Return To Richmond

Home, Sweet, Home: Hamlin Returns To Richmond Looking For Silver Lining 

This has NOT been Denny Hamlin’s season.

After a fractured vertebrae forced the Chesterfield, Va., native to miss four races (and most of a fifth, at Talladega), Hamlin has experienced mostly disheartening results and unlucky outcomes.

He currently is mired in a streak of 11 consecutive finishes of 18th or worse, averaging a finish of 28.3. He is mathematically eliminated from Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup consideration, missing NASCAR’s playoffs for the first time in a career that began in 2006.

So, what now? Richmond, that’s what. His championship hopes now dashed, Hamlin only has pride and wins for which to race.

This weekend’s race at Hamlin’s home track just might be the cure-all for one of the sport’s biggest talents. It’s one of his best tracks, and it’ll be a long time coming – the spring Richmond race was one of the four he missed.

Hamlin has two wins at Richmond, and finishes in the top 10 in four of the last five races. And when he doesn’t finish in the top 10, it’s usually the result of misfortune. For instance, in his last start there in September of 2012, Hamlin led 202 laps only to finish 18th.

Of Hamlin’s 14 starts at Richmond, he has tallied triple-digit laps-led figures in five of them. He also boasts the highest Richmond driver rating, at 117.8.

 

Solid 2014 Preview For Allmendinger, JTG Daugherty Racing

Several permanent driver changes won’t take place until 2014 but at least one – AJ Allmendinger taking the wheel of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota – already is paying dividends.

Allmendinger, running selected events in the No. 47 since mid-season, posted the team’s first top-10 finish of the year last month at Watkins Glen International. A last-minute substitute for regular driver Bobby Labonte, who broke three ribs in a bicycle accident on the eve of last week’s race in Atlanta, Allmendinger finished 14th – another solid effort for the single-car team.

Allmendinger is signed for two additional races in 2013 – at Kansas and Homestead-Miami speedways – although Labonte’s status in the coming weeks could expand the Allmendinger-JTG schedule.

Atlanta’s weekend also saw 21-year-old Kyle Larson, the current NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader, officially announced as the driver of the No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet next season. Larson isn’t expected to drive an EGR entry in the remaining races but the Drive for Diversity graduate, open-wheel star and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner could appear in selected NASCAR Sprint Cup events for another team.

EGR’s current driver Juan Pablo Montoya qualified the No. 42 Chevy third in Atlanta then led the AdvoCare 500 and finished seventh. Teammate Jamie McMurray ran among the top 10 for much of the race before finishing 11th in the No. 1 Chevrolet.

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc.  

Two top-five milestones could be reached this weekend: Carl Edwards continues his search for 100 career top fives, and Clint Bowyer’s next top five will be No. 50. … At Richmond, Kasey Kahne will make NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start No. 350. … With Kyle Busch’s win last Sunday at Atlanta, Toyota reached its 250th NASCAR national series victory. … Ryan Truex will make his second NSCS start of his career this weekend at Richmond, driving the No. 51 Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing. He finished 42nd in his first start, two weeks ago at Bristol. … Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won his first Coors Light Pole Award last week at Atlanta, becoming the 15th different pole winner this season. There were 17 different pole winners all of last season.