first win with Joe Gibbs Racing after taking over for Dave Rogers. When you have a car that drives as good as this one did today, it makes your job a whole lot easier."

Busch had a strong car but couldn't pass Hamlin on a succession of restarts late in the race. Busch pulled even with Hamlin to the inside entering Turn 1 on a restart with five laps to go, but Hamlin had momentum around the outside and gradually inched away to win by .625 seconds.

"If you don't get out first after the last pit stop, you're stuck," Busch said. "You just can't pass out there. It's just so aero-sensitive. You fight for track position here. That's all you can do. Tires don't mean a whole lot, but track position does."

All told, Hamlin led 111 laps and Busch 17. Jamie McMurray finished third, followed by Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler. Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers and Paul Menard completed the top 10.

Hamlin's Friday schedule included a two-and-a-half-hour Nationwide practice session, starting at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by two 90-minute Cup practices, qualifying in both series and, finally, the race.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge," Hamlin said. "I knew it was going to be a very, very long day. I tried to conserve as much energy as possible. I didn't run a ton of laps in Nationwide (practice). I didn't run a ton of laps in Cup.

"I was just trying to conserve some energy for (Friday night) and then for (Saturday). Having all day to rest tomorrow will help."

Keselowski holds a 55-point lead over Busch in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.

Results for Friday’s Royal Purple 200:

1. Denny Hamlin    
2. Kyle Busch    
3. Jamie McMurray    
4. Kasey Kahne    
5. Jason Leffler    
6. Carl Edwards    
7. Brad Keselowski    
8. Kevin Harvick    
9. Brian Vickers    
10. Paul Menard    
11. Michael Annett    
12. Steve Wallace    
13. Mike Wallace    
14. Stanton Barrett    
15. Coleman Pressley    
16. Trevor Bayne    
17. Justin Allgaier    
18. Tony Raines    
19. Michael McDowell    
20. Kenny Wallace    
21. Jason Keller    
22. Mark Green        
23. Joe Nemechek    
24. Brian Keselowski    
25. Brian Scott *    
26. Danny Efland    
27. Eric McClure    
28. Chad McCumbee    
29. Steve Arpin    
30. Matt Kenseth    
31. James Buescher *    
32. Mike Bliss     Chevrolet   
33. Brendan Gaughan    
34. Josh Wise    
35. Greg Biffle    
36. Scott Lagasse Jr.       
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. *    
38. Kevin Lepage    
39. Clint Bowyer    
40. Danny O'Quinn Jr.    
41. David Gilliland    
42. Derrike Cope    
43. Dennis Setzer    

* Denotes Rookie

TEXT AND PHOTOS FROM NASCAR MEDIA

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Exciting Nationwide Race at Darlington

They call Darlington Raceway "The Lady in Black." It is a very difficult racetrack that many drivers say is too tough to tame.

Last night's Nationwide race at Darlington was exciting from start to finish. It lead with a lot of cautions and interesting racing. The pole sitter for last night's race at Darlington was Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin lead a total of 111 laps and his teammate Kyle Busch lead 17.

Hamlin lead the final 63 laps of the race. He was also battling Busch for the race win. Busch had a strong car all night but couldn't pass Hamlin for the race win. On the final lap Hamlin took the checkers and won the race.

Hamlin and Busch were racing Friday night for charities: Hamlin for Operation Helmet and Busch for Racing 4 Kids. They ended up donating money to both charities. Hamlin posted his third victory at Darlington in his first five starts and all three came from the pole.

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The Shockers, The Knockers and The Rockers at Texas Motor Speedway

Fans got a double dose of racing on Monday as both the Sprint and Nationwide were canceled and rescheduled for Monday. It was a good thing though, it was a race worth watching for sure.

The Shockers:
Well let's start with the shockers of the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. started ninth and eventually got all the way up to the front to lead some laps. After consistently staying in the top 10 and some of the greatest pit stops by the No. 88 team we have seen in almost two years, an eighth-place finish was a great morale booster for the team and fans alike. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now seventh in points.

How about a big old round of applause for Mr. Jeff Burton. On lap 136 he went all the way up to 18th after restarting at the tail end of the field and by lap 150 he climbed all the way up to 14th. Burton made it to a high of fourth and ended up finishing a solid 12th place. He is currently eighth in the points standings. Great job for the No. 31 team.

The Knockers:
In case you didn't know the knockers are the ones who did a little bit of bumping and knocking on the cars around them. Let's start with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, teammates and also contenders for the win. They had a little bump and run ... and well it got a little out of control. Each driver said they were disappointed by the spat and Gordon said they will be sure to talk about it cause they are, "good enough friends, good enough teammates." They were both disappointed in how they raced each other, but each claimed they "got over it." Johnson was smiling afterward, however, for finishing in second place, and well, Gordon, not so much.

