Saturday, March 30th 'What If' Question

The Sprint Cup Series championship picture is constantly changing. Teams go from contenders to pretenders and vice versa. There are drivers who get hot at the right time and charge into the Chase.

Perhaps rarely though, if ever before, had a championship picture changed so dramatically than five races into the season. But when Denny Hamlin crashed on the final lap in the final corner of the Auto Club Speedway two weeks ago, that’s exactly what happened. The crash, involving new foe / old teammate Joey Logano, resulted in Hamlin suffering a compression fracture to the L1 vertebra in his back.

The diagnosis puts Hamlin out of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota for a minimum of five weeks. Taking him out of Chase contention, at least temporarily. Mark Martin will sub for Hamlin at Martinsville and Brian Vickers will be the driver starting at Texas. Hamlin was sitting 10th in points leaving California and will now start to slide backwards with ever race he misses.

Except, it’s not impossible for Hamlin to make the Chase when he returns. The most important thing will be for him to win and try to get himself in the top 20 in points. From there, thanks in part to NASCAR’s new wildcard rule in which drivers who are outside the top 10 in points but have a win, Hamlin could get a Chase spot.

The good news is that some of Hamlin’s best tracks will be ahead of him when he returns. Thus making it difficult, but not impossible for him to make the 2013 Chase for the Championship, something he’s done every season since he’s been in the NSCS.

It will be a few weeks though, before any of that can be set in motion. In the meantime, Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the points as teammate Jimmie Johnson looks for another Martinsville win. Danica Patrick is struggling early in her Rookie season and Tony Stewart made it clear, again, that he’s not a fan of blocking.

But …

What if Denny Hamlin comes back from his injury and makes a charge into the Chase, will he be the story of the year? 

@HD388 without question if @dennyhamlin makes the Chase after coming back from injury it is the story of the year. I think the only story bigger than Hamlin coming back to make the Chase would be if Junior wins the title

@WilliamCheerboy No because it'll be impossible

@JoJo_6040 Depends on who might win the championship. He'd definitely be one if not the biggest stories & probably for years to come

Monday, December 12th 'What If' Question

It'll be known as one of the worst championship hangovers in recent NASCAR memory.

Denny Hamlin won eight races in 2010 and came one race short of winning his first championship and dethroning Jimmie Johnson. Except it wasn't meant to be as Hamlin finished second and vowed to capitalize on missed chances heading into the 2011 season, feeling his team was in perfection position to get better and stronger.

It couldn't have been more of the opposite has Hamlin struggled in 2011. He only won one race and dominated the headlines for reasons like blown engines, bad races and making the Chase thanks to NASCAR's new wildcard format. The domination that he had unleashed in 2010 when appearing champion-like seemed nothing but a mirage this past season.

Confusion seemed to be the biggest theme. Confusion on why they were running so badly when they had great equipment. Confusion as to why they were catching all the bad breaks while teammate Kyle Busch was winning races and challenging for the point lead. And confusion as to why things were suddenly no longer gelling with the only team and crew chief that Hamlin had ever known since he entered the series in 2006.

Just days after the Sprint Cup Series awards banquet in Las Vegas crew chief Mike Ford was released by Joe Gibbs Racing. There would be no repeating 2011, not even a chance to get things right. Changes were being made and someone had to go. When the No. 11 FedEx team rolls into Daytona 2012 it will be with Darian Grubb atop the pit box, the man Hamlin watched lead Tony Stewart to his third Sprint Cup Series championship.

Hamlin and company were one of the many surprises in 2011, one that wasn't expected to happen. The way they performed in 2010 would have indicated they would have been more determined to come back this year ready to fight for the title again. Instead they experienced anything and everything that could have gone wrong. Ford's release was another surprise, considering the strong relationship that he and Hamlin are said to have, as well as the support they showed each other through the good and bad times.

Yet, in a sport where it's all about winning decisions have to made. The Virginia native wants to see a Sprint Cup trophy on his mantle in the very near future, not a sports psychologist. It'll only happen if he and Grubb have instant chemistry and don't have the 2012 season end up being a rebuilding year.

But ...

What if Denny Hamlin had won the 2010 title, followed by his 2011 struggles, would crew chief Mike Ford still have been released? #NASCAR

@Talon64 I'd say yes. Especially in a sport where the 2011 champ's CC was told he'd be gone at least 2 months prior to end of season!

@cruetten not at all, but he would've only been given 2012 to redeem himself.

