Waving the Checkers: Hamlin, Vickers are for real

The final regular-season race of the year delivered Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers exactly what they both deserved.

Hamlin has been outstanding at Richmond International Speedway in his Sprint Cup series career, always contending, often even dominating. But never had he won a Sprint Cup Series race at his home track. That all changed Saturday night in convincing fashion, with Hamlin cruising to his third win of the season and leading 299 of the 400 laps.

Unlike athletes in other sports, drivers seldom get to experience a home-court advantage. When they do, it typically surrounds an event at a track in their home state, or a track they raced at early in their career. I had such an experience racing twice each year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

To put winning this race in perspective, Hamlin referenced the Daytona 500, saying, “I know how special that race is to everyone, but this one in particular, to me, especially after all the heartbreak … it’s by far the biggest win of my career and hopefully goes a long way for this race team over the next 10 weeks.”

This win, I believe, does have a positive influence for Hamlin’s chances in the Chase.

Jimmie Johnson won this Richmond race the last two years and, of course, went on to clinch his second and third titles. Hamlin’s chance of winning a title is enhanced by the fact he not only has momentum going into New Hampshire next week, but he is also a former winner there. In fact, he is simply one of the sport’s very best on this type of track, one with a similarity to Richmond in terms of the discipline required to compete there.

Hamlin understands and performs on flat tracks and short tracks with near perfection. Based on what we have seen from his team in the last two months, I consider Hamlin a favorite at New Hampshire and a legitimate threat to Johnson to win the title.

Vickers is another driver who emerged as a contender as the season rolled on. Saturday night, the 83 team qualified for the Chase following Vickers’ best career performance at Richmond.

At least three things needed to happen for Vickers to make the playoffs.

First, he needed Matt Kenseth to falter. He needed to keep Kyle Busch within sight and within striking distance late in the race. And perhaps most obvious, he clearly needed to improve on his 27th-place average at the short track.

All three happened, as Vickers continued his amazing second-half surge with another solid race, finishing seventh, securing a playoff spot.

No team or driver has been better on average than Vickers and Co. over the past eight races.

Dismissing them as too small a company, not experienced enough, or simply inferior to the conglomerates, Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, has been a mistake.

Vickers has to be considered the underdog in the Chase – he is basically going it alone because his teammate Scott Speed is arguably too early in his career to offer any measure of support. But that has not prevented the 83 team from performing among the best on all types of tracks week after week.

It would be a mistake for the other 11 teams in the playoff to underestimate Vickers and his team. Richmond served as a great example that poor past performance means little when a team comes together the way this one has.