Denny Hamlin: Winning the battle, but losing the war?

Today, we experienced another chapter in sports history where a crippled up or sick athlete gutted his way to victory. Did you see Denny Hamlin before today’s Busch Series race? He looked like a real rock star, ahem, the way they look the morning after the show. He looked horrible. What it is about being in that shape that elevates the game of professional athletes is truly a curious thing.
It brought back memories of a Michael Jordan performance that NBA star-turned Busch car owner- turned announcer Brad Daugherty would be happy to forget: His Airness poured in an super-human 69 points for the Chicago Bulls while beating Daugherty’s Cleveland Cavaliers while battling the flu. As a Broncos football fan, I remember QB Craig Morton checking out of the hospital to engineer a playoff win over the hated Oakland Raiders, after which he promptly checked back in as a was suffering from….pneumonia. Pistol Pete Maravich once scored 68 for the (then) New Orleans Jazz on the same day he thought he had suffered a heart attack. It turned out to be a chest strain fom lifting weights. Long time sports fans will remember Willis Reed limping onto the court and leading the New York Knicks to victory over the Lakers, or then there’s gimpy Kirk Gibson hitting a game winning bomb for the Dodgers over the Oakland A’s. The guy had to hit a home run because he literally didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Hamlin’s performance wasn’t a squeaker either. He pretty well had the same control over matters that Clint Bowyer did in the Cup race last week, or that Jimmie Johnson has had on far too many occasions lately. He rocked today! However- he sure looked like death warmed over afterwards. The poor man could hardly get out of the car.
The question now is whether or not DH can pull it together tomorrow. The flu can pass quickly, but it sure whips the life out of you while you have it. Frankly, if it were me, I would have let future teammate Kyle Busch take the wheel and the risk today.
I still think it employs questionable judgment for a Cup driver to keep driving the Busch series while in the Chase. Too many things can go wrong- especially when you have impatient rookies around creating havoc. I understand the love for racing and the desire to be out there. I also understand Martin Truex wanting to be out there when he’s close to home and NASCAR allowing the better known Cup drivers out there to fill the seats. In Hamlin’s case, I’d just want to be as well prepared for the race that really matters by getting healthier. I seriously doubt he’ll be a heck of a lot better tomorrow.
This Chase is wide open right now. When you look at the seperation between 1-12, there’s not much. Denny has a real shot at winning a title in his 2nd season. That’s a great achievement. I wouldn’t want to risk it on a race of small consequence like the Busch race.
Yet- he won- so what do I know?
OTHER RANDOM NOTES
It sure looks like control of the car is a real issue on the “Monster Mile.” If I were a Chase driver, I’d want to know where David Ragan and Juan Pablo Montoya were at all times, and run as far away from them as I could. Qualifying yesterday was pretty wild, and it was caution city out there today.
Nice to see Sterling Marlin on the track again
I was bummed to see Tony Raines and Brent Sherman go down early today. These guys have uncertain futures and today’s wrecks did not help them in gaining an opportunity to audition for other teams.
By the way, though I am no fan of Robby Gordon, I DO NOT think he ran Tony Raines off intentionally. I appreciate that Gordon took the fall for it. I think Raines’ spotter who stirred up this mess should pay half the fine.
Let’s keep watchin’.This baby’s far from over.