Denny Hamlin 2010 Preview, Predictions & Odds

With the NASCAR season underway, we are providing season previews for the top 30 drivers to give you the betting edge. Follow the best NASCAR Handicappers as they analyze their drivers in this 2010 season preview. Use our comprehensive and insider info to bet successfully on NASCAR in our recommend sportsbooks. View the rest of our 2010 NASCAR Season Previews here.

Denny Hamlin 2009 Stats

Denny Hamlin 2009 Recap & Review

Perhaps more than any other driver’s, Denny Hamlin’s 2009 season epitomized the highs and lows of racing at the Cup level. His four wins, including two in the Chase, were a career best but were offset by three DNFs in the final seven races that knocked him out of title contention. No track better illustrated his roller coaster season than Pocono, considered the driver’s best on the circuit. In June, a mechanical failure left him 38th, capping off a slump that witnessed only four top lOs in the first 14 races and left him a precarious 12th in points. Two months later, he returned to Pocono to cap a hot streak of five top 5s in the next seven events with his first win of the season. The emotional victory – coming just days after the passing of his grandmother – injected the No. 11 team with confidence. He followed up with another win at Richmond in September in front of the native Virginian’s hometown crowd, a race he described as one he “wanted above all the others” and one that propelled him into the Chase with considerable momentum.

Starting the postseason fourth in points, Hamlin took second in the first Chase race at Loudon, moving him into a virtual tie for second in the standings with Jimmie Johnson. A clash with Juan Pablo Montoya at Fontana, followed by engine-related DNFs at Charlotte and Talladega, dropped him to 11th with three races to go. Despite the disappointing turn of events, Hamlin showed true tenacity as the season drew to a close, finishing second, third and first in the final three races to jump to a fifth-place ranking overall.

Denny Hamlin 2010 Preview & Prediction

Momentum can be a fleeting thing in the world of sports — especially in NASCAR, where finishes and fates are determined by thousandths of an inch. Some drivers are firm believers in the concept, while others remain skeptical about its merits. For both groups, the 2010 season of Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team could prove to be an interesting case study.

No driver carries more momentum into the upcoming NASCAR season than Hamlin — not even Jimmie Johnson, the reigning four-time Cup champion. Hamlin outscored Johnson over the final five races of the ’09 season, notching two wins and an average finish of 9.0 compared to one win and a 10.4 average finish for Johnson. Though it could be argued the two had different agendas — Denny went for broke after falling out of title contention while Jimmie tried to protect his lead — the No. 11 team’s season-ending performance helped bolster Hamlin’s sometimes-shaky confidence.

The strong finish cemented a behind-the-wheel maturation that should continue this season, his sixth with Joe Gibbs Racing as a full-time Cup competitor. Once under the tutelage of JGR superstar Tony Stewart, Hamlin, who turns 30 this year, remains the senior driver at the organization with younger teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.

But while his team, crew chief and primary sponsors are not expected to change, there could still be distractions facing Hamlin this season. His contract is said to expire at the end of the year, which will undoubtedly lead to some degree of speculation about future plans — although we fully expect him to follow teammate Busch’s lead and sign an extension. Meanwhile, much of the buzz surrounding Hamlin in the latter half of 2009 regarded an ongoing feud with driver Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide Series. The bad blood between them could potentially intensify this year as Keselowski moves to Cup full-time.

There’s also consistency to be concerned about. Though Hamlin’s four wins in 2009 were a career high in a single Cup season, a surprising number of wrecks and mechanical failures popped up, too. He finished ’09 with a career-high half-dozen finishes of 34th or worse to go along with four DNFs — one short of the five he accumulated in his first three years combined.

To compete for a championship this year, Hamlin has to get a better handle on both those mental and mechanical errors. Meanwhile, Hamlin underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee in mid-December to help with chronic pain and stiffness due to what he described as “tears” in the joint. After rehabbing the knee during the offseason, he is expected to be ready to race come Speedweeks.

But the biggest key will be maintaining momentum from that end-of-season rally. Just ask Carl Edwards how tricky it is to keep the confidence high from November to February: Winning three of the last four races of ’08 led to a winless, 11th-place points finish in ’09. Can Hamlin buck the trend?

Denny Hamlin 2010 Predictions

We predict that Denny Hamlin will finish 2nd in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Denny Hamlin Betting & Odds

Denny Hamlin NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds: +1200

Denny Hamlin Betting Trends & Situations

• after finishing worse than 15th, average finish is 14.8
• when racing in February, average finish is 21.7

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