So far, Denny Hamlin has mastered the art of Budweiser Speedweeks. He won the Sprint Unlimited on Saturday night, and he backed that up by winning the Budweiser Duel last night. Now the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota looks towards the next task – winning the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” he said last night. “We’re on a roll, obviously. We executed the race today great.”
The success that Hamlin has experienced so far all started last year when he won the season finale at Hometead-Miami Speedway.
“That was a big win,” car owner Joe Gibbs commented. “I think it gave everybody their confidence going into the off-season. Denny has worked extremely hard. I think we were all hungry when the year started. That certainly helps.”
While Hamlin has experienced success so far, he says that the three practices leading up to the Daytona 500 will give him a better sense than the Duel of how his car will be for the big races.
“The little bit of practice we had in the first 500 practice yesterday, the cars drove a lot different,” he added. “They moved around a lot. Obviously we saw a couple incidents during practice.
“I’m not necessarily sold on whatever’s worked here these few night races is going to be what you’ll roll out for the 500. I think chassis handling will play a factor, especially if we’re going to run this long on a set of tires. We still got quite a bit of work to do.”
Beyond making sure the car is handling, Hamlin says the other challenge will be keeping himself in check and not getting into trouble.
“When you go out here and you perform the way we have over these last few races, it’s hard not to just want to go out there, charge out there, show that you’re still on top and still the best right on lap one,” he added. “I think that will be my challenge within myself, is keeping the reins back and realizing how long this race is, trying to be as patient as I can.
“It’s going to be battling those inner demons of wanting to go out there, lead laps, putting yourself in a safe position, but also being conservative and making sure you’re there at the end of the day.”
In the races so far, Hamlin is building his notebook as he continues to learn the rules package. He says it’s all about learning what you have to do in each of the positions you pit yourself in – whether learning in practice, or in the race.
No driver has ever won the Sprint Unlimited, the Budweiser Duel and the Daytona 500. However, if Hamlin can put the pieces together – he may do just that and bring home his first Daytona 500.