@TrackDiva141811 No he wouldn't have because Denny and team would have had a totally different attitude. :)

@31SpazCat15 I think the change is 1 that Denny wanted last year regardless of what he has said..Im not opposed to change, change is good

Sunday, July 24th 'What If' Question

Oh, it just won't die. It's one thing when non-NASCAR fans start spewing about how it's not a sport and NASCAR drivers aren't athlete but it's entirely another thing when adults and other athletes make that statement.

The argument, are NASCAR drivers athletes, just won't go away. It's never going to either. But the discussion has gotten quite heated the last few weeks after Seattle Seahawks player Golden Tate tweeted during the ESPY's "Jimmy Johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo .. Driving a car does not show athleticism." His tweet came after seeing the nominates for Best Male Athlete, which Johnson did not end up winning.

In addition to Tate's spelling of "Jimmie" it was clear that he knew very little if not nothing about the sport and its drivers. He was quickly pounced on by drivers, fans and media about his opinion. After tweeting a few more ignorant comments, Tate reversed course and not only apologized but said he did research and felt he had a better understanding of the sport.

It didn't stop the comments from the NASCAR world though. Johnson has invited Tate to a race and a ride along, saying he wants to show him what drivers do. Tate acknowledged he'd like to do that. Then Denny Hamlin stepped up with an offer that many are not only intrigued by but eager to see happen. Hamlin tweeted, "I would like to challenge @showtimeTate at any neutral sport. Basketball, tennis, golf, baseball, hockey. Best of 3 wins. Lets go."

Tate has not yet acknowledged that tweet or responded to Hamlin's challenge. Everyone has since started to move on from the incident after Tate appeared on Sirius NASCAR radio to talk about his comments and Johnson and others talked to the NASCAR media about it last weekend in New Hampshire.

But ...

What if Golden Tate took up Denny Hamlin's best of 3 challenge in basketball, tennis, golf, baseball or hockey, better athlete is..? #NASCAR

@Debbie_Str8Away He would still have splinters from sitting on the bench LOL

@Lady31RCR I think Denny wins the what if question FOSHO!!

@4xLeft Tate played football and baseball at ND. @dennyhamlin would probably take golf, but I'd put my money on Tate in baseball and basketball. Don't know about tennis or hockey.

Mark Eckhart (via Facebook) well isn't Denny a pretty good basketball player, so he'd probably win that if chosen, and he's probably been golfing quite a bit as a racer so I'd take Denny

Monday, April 25th 'What If' Question

If the fastest car won each week there wouldn't be much drama, excitement or even much competition in NASCAR. It would be a runaway with the fans having a pretty good idea who was going to take home the trophy maybe before the race even started.

The fastest car doesn't always win though and it helps set up some of the most intense racing on any given weekend. In May of 2008 the fastest car at the Richmond International Raceway was Denny Hamlin who spanked the field and led 381 of 400 laps. The problem for Hamlin was that when the pay window opened and the laps wound down he wouldn't be around for the finish.

On lap 383 Hamlin lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. as his right-front tire started to go down. Eventually the tire went down and Hamlin would stop on the track to bring out the caution. He would be penalized by NASCAR for doing so and set up a six lap fight to the finish for Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

With three laps to go Earnhardt Jr. was sideways and into the turn three wall off the front bumper of Busch who from that day forward would become public enemy No. 1 to Junior Nation. Meanwhile, Clint Boywer would go on to win as Busch fought off Mark Martin for second.

The win was second of Bowyer's career and the first of the 2008 season. For Earnhardt Jr., he was three laps away from taking home his first win in 71 races. It wasn't meant to be as Earnhardt Jr. would have to wait until a month later to snap a 76 winless streak at Michigan.

But ...

What If @DennyHamlin hadn't stopped & brought out caution in 2008, would Dale Jr. have won or would KyBusch have caught & beat him #NASCAR
@18Winning: Dale Jr would of won and saved Kyle and Junior both a lot of grief, but if Clint didn't win, would be as successful today?

@Tmac2824: NOOO!

@88myjr: I was so pissed! DH was being a baby again bc he had a flat. Jr wld have won that race!

Monday, April 4th 'What If' Question

When Kevin Harvick won on Sunday beating the favorite son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., he did so without having to go through the Martinsville masters of Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. Entering the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 the two had won the past nine races at the speedway going all the way back to 2006 when Tony Stewart was the last driver not named Hamlin or Johnson to capture the checkered flag.

Sunday though started out like a typical Martinsville race. Both quickly found their ways to the front and led laps. Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's team held serve on pit road during many of the early stops and he began to rack up the laps led. After Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, asserted himself as the one to beat both Hamlin and Johnson seemed content to run in the top five as the laps wound down.

