Hamlin can 'close the book' on flat tracks

            AVONDALE, Ariz. – Phoenix International Raceway is right in Denny Hamlin’s wheel house. It’s the NASCAR equivalent of a fastball down the middle.

            All seven of Hamlin’s career Sprint Cup victories have occurred on tracks with little banking: three at Pocono (Pa.), two at Martinsville (Va.), and one each at Loudon (N.H.) and Richmond (Va.).

            Hamlin’s no specialist. The flat-track note is more coincidence than trend. He’s finished near the front at all kinds of tracks, including runner-up finishes in tracks as diverse as Watkins Glen (N.Y.) and Darlington (S.C.).

            But he’s never won at Phoenix, where the turns are banked 11 degrees on one side and nine on the other.

            Hamlin isn’t sheepish about it. In fact, his statistics on “flat tracks” are comparable to those of Jimmie Johnson, and it’s hard to compete with Johnson’s numbers on most anything but road courses.

            Who’s better when the turns aren’t high-banked? Hamlin or Johnson?

“I don’t know,” said Hamlin. “Maybe we should switch cars one week. That part of it is up for debate. People can debate that for a long time, but ultimately, in two different types of equipment, it’s tough to really say.”

            Hamlin, who turns 29 on Wednesday, is like most everyone else these days. He’s willing to entertain the notion that Johnson, in his Hendrick Motorsports-tooled Chevy, has an advantage in equipment over Hamlin in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

            Not that JGR is a bad team. It’s just that the Hendrick juggernaut has never been stronger than it seems right now. It gets a little under Hamlin’s skin. He was an outspoken opponent of NASCAR’s decision to police bump drafting at Talladega recently and blamed the decision on Jeff Gordon’s lobbying. Gordon, like Johnson, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., is part of the Hendrick fleet.

Of Gordon, Hamlin said, “It’s just frustrating that he’s got that much pull with NASCAR.  We’ve all driven this Car of Tomorrow the same amount of years. He’s been around longer but we all came into this together.

 “I just wish NASCAR would ask for my opinion every now and then.”

            For what it’s worth, Hamlin noted that it’s a long way from 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway to short tracks like Richmond and Martinsville. The common denominator is that he happens to be adept at all three.

            And, by his own admission, Hamlin should be adept at this one. He’s finished third three times, fifth and sixth in his last six Phoenix races.

You may contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.