My next knocker is Tony Stewart, who ran a great race and claimed causing an accident. Stewart responded with, "It was my fault. Feel bad about it, about doing something stupid like that. I didn't plan on getting loose, but it is 100 percent my fault." I think I can also put Stewart in the Shocker category for growing up so much and taking responsibility even if it didn't seem to be his fault 100%. It seems to most that Carl Edwards' No. 99 bumped Stewart, which got him loose and ended up causing quite the pileup and taking out some of the best cars in the field. It was ultimately a product of hard racing with around 20 laps to go.

The Rockers:
Of course the No.1 rocker is Denny Hamlin, who held off Jimmie Johnson enough to win. Hamlin had a decent car and raced slow and steady to eventually get to the front. About two weeks after having surgery on his knee, this just goes to show the dedication of athletes. These are the athletes who make the sport, the ones who overcome obstacles and go on to be the winner. A big congrats to Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 FedEx team.

Now my other rockers are these drivers involved with the red flag wreck at the Samsung Mobile 500. These drivers included Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Paul Menard, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Jamie McMurray. Five out of the seven drivers went on to do double duty and race in the Nationwide series afterward as well. Logano went on to finish second after finishing 28th in the first race of the day. McMurray went on to finish sixth in his first Nationwide race for JR Motorsports after finishing 30th in the Sprint race. Paul Menard finished a solid 10th after finishing an unfortunate 35th in the Samsung Mobile 500. Redemption was sung proud and loud for those drivers.

And there you have it, the Shockers, Knockers and Rockers of the TMS weekend. Let's roll it on out at Talladaga and see what surprises are in store!

"Photo courtesy of Creative commons/flickr/Mike D.Merrill"

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Connecting with the fans: Hamlin's loved ones give surgery updates through Twitter

If you weren't sure about the effect social media has had on the spread of NASCAR news, then you weren't on Twitter during Denny Hamlin's knee surgery.

Instead of waiting to hear the outcome from a reporter or a statement from Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR fans on Twitter received updates from Hamlin's mother, Mary Lou Hamlin, and girlfriend, Jordan Fish, during and after his surgery Wednesday morning.

At around 7 a.m. EST, Mary Lou Hamlin tweeted:

11mommalou: "Denny's getting ready for surgery. Will start shortly. Surgery will take approx 1 hour"

Dr. Patrick Connor with OrthoCarolina near Charlotte, N.C., performed the procedure to repair a torn ACL in Hamlin's left knee. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota sustained the injury during a game of pickup basketball in January.

Hamlin had been hoping to postpone the surgery until after the season, but elected to have the surgery this week instead of risking further damage. Hamlin said his knee ached following the March 21 Bristol race.

As they sat in the waiting room, Hamlin's mother and girlfriend shared the experience with NASCAR fans by tweeting photos of each other, Hamlin's father Dennis and best friend/manager Austin Peyton.

At around 9 a.m. ET, Marylou Hamlin tweeted that Hamlin's team owner, Joe Gibbs, had stopped by the hospital to wait with the group. Shortly after, she tweeted the first update on Hamlin's condition:

11mommalou: Doc just came out and said everything went fine. Meniscus (?)Didn't hav to take out so that was good. Will b in recov an hour or so.

Many likely gave a sigh of relief upon hearing the news. Hamlin's mother was referring to a meniscus, the tissue in the cartilage of the knee joint that provides structural integrity to the knee. Hamlin's was left intact.

As Hamlin's loved ones continued to wait, his girlfriend Fish let fans in on two more visitors: J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, and Dave Alpern, vice president of marketing, had brought a life-size No. 11 bear to the hospital. Fish posted some photos of the bear, which seemed to take on a life of its own in the waiting room.

jordan_fish: Nurse came out, she asked what the bear's name was "he said we don't know, he's sleepy right now.. Well ask him when he wakes up" hahaha

It was an hour or so later when Mary Lou Hamlin tweeted that it "will probably b another 30-45 min b4 we can go back to see him." She let another Twitter user know that Joe and J.D. Gibbs and Alpern had left the hospital. Still waiting with Mary Lou were her husband, Fish and Peyton.

The Sprint Cup Series is off this week because of the Easter holiday, giving Hamlin more time to recover before the Phoenix race on April 10. Hamlin is planning to run the race, but Casey Mears will be on standby for Phoenix as well as the next several races.

