Post by dalejrfan on Nov 6, 2005 23:34:48 GMT -5
Hamlin tabbed to drive Gibbs' No. 11 Chevy
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Denny Hamlin will drive the No. 11 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2006 Nextel Cup Series, the team announced Sunday morning at Texas Motor Speedway.
"This is a great opportunity," said Hamlin, 24, who was racing Late Model cars in the NASCAR Weekly Series just a year ago. "I've taken to the Cup cars really quick. From the moment I had my first test in a Cup car, I was comfortable, and when it came time to race, the comfort level stayed with me."
The numbers certainly back up Hamlin's assertion. In his first four Nextel Cup Series starts this year, Hamlin had two top-10 finishes -- an eighth-place finish at Charlotte and an eighth-place run at Martinsville.
Hamling finished seventh in the Dickies 500 on Sunday.
Hamlin will finish the 2005 season in the car and will keep rookie of the year eligibility for next year.
"It's only been four races, but I feel like I have a really good rapport with the team," he said. "It's nice to know I'll be able to finish the season with them so that we'll have even more time to work toward next year."
Team president J. D. Gibbs said it didn't take long for him to realize that Hamlin was the man for the job.
"After he helped prepare our race cars for our Late Model diversity team and we saw his talent and passion, we knew we had to take a chance on Denny," Gibbs said. "It was one of the best decisions we've made."
It's been a trying year for the No. 11 bunch. They started the year with Jason Leffler behind the wheel and garnered no finishes better than 20th in 19 starts. The team also failed to make the show at the prestigious Coca-Cola 600.
Jimmy Makar, a Cup championship crew chief with Bobby Labonte in 2000, who now is senior vice president for JGR, doesn't expect those types of things to happen with Hamlin behind the wheel.
"Each step he's taken to get to this point, he's excelled," Makar said. "Last year we put him in a few Craftsman Truck Series races and he always seemed to qualify and finish in or near the top 10.
"In his Busch debut, it was more of the same. He's run very well this year in his first full season of Busch, and if it weren't for some bad luck here and there, he'd probably have a win or two.
"We'd be holding Denny back if we didn't give him this opportunity."
Hamlin is currently fifth in the Busch Series standings. He'll run the full NBS schedule and the full Nextel Cup schedule next season. He said he's keenly aware of the challenges that presents, and the pressures it puts on him -- both on and off the racetrack.
"It definitely will take its toll and it's going to take a lot of effort on my part to do all the right things on and off the racetrack -- spend as much time relaxing as I can instead of running around crazy.
"It's a very important year for me, in Busch and Cup," he added. "And I'm going to treat them with equal effort. It's gonna be a year for me to show what I can do.''
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Denny Hamlin will drive the No. 11 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2006 Nextel Cup Series, the team announced Sunday morning at Texas Motor Speedway.
"This is a great opportunity," said Hamlin, 24, who was racing Late Model cars in the NASCAR Weekly Series just a year ago. "I've taken to the Cup cars really quick. From the moment I had my first test in a Cup car, I was comfortable, and when it came time to race, the comfort level stayed with me."
The numbers certainly back up Hamlin's assertion. In his first four Nextel Cup Series starts this year, Hamlin had two top-10 finishes -- an eighth-place finish at Charlotte and an eighth-place run at Martinsville.
Hamling finished seventh in the Dickies 500 on Sunday.
Hamlin will finish the 2005 season in the car and will keep rookie of the year eligibility for next year.
"It's only been four races, but I feel like I have a really good rapport with the team," he said. "It's nice to know I'll be able to finish the season with them so that we'll have even more time to work toward next year."
Team president J. D. Gibbs said it didn't take long for him to realize that Hamlin was the man for the job.
"After he helped prepare our race cars for our Late Model diversity team and we saw his talent and passion, we knew we had to take a chance on Denny," Gibbs said. "It was one of the best decisions we've made."
It's been a trying year for the No. 11 bunch. They started the year with Jason Leffler behind the wheel and garnered no finishes better than 20th in 19 starts. The team also failed to make the show at the prestigious Coca-Cola 600.
Jimmy Makar, a Cup championship crew chief with Bobby Labonte in 2000, who now is senior vice president for JGR, doesn't expect those types of things to happen with Hamlin behind the wheel.
"Each step he's taken to get to this point, he's excelled," Makar said. "Last year we put him in a few Craftsman Truck Series races and he always seemed to qualify and finish in or near the top 10.
"In his Busch debut, it was more of the same. He's run very well this year in his first full season of Busch, and if it weren't for some bad luck here and there, he'd probably have a win or two.
"We'd be holding Denny back if we didn't give him this opportunity."
Hamlin is currently fifth in the Busch Series standings. He'll run the full NBS schedule and the full Nextel Cup schedule next season. He said he's keenly aware of the challenges that presents, and the pressures it puts on him -- both on and off the racetrack.
"It definitely will take its toll and it's going to take a lot of effort on my part to do all the right things on and off the racetrack -- spend as much time relaxing as I can instead of running around crazy.
"It's a very important year for me, in Busch and Cup," he added. "And I'm going to treat them with equal effort. It's gonna be a year for me to show what I can do.''