That was until the final pit stops of the day shook up and changed the outcome of the race. When the leaders hit pit road Hamlin lost positions and was dropped from win contention. Johnson was caught speeding and had to restart at the tail end of the longest line, also dropping out of win contention. It left Busch, Harvick, Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth at the front and in prime position.

Hamlin came home with a 12th place finish and Johnson finished 11th. Not what the NASCAR world is used to seeing from two drivers who usually settle who takes the Grandfather clock home between them.

But ...

What if @JimmieJohnson doesn't get a speeding penalty & restarts 2nd next to Busch, how different does the race end yesterday? #NASCAR

@Talon64: Dale Jr. restarts 4th and probably loses spots. Harvick takes lead like Dale Jr. did and doesn't look back. JJ 3rd.

@ladybug388: It probably would end the same with Kevin winning as he was coming no matter what. Though he would've finished top 3 #NASCAR

Andy Marquis (via Facebook) The Closer still wins!

Matt Wenzel (via Facebook) I agree with Andy.

Monday, December 20th 'What If' Question

With 15 laps to go at the Phoenix International Raceway in mid November, Denny Hamlin was "sitting pretty."

He had just racked up the 10 bonus points for not only leading a lap but the most laps and was running second behind Carl Edwards. His Chase competitors, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson were well behind him and just about out of the championship hunt thanks to Hamlin making sure they hadn't led a lap all day.

All he had to do was get to the checkered flag and he would be 60 points or more ahead of the two drivers heading into the season finale in Homestead-Miami. His first ever Sprint Cup Series championship was in his grasp, he could see it, taste it and feel it.

Then it was gone.

With 12 laps to go Hamlin was called down pit road by crew chief Mike Ford. Not wanting to gamble on fuel mileage and risk losing the championship lead, the 11 team pitted and went from potentially finishing second to finishing 12th ... well behind Harvick and Johnson.

The point lead going to Homestead was down to 15 points.

At Homestead Johnson went out and cruised, he started sixth and ran in the top five all day long to capture his fifth straight title. Hamlin's day was a complete nightmare. He started 37th, spun out and damaged his splitter and was never able to keep ahead of Johnson for a long run. He wound up finishing 14th and lost the championship by 39 points.

But ...

What if Denny Hamlin finished second at Phoenix instead of 12th and losing those points. Would he still have lost the championship?

@jerracing7 No. I think he would of won the championship

@WilliamCheerboy No, Clint Bowyer would of won it all.

@ronsracing88 I think Jimmie & Chad still would of found away to win.

@NASCARJeannie NO... he would have saved face and won the Championship. lol

@cruetten JJ and Knaus are the masters of the chase. They would've still won anyway; Denny Hamlin just made it a little easier for them

@ARosser14 His chances would've been better, he likely wouldn't have gotten into a situation where he got spun.

@StrokerAce90 Of course Denny would've still lost the championship. #Nascar's own Magic Johnson would've just pulled out more golden horseshoe power, which in turn would've resulted in Denny doin some "more" big smack talkin, then wrecking due to his own bad created karma.

Thursday, November 18th 'What If' Question

This is it.

One race. One trophy. Three drivers. The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship that began 10 weeks ago in New Hampshire has reached south Florida where 267 laps around the Homestead-Miami Speedway will determine NASCAR's next champion. Denny Hamlin has a 15-point lead over Jimmie Johnson and a 46-point lead over Kevin Harvick.

Will Hamlin complete a magical year that saw him go through knee surgery but win eight races and deliver his first championship? Will Johnson make a comeback and do what has never been done before and win five straight championships? Or will Harvick pull off an unbelievable charge and win his first championship for Richard Childress Racing?

The fans have been anxiously waiting for a week. They've heard all the press conferences filled with smack-talking. They've watched qualifying and practices and started their predictions of who they believe is going to be celebrating at the end of the day. Now they have to sit, watch and wait.

But ...

What If #NASCAR put the championship in your hands, crowning the champ from results on Sunday and a fan vote. Who would you vote for & why?

@mwoodruff8829 I would vote for Harvick all the way He was a great successor to Dale Sr. He has that Intimidating style he had!

@cruetten my vote is for Harvick. I don't care how long he has been in that car, it will forever be Earnhardt Sr's car. #NASCAR

@Talon64 Tough between Hamlin and Harvick, but I'd go with Hamlin. I'm a JGR guy and I'd like to see Toyota get first Cup. #NASCAR

@TJIngerson Harvick..Rooted for him since Day 1 in Cup..Earnhardt fans will burn the stands down if he wins, storybook ending

@StrokerAce90I vote JJ. He endured so much unnecessary grief & crap from the 11 team & their fans over a #Nascar allowed pit crew swap.

