Harvick: I knew Hamlin wouldn’t win 2010 title

Harvick: I knew Hamlin wouldn’t win 2010 title

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(October 15, 2011)

 

CONCORD, N.C.—Before last year’s Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick knew he and Jimmie Johnson were inside Denny Hamlin’s head.

 

On Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it sounded as if Harvick wanted to stay there.

 

After squandering 18 points of a 33-point lead in the next-to-last race at Phoenix, Hamlin was visibly nervous at the news conference that preceded the finale.

 

“I knew sitting on the stage last year that the No. 11 (Hamlin) wasn’t going to win the championship because he couldn’t hardly sit still and was so nervous going into that race that he couldn’t hardly stand it,” Harvick said. “I could see it, Jimmie was gouging at it. I just sat back and watched.”

 

To be accurate, Harvick did his share of needling, too. Hamlin spun early in the race three days later and took himself out of contention. Hamlin’s ill fortune allowed Johnson to claim his record fifth straight championship.

 

Hamlin, with characteristic honesty, admitted he had a difficult time dealing with the pressure of the final race weekend. However, there’s little likelihood of Hamlin putting what he learned last year into practice, because he dropped 79 points behind leader Carl Edwards in the first four Chase races this year.

 

“It’s tough, because when you find yourself in that position for the first time, it’s hard not to be consumed by that one race, when in actuality it’s only 10 percent of the entire result of the Chase,” Hamlin said. “I think that once you get into the final couple of races, the guys that are contenders that are in that position for the first time, it will be harder for them to succeed, because they’re going to put more emphasis on those particular events.

 

“I think that you’ve got to be a little bit more relaxed, and you have to have a little more fun with the whole process and everything and the situation that you’re in. Unfortunately, what I know this year, I can’t apply it because I’m not really part of that championship chase. It’s going to be fun watching it down to the end with all these guys that are so close right now.”

 

Entering Saturday night’s race at Charlotte, there was a 20-point spread between Edwards and eighth-place Kyle Busch.