Potomac News Blogs

Hamlin, not Earnhardt, had the bigger disappointment
Brian Hunsicker
May 05, 2008

A lot of people got raw deals at Richmond on Saturday night; only a handful benefited: Clint Bowyer, first of all, for unexpectedly winning. Kyle Busch, secondly, for taking the points lead from Jeff Burton.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a win taken from him, certainly, and he said as much afterward, the an-ger and disappointment easy to see. So did Denny Hamlin, who led a track-record 381 laps before succumbing to a cut tire.

For all that Earnhardt had to endure, Hamlin had the greater disappointment.

Earnhardt’s winless streak is now better than two years; and at one of the tracks where he’s been most successful, he had his best chance to win.

That didn’t happen, largely because of Busch’s aggressiveness. We can’t know whether Busch would have passed him eventually; but at that point, Earnhardt was able to rebuff each of Busch’s passing attempts inside. And there were only three laps left, so time was running short for Busch.

I still firmly believe a win is coming, and soon, for Earnhardt. If you look at the first graf I wrote for today’s paper, I made reference to teams and drivers putting themselves in a position to win.

Earnhardt has done that often enough this season. Eventually it’s going to pay off; it has to, if for no other reason than sheer odds. One of these times, he’ll have the best car and he won’t get wrecked.

As the season goes on, Earnhardt will get his win somewhere.

That’s why the disappointment would seem to be more overwhelming for Hamlin. There are only two races at his home track each year; for literally 95 percent of the race, he was the driver to beat.

On Friday, Hamlin had said that winning the pole at Richmond was equal to a race win some-where else. So you can imagine what a race win at Richmond would have meant.

Before his tire went south, he had proven himself dominant. Even when the occasional yellow bunched up the field, Hamlin was able to pull away, building leads of multiple seconds. Yet it was all undone in the final 20 laps, when Hamlin’s car become nearly undriveable.

So there’s another person who won’t be sending love notes to Goodyear.

He’ll only have one more chance to win at Richmond this year. But his performance should make him a favorite for the fall race; he’ll also get the benefit of a less aggressive race, when only a few drivers enter the race with a chance of making the Chase. In order to preserve their points, the race usually seems to be a bit tamer.

No matter what Hamlin may say, it’s hard to see him simply brushing off this loss.

(Photos by Dan Currier [Earnhardt] and James Wallace/Media General News Service)

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