Know Your Driver: Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin

Name: Denny Hamlin

            Nickname: "The Deliverminator"

Date of Birth: November 18, 1980 (age 34)

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia (born in Tampa, Florida)

Family: N/A

First Career Start: October 9, 2005 (Kansas)

Car Number and Make: #11 Toyota Camry

Primary Sponsors:

• FedEx Express
• FedEx Freight
• FedEx Ground
• FedEx Office
• Sport Clips

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing

           

Teammates: Kyle Busch, Erik Jones (interim), Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth

Best Career Points Finish: 2nd (2010)

Career Victories: 25

Notable Wins:

•  2010 Southern 500
•  2012 Irwin Tools Night Race

Description: A relative unknown at the beginning of his career in Sprint Cup, Hamlin has been a perennial winner since his rookie season and a championship contender if everything goes well for him.

Yes, Hamlin was able to land an XFinity Series ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005 and piloted his car to a fifth place finish in the points during his one full season in that series. But without a win, it seemed as though he wasn't quite ready for the big time. Apparently, Coach Gibbs saw it differently than most and proved himself right when he stuck Hamlin in a full-time Sprint Cup ride in 2006.

Hamlin won the first race of his rookie season (although it was a non-points race), the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. He would score two wins in his rookie season, sweeping the races at Pocono, a track that most deem extremely tough for drivers with little experience at the track. Hamlin would also make the Chase in his rookie year, becoming the only rookie to make the Chase (an honor that still stands).

Hamlin's best season though, came in 2010, when he won a career best eight races in one season. He led the points for the majority of the Chase, trying to keep Jimmie Johnson from winning his fifth consecutive championship. But everything started to come apart in the penultimate race of the season at Phoenix, where a late pit strategy call backfired and allowed Johnson to significantly close the gap in points going into the final race.

In the championship race, Hamlin suffered an early spin and was never able to make up enough ground to defeat Johnson. Hamlin was also able to get a sniff of the title in 2014, making the championship race, but finished seventh while Kevin Harvick went on to win the title.

Regardless, Hamlin appears to be able to continue putting himself in championship contention with the talent he's shown for the last ten seasons.

Fun Facts: Not so fun for Hamlin, but it is interesting to note the injury struggles Hamlin has dealt with in the last five years. In 2010, he tore his ACL in a pickup basketball game, but was able to continue driving, even winning a race at Texas just days after surgery. He also suffered a broken vertebrae in his back at Fontana in 2013 after a wreck with Joey Logano and had to miss the same Fontana race in 2014 when a piece of metal was lodged in his eye. Finally, and most recently, Hamlin was only able to compete in 22 laps at Bristol this season before being subbed out with neck spasms.