@victoria_29 easy I'd vote for the person that actually won the championship @KevinHarvick

@NancyatStudioN I'd vote for Harvick He was pts leader b4 chase & would be leading if no chase. Plus, I like him the best.

@racecrazy denny-because im tired of vanilla ice cream and I hate Harvick

@ladybug8848 Johnson as he has shown he can drive up front and hasn't backed down from his previous years

@MisanAkuya Kevin Harvick be big for Richard Childress racing 1st title outside of Earnhardt yet in the car he used to drive

Wednesday, November 10th 'What If' Question

According to some NASCAR fans and media, there will be no topping what happened at the Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday night. There were fights, fingers and words flown toward NASCAR, a pit crew swap in the middle of the event, a new points leader and an exciting race to the finish.

Denny Hamlin made it clear that when there were three races left in the Chase for the Championship he was going to put his No. 11 FedEx Toyota in high gear. The first stop was Texas where he won earlier this year just a week removed from knee surgery. Sunday he would need to again come from the back of the field and do his best to keep Jimmie Johnson in his rear view mirror if he wanted to close the point gap.

Mission accomplished and much more.

Hamlin started 30th and spent the night tuning on his machine and making sure he didn't panic. Call it experience from past Chase years. Soon, he was the one to beat and was running away from the field with 10 laps remaining as Johnson tried to hang onto a top 10 finish.

With seven laps remaining the dreaded caution came out and Hamlin would have to fight one more time. During the green-white-checkered finish Matt Kenseth got a great restart and drove past Hamlin coming off turn two. Kenseth got back in the throttle too quick and slide up the track which allowed Hamlin to get back around and get to the checkered flag first. For Hamlin it was his eighth win of the 2010 season and second in the Chase. More importantly, he's also the new point leader with two races to go.

But ...

What if Matt Kenseth didn't get loose off turn two on last lap ... who gets to the checkered flag: him or does Hamlin run him down?

@lydiascats Denny'd still win.

@Matt_Kacar kenseth because he was on the outside and the car on outside always gets the run on the backstretch

@cruetten I think @dennyhamlin would've still passed him for the win

@RoushGirl17 Kenseth! I was watching the times and he was catching him before the caution. I think he could have out run him.

@StrokerAce90 I would say Matt Kenseth would have won, he had the speed in the end. It's too bad he got loose.

@nascarjaj i think denny would have won, because he had more than enough momentum to at least get inside of matt

@dhammis @dennyhamlin runs him down for sure. He had a strong car, esp after that last pit stop.

Monday, October 18th "What If" Question

Over the last few weeks drivers have been giving the highlight reels something to feast on when saying that NASCAR was purposely throwing debris cautions that were costing them the race. Clint Bowyer was the latest to do at California when he was pulling away in the closing laps before the caution came out, which led to Tony Stewart getting the victory.

NASCAR fans know this is nothing new, as Denny Hamlin and a few others stated the same thing numerous times earlier this season. Hamlin was the most vocal and was later fine for other comments he made about what was taking place in NASCAR.

Saturday night in Charlotte it was his teammate Kyle Busch that was hot under the collar. Busch dominate the Bank of America 500 and was well in control as the race wound down. That was until once again the caution came out for what Busch said was no reason. Jamie McMurray shot past Busch on the restart and won the race, Busch finished second.

Afterwards Busch said that it was the second night in a row that the best car didn't win. He had also dominating the Nationwide Series race on Friday before losing in the end to Brad Keselowski. Busch said there was no words to describe the disappointment of continuing to come up short at Charlotte in the Sprint Cup Series.

But ...

What if the last caution did not come out Saturday? Would Kyle Busch have held off hard charging Jamie McMurray & Jimmie Johnson?

@mbauerherzog No, I think JMac would have won it either way. Kyle would have still held off JJ though.

@shanbedd I say maybe 18 would still have won, clean air yes, he would have won!

@chrisjohnson022 No he would not have won

@nascar_oz I think he could have

@Ks29Fan probably not...

@Ol_Man_Winter No way. Jamie was catching him 4 10ths a lap before last restart. Awesome seeing Jamie Mac beat restart king on a restart tho

@dhammis Nope. Jmac had the faster car during the last run. #NASCAR

@WilliamCheerboy This would happen: Danica Patrick comes out of the stands, hi-jack Mark Martins car & drive to front to win the race!