Hamlin moves past painful finish

Denny Hamlin's surgically repaired left knee might ache a little today as he tries to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

That's nothing compared with the anguish he felt for a few months after finishing runner-up in the Sprint Cup title race last season.

"You've just got to move past it," Hamlin said Thursday. "There's nothing we can do about it."

Hamlin, 30, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing basketball last year. He didn't miss a race despite having surgery a month after NASCAR's Las Vegas stop but now admits he might have rushed his rehabilitation.

Hamlin won a series-best eight times but was overtaken by Jimmie Johnson in the last race, losing the title by a mere 39 points.

Finishing second has not typically been a precursor for improvement.

Over the past 12 years, most runners-up in the final standings have not fared well the next season. Only Bobby Labonte (2000) and Tony Stewart (2002) pulled off the shift from second to first.

"When I finished second in 1999, I remember sitting at the banquet when Dale Jarrett won. Man, oh man, I just wanted to be up there where he was," Labonte said. "Lately, it's been pretty tough to move up that one spot because Jimmie Johnson has won five in a row."

Stewart said he and Labonte had it easier in winning their championships because they predated the 10-race Chase playoff format, adopted in 2004.

Since the inception of the Chase, three runners-up have fallen out of the top 10 the next year. The best follow-up season was by Matt Kenseth, who was second in 2006 and fell to fourth in 2007.

"It's a lot tougher with the Chase when it only takes one bad race to knock you out of contention," Stewart said.

Hamlin enters today's 3:30 p.m. qualifying session 14th in points after finishing 21st at Daytona and 11th at Phoenix.

"It's so hard to keep pace in this sport," Hamlin said. "It's hard to move to the top, especially in our sport when there's only one winner each week and you have 43 cars continually trying to get better than you. It has to do with everyone catching up so quickly."

On Thursday, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was one of several Cup regulars participating in special practice sessions for Saturday's Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300.

Hamlin, fifth fastest in the second session, doesn't often race in the Nationwide Series. He competed in four Nationwide races last year and finished second at Las Vegas.

The practices allowed drivers to adjust to the new style of Nationwide car, which is racing at Las Vegas for the first time.

The Cup cars have also undergone many changes for Sunday's race, and Hamlin would have liked some extra time with his primary No. 11 Toyota.

"Every time we've come out here the past few years we've had big changes to deal with," he said.

His best finish in five Las Vegas Cup races was a third-place performance in 2007.

But the biggest change Hamlin wants to make this year is to move up one spot in the final standings.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.