At About 11 a.m. ET, Hamlin's mother tweeted:

11mommalou: Just talked to doc again everything fine.Getting denny ready to leave to go home

And from his girlfriend:

jordan_fish: Just saw him.. Everything went well.. Denny is doin fine, just a lil sore and groggy, thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers!

All this at least an hour before Joe Gibbs Racing had posted on their Web site that Hamlin's surgery had been a success.

Mary Lou Hamlin and Jordan Fish used Twitter to do something extraordinary on Wednesday: reach out to fans of Denny Hamlin to let them know their driver was OK. There was no middleman, which would usually be a reporter or a PR representative. When Hamlin's loved ones found out the news, so did the fans - updates from the sources themselves in real time. By sharing their experience on Twitter, they invited fans into the waiting room with them.

It's been said that NASCAR drivers and their fans have a special relationship, different from that in other sports. After today, I'm sure Denny Hamlin fans would agree.

Photo: Denny Hamlin in the garage at Martinsville this weekend. (Geoff Burke / Getty Images for NASCAR)

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The Lugnut Report: Tires Doom Denny Hamlin's California Comeback

Welcome, welcome one and all to the first edition of The Lugnut Report on Skirts and Skuffs. Each week, Patti Rodisch and I will recap the weekend of two drivers from qualifying to the checkered flag.

For much of the off season, Denny Hamlin was the projected favorite to end four time champion Jimmie Johnson's hold on the Sprint Cup title. Doubt began to set in, however, when the eight time Sprint Cup Series race winner tore his anterior cruciate ligament playing basketball a little over a month beforethe 2010 season began.

"It's good," Hamlin said of his left knee during Speed Weeks. "But it's better in the car than it is now. But really, it's just not an issue at all. I thought it would be, but not here, definitely."

After finishing 17th in the Daytona 500, Hamlin came into Auto Club Speedway looking for momentum.

While it looked like he would find it, things didn't go the way the No. 11 FedEx Freight Totyota team would've liked.

After finishing Friday's practice 15th, Hamlin qualified 25th and ended Saturday's two practice sessions third and ninth. However, because the team changed an engine after Happy Hour, Hamlin took the green flag for the Auto Club 500 in dead last.

Early on, Hamlin managed to work his way up through the field despite fighting a loose racecar.

By lap 90, Hamlin cracked into the top 20, but was still fuming at his crew to fix his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

"We oughta be disappointed in our engine program," a frustrated Hamlin told his crew.

After the second caution of the day for Kasey Kahne's spin, and rain reportedly 90 minutes away, Hamlin came down pit road for yet more adjustments. With a trackbar adjustment he restarted in the mid-20s and once again began working his way through the pack.

Despite his team working on the car on the previous stop, their driver was still fuming inside the car.

"It's (explitive) hilarious, people are going right by me!" he yelled over the radio. Yet, he continued making strides on track.

On lap 141, when Juan Pablo Montoya lost an engine, Hamlin and his crew began discussing pit strategy with rain continuing to loom over the track.

The driver himself made the call to stay outside, rocketing the No. 11 Toyota to fourth behind Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish, Sr. His team cautioned him to save fuel.

Staying out proved to be a costly mistake; Hamlin was behind Newman on the lap 146 restart, when the No. 39 spun his tires and lost an engine. The cluster that followed sent Hamlin right back to where he started before hand to 18th.

Hamlin restarted the race on lap 153 in 23rd after pitting for four tires, fuel and yet more adjustments. He immediately began charging to the front, battling side by side with Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.

Then the rains came, and strategy reared it's ugly head.

"It's raining pretty damn good," Hamlin said on lap 190, when he took the race lead. NASCAR put out the caution out two laps later. However, because the team stayed out earlier they were forced to make a pit stop for fuel, sending him back deep into the pack.

Hamlin would lose a tire shortly after the lap 195 restart, hitting pit road and losing a lap to the leaders.

"This is just the worst," a dejected driver said over the radio.

Hamlin would run with the lap down cars only to become the wave around on lap 223, after nemesis Brad Keselowski brought out the sixth caution of the day.

To add insult to injury, Hamlin made a pit stop for yet another flat tire--this time a right rear-- after he received the wave around, and was black flagged.

A difficult day ended with a 29th place finish, two laps behind the leader.

"I can't think of a worse day... 1 lugnut penalty 2 blown tires and a 10th place car at best" Hamlin tweeted after the race.

Next week, Hamlin and his fellow 42 competitors race into Las Vegas for the Shelby American live on FOX at 3 P.M. Eastern time.

Thanks to NASCAR on FOX, ESPN, Pilot Online and Scene Daily for the information and quotes used in this piece.

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