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Guest Column by Cathy Elliott

Small things can get a person’s attention in a big way.

This point was driven home to me while watching pre-race coverage from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville in last month. Denny Hamlin was being interviewed, and at the bottom of the TV screen was a simple graphic that read, “Denny Hamlin, 29.”

Obviously, this was not a reference to Hamlin’s car number. At that moment, I realized that Denny Hamlin is 29 years old. This year marks his fifth season of full-time competition in the Cup Series. He is an experienced race car driver, with nine Cup wins to his credit. If those Gillette “Young Guns” ads have a cutoff age, he’s probably getting close to it.

So why do I always think of him as a kid?

Maybe it’s his appearance. Fresh-faced and clean-cut, if you take him out of a firesuit and deck him out in khakis and an oxford shirt, he could easily pass for a college student.

Maybe it’s the fact that in the past, Hamlin has been quick to visibly lose his temper, with both his on-track rivals and in-the-pits crew members.

Maybe it’s because he brashly announced last year that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy was basically his to lose. (That remark raised a few eyebrows, but Jimmie Johnson didn’t seem to pay it much attention.)

Maybe it’s because he says things like “I’d like to thank my hot date” when giving speeches at high profile events like the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup awards ceremony.

Or maybe it’s just because I’ve fallen victim to something parents have experienced for centuries — namely, a steadfast refusal to accept the fact that their kids have grown up.

A great example of this is Jeff Gordon. Legions of former Dale Earnhardt, Sr. fans still scowl when they see that No. 24 Chevy blazing down a long straightaway at any racetrack in America. To them, he will always be the “Wonderboy,” the upstart kid who took The Intimidator to task so many times on the track, earning his fair share of victories along the way.

Just to put things into perspective, that “kid” is fast approaching his twentieth season of Cup competition and will celebrate his 39th birthday this year.

Or how about Earnhardt’s own son and namesake, who grew up before our very eyes? “Little E” is now a Daytona 500 champion with well over 300 career Cup starts, and his 36th birthday is coming up in October. That isn’t quite middle age, but it’s getting uncomfortably close.

Before I completely alienate myself by pointing out any more of the most popular drivers in NASCAR who are “maturing,” let’s get back to Denny Hamlin.

After moving up through the racing ranks by competing in go-karts, Grand Stocks, Late Model Stocks, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Hamlin made a strong showing in his first full season of Cup Series racing in 2006, winning two races and Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. He finished third in the driver standings that year. In fact, since the day he climbed into a Cup car full-time, Hamlin has made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup each year.

Aggressive and not given to much holding back on the track, he has forced the other drivers to take him seriously. And this year, he has demonstrated that force of will in another way, by running the first six races with a torn ACL in his knee. Those hurt — just ask any professional basketball or football player if you don’t believe it — and a driver’s knees take a pretty good beating during a Cup race.

But Hamlin toughed it out, and then made a strong statement by winning the race at Martinsville on Monday before having arthroscopic surgery to repair the knee on Wednesday.

He has also stated he plans to be ready for the next race, in Phoenix on April 10.

Perhaps the key to success in racing, as in life, is to embrace all those experiences, the bad along with the good, that teach us how to improve our position a few points at a time while never letting go of the youthful energy and enthusiasm that got us where we are in the first place.

The time has come to stop taking these talented young drivers we have watched for years now — including Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers along with Hamlin — literally at their unlined face value, and thinking of them as boys.

Because they definitely drive like men.

The opinions expressed in this articles are solely those of the author and not this website.

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1 14 39 Ryan Newman Tornados Chevrolet
2 10 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
3 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
4 23 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
5 7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
6 27 17 Matt Kenseth No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford
7 9 99 Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford
8 17 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
9 25 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
10 6 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
11 4 47 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford / Bush’s Baked Beans Toyota
12 5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet
13 24 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
14 33 7 Robby Gordon Blake Shelton / Warner Music Nashville Toyota
15 1 43 A J Allmendinger Valvoline Ford
16 22 12 Brad Keselowski Abyss Dodge
17 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
18 3 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge
19 29 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
20 39 00 David Reutimann Best Western Toyota
21 2 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota
22 30 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
23 11 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet
24 13 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet
25 15 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
26 28 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
27 40 71 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet
28 35 90 Scott Riggs Keyed-Up Motorsports Chevrolet
29 32 98 Paul Menard Moen / Menards Ford
30 26 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office / March of Dimes Toyota
31 38 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Ford
32 36 37 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford
33 42 38 Kevin Conway # Extenze Ford
34 43 46 Terry Cook # Whitney Motorsports Dodge
35 19 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge
36 41 34 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver’s Ford
37 21 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
38 18 87 Joe Nemechek Petsmart / 21st Century Toyota
39 20 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford
40 34 13 Max Papis GEICO Toyota
41 37 35 Johnny Sauter Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
42 31 55 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota
43 12 66 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota

