Denny Hamlin Conquers His Own Emotional Roller Coaster

How many times have we heard that “NASCAR drivers wear their emotions on their sleeves?”

Well, today of all days it was more than evident as Denny Hamlin rode his own emotional roller coaster while taking the win at Pocono Speedway.

Hamlin was able to pull away from a hard charge at the end by second-place finisher Juan Montoya, while breaking a 50-race winless streak in the process.

Montoya, who just a week earlier experienced his own type of emotional roller coaster as he was caught speeding down pit lane—which in the end cost him the second win of his Sprint cup career, could only watch as Hamlin pulled away, erasing any chance of him finally getting that elusive second win.

Montoya, knowing that getting into the chase is the key to having any chance of winning his first Sprint cup championship, had this to say: “I know we can win the freaking’ race, but if it means wrecking the car, it’s not gonna happen.”

It’s also no big secret that the HMS cars have been the strongest all season, but today the highest finisher was Mark Martin at seventh place.

Hamlin, who had the best car on the track today, acknowledged just how closely JGR is to competing with them.

“I feel like we’ve been the closest car to the Hendricks. I feel like we’re the best car other than the Hendrick cars.”

But the day belonged to Hamlin as he took his first lead of the day on lap 24, and from there on he fought back the death of his grandma to keep the fire burning to win his seventh career Sprint cup victory.

Pocono is a track that Hamlin has taken a liking to, and it once again showed while winning his third race here.

“I’m not really sure. I’ve got a good feel for it. I think once you win here once you just get a feel for the car and you feel for what it takes to win.”

There were a lot of stories that transpired from a track that is known for its not-so-exciting style of racing.

Now, whether you believe that there are angels looking down on our sport or not, after listening to what Hamlin said after the race, it’s easy to see that maybe they do come down from the heavens every once in a while to touch the lives of our drivers.

“We come close in a lot of races this year and came up short. Definitely had some angels with us today.”

So, just how fitting was this emotional win for a driver who has shown a lot of maturity in the past couple of years?

I think this statement alone says it all: “I’m just thinking of my mom right now."