A year later, Hamlin laments missed opportunity

A year ago, Denny Hamlin appeared to be cruising to a victory at Richmond International Raceway.

The Manchester High School graduate led the first 206 laps of the Crown Royal 400. He surrendered the lead to A.J. Allmendinger on Lap 207, then regained it a lap later.

A confident Hamlin spent the next 175 laps building his lead with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch in tow around the three-quarter mile oval. But as the tires of the No. 11 Toyota flattened, Hamlin's seemingly inevitable victory faded.

With a fired-up Junior Nation rising to its collective feet, Hamlin began to drift back to the pack as his right front tire finally withered. Suddenly, a once-dominant Hamlin watched helplessly as he was sandwiched between Earnhardt and Busch, losing the lead with only 17 scheduled laps remaining.

Ultimately, Clint Bowyer earned his second career victory after Earnhardt and Busch doused fuel on a budding rivalry by colliding on Lap 398 to force a green-white-checkered finish.

Hamlin, who won the Nationwide event the night before, was emotionally spent afterward. He had won a month earlier in Martinsville, but the loss at RIR dampened his enthusiasm.

"Racetracks and races like that just slip away," Hamlin said, "and it takes a little time to get over them for sure."

That lost opportunity remains vivid in Hamlin's mind, in part, because winning in Richmond -- his backyard -- would be a dream fulfilled.

Still, the loss haunts him. It torments him.

"The Nationwide race that I won there the night before that was the biggest win -- pretty much of my career -- regardless of whether it was Cup or Nationwide," said Hamlin, who won the Cup pole last spring and finished 24th. "Just winning at home, it didn't matter what series, was the biggest win for me.

"We had a shot to back-to-back, have the poles and win both races and that was going to be a good, good weekend for me. But it seemed like it overshadowed everything that did go good that weekend just in those last 10 laps."

It was a long 10 laps for Hamlin. So long, he'd rather not think about it.

"I forgot it was last year. I thought it was 10 years ago," he said jokingly. "It definitely replays in your mind for sure. There's obviously nothing we could've done. It wasn't like I second-guessed something that I did and I could've changed something to prevent us from not winning that race.

"It's just one of those things that bad luck strikes, but the good part about it is, knowing that we're going back to the same track hopefully with the same weather conditions and we'll have a car that is just as strong."

Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford will stick to the same formula for Saturday's nationally televised Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400.

However, Hamlin had more than a tactical or strategical advantage last year. The former Chesterfield resident was handed a superb piece of machinery that hummed and handled almost effortlessly around RIR.

Admittedly, there was a feeling of invincibility. His oft-maligned pit crew had done its job, too.

"We just kept getting our car a little better and everyone just kind of maintained and halfway through the race you're like, 'I don't know, maybe, but guys are going to get their cars better at the end.' " Hamlin said. "Then, with 50 laps to go, 30 laps to go we come out on the last pit stop and the car was the best that it had ever been.

"At this point I'm starting to think about what I'm going to feel like when I get out of the race car. What are my emotions going to be? What am I going to say? And those things run through your head while you are out there on the race track."

Then, in an instant, Hamlin's thoughts turned from a victory speech to condemnation of a right front tire that betrayed him on his favorite stage.

"It doesn't take but that split instant in that corner when you feel the right front fall down that it goes from joy to beating the steering wheel off," said Hamlin, fifth in points this season. "I knew air was coming out of the right front tire and at that point I was just praying for anything -- maybe a caution or something. I knew that our race was over right at that point even if a caution had come out.

"The guys behind me weren't going to pit and we were going to lose the race anyway. It was just frustrating. You can't describe the emotion. It's just one of those points in a driver's career where he says that this is the race that this track owes me."

So far, this has been a busy week for Hamlin as he prepares for his seventh Cup start at RIR.

Yesterday he appeared at a ribbon-cutting celebration for a car wash he purchased in Midlothian, where he signed autographs for a long line of fans. Tonight, he'll compete in a Late Model exhibition with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Busch, Sprint Cup rookie Joey Logano and former teammate Tony Stewart.

"My racing roots are in Virginia, where I grew up as a car enthusiast, so opening a car wash is a great fit," said Hamlin. "Plus, it creates jobs for the community now and hopefully more in the future with expansion."

Contact Ralph N. Paulk at (804) 852-78951 or .