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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(April 10, 2010)

AVONDALE, Ariz.—It was a game of numbers—two and four.

Capitalizing on a late caution that extended Saturday’s Subway Fresh Fit 600 three laps past its scheduled distance of 375 laps, Ryan Newman and crew chief Tony Gibson snatched victory from Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch with a two-tire call under the final caution.

Both Busch and Johnson took four tires on Lap 373, under caution for Scott Riggs’ blown tire in Turn 4 one lap earlier. Gordon, who took two tires and left pit road with the lead, spun his tires on the decisive restart on Lap 377, allowing Newman to surge into the top spot.

After two circuits under green at the flat one-mile track, Newman crossed the finish line .130 seconds ahead of Gordon to win his 14th NASCAR Sprint Cup race and his first since the 2008 Daytona 500—a 77-race drought.

Johnson charged from seventh to third during the green-white-checkered-flag finish. Mark Martin, also on two tires for the final restart, ran fourth, one position ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano completed the top 10.

Johnson extended his lead in the series standings to 36 points over Kenseth in second and to 96 over third-place Greg Biffle, who finished 22nd Saturday.

“I’ve got to throw Gibson under the bus—he wanted to go four, and I said, ‘Just give me two,’ Newman said. “I liked the track position. I’d rather block than have to boot. I was in a good position there, obviously.

“I had restarted on the bottom side earlier tonight and could not get going. On two tires, I was kind of impressed—but there were a lot of cars behind us with two tires. It was a good situation to be in. It was just the right time, right place.”

Busch and Johnson had dominated the two long green-flag runs that preceded the two-lap dash to the finish. In fact, Busch, who tied Johnson for most laps led with 113, stayed out front from the time he passed Johnson on Lap 262 until Riggs’ accident 110 laps later.

“I can’t freaking believe this,” Busch lamented on the radio to crew chief Dave Rogers when the ninth and final yellow flag flew. “What do you want to do?”

Busch and Rogers opted for four tires. Johnson made the same call for his No. 48 team.

“I was excited to see the caution come out, because it was an opportunity to win,” Johnson said. “I decided—I made the call for four tires. It’s the first time that I can remember in a long time that I actually said what I wanted for a pit stop, with the way Martinsville played out and Bristol and last night’s (Nationwide) race (where four-tire calls proved successful). I knew with the green-white checkered there weren’t a lot of laps, but I felt we might get a caution with everybody racing so hard.

“So I made the call for four and made the most of it. We got from seventh to third and just did what we could. So, not a bad night at all. Excited to see us stretch out the points a little bit and get another top-five finish here.”

Racing for the first time since March 31 surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, Denny Hamlin completed the race in 30th place, two laps down.

Asked after the race if he was in pain, Hamlin replied, “More than I can tell you. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do any damage or anything like that, but I’m absolutely exhausted right now.”

Hamlin had Casey Mears standing by as a relief driver, but opted not to use him.

“I got a lot of encouragement from the team,” said Hamlin, who fell three spots to 18th in the standings. “Through thick and thin, we’re a team. I feel like they’d give their left leg for me and do everything they could do to make sure we were successful, and I felt like it was my duty and my job and that’s what I’m hired to do, is to try to do the best I can and keep this team as good as we can.”

Notes: Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th and held on to 10th in the Cup standings. … A one-lap penalty for pitting outside his box dropped Jeff Burton to 25th at the finish. … Polesitter AJ Allmendinger came home 15th. … Kyle Busch, Logano and Edwards supplanted Paul Menard (29th Saturday), Kurt Busch (35th) and Brian Vickers (37th) in the top 12. … Newman improved six positions to 16th in points.