Michigan led to an angry Hamlin lashing out publicly on his team—not the best move, but you can’t say it didn’t get results. The last two races Hamlin has finished third.

I, for one, have had a hard time determining my view on Hamlin.  At midseason he looked like the underdog of Gibbs racing, worthy of support. Then he just fizzled—he wasn’t dreadful or good, I described him as lackluster. He didn’t fight for a top-five position, certainly that has changed, thus I can’t help but look at him as that underdog once again.

Last weekend Hamlin started at 21st, but quickly moved into the top ten by Lap 31. Hamlin took advantage of the restart after the early yellow flag on Lap 68 to move up to third. Hamlin’s team was strong on pit stops and he lost very little track position throughout the race.

Hamlin was in a solid third for the last half of the race. Nonetheless, he simply didn’t have the horsepower to challenge Biffle. The many cautions helped Hamlin stay close to Biffle, but the longer they were green, the faster Biffle slipped away.

With one race to go sitting 11th in the standing isn’t comfortable, but if Hamlin continues to bring the energy of his last two runs to the next race, he should coast into the Chase. Once in the Chase, it will be interesting to see if Hamlin goes for it or settles back into third-driver mood.

Ranked 10^th – Jeff Gordon (#24)

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