Bad luck streak won't last forever for Hamlin

It's been a frustrating 2008 campaign for Denny Hamlin, but any dramatic changes would be premature. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Denny Hamlin must have had a feeling of déjà vu Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, except what was happening was all too real and it wasn't good.

Leading on a green-white-checkered, Hamlin stomped the accelerator -- but the FedEx Toyota didn't go. Jeff Burton led an express train that streaked past Hamlin in the final two laps, a little more than a mile of racing. He ended up sixth.

Virtually the same thing had happened to Hamlin in the spring race at Bristol last season. He'd led 177 laps, including the previous 68, coming up to a restart with 16 remaining in the scheduled 500. Hamlin's car didn't respond at the green and Kyle Busch drove around him and won the first Car of Tomorrow race. A green-white-checkered finish only made things worse for Hamlin, who faded to 14th.

The culprit in both races was likely the failure of the fuel system. Was it coincidence or a problem on the banking inherent to Bristol in how the system functions? That's for crew chief Mike Ford to figure out. All Hamlin knows is it didn't go when it needed to.

"Another really frustrating day for us," Hamlin said. "I know I could have held those guys off there at the end, but we were either out of fuel or it was a fuel pickup problem like we had here last year. By all of our calculations, we were good on fuel to the end -- including a green-white-checkered -- but we just couldn't seem to pick it all up.

"It's been that kind of season for us, we can't get a break. It's really too bad because we had a great car. We led a bunch of laps and then had to battle all the way back to have a shot at the end. Once we got it, we just couldn't finish it off."

Hamlin was leading when he was caught up in the wreck started when Paul Menard ran into Dario Franchitti just past halfway. The No. 11's right-rear fender was bashed in and Hamlin had to make two stops to have it twisted away from the tire. He stayed on the lead lap and restarted from the back.

The twisted sheet metal didn't seem to slow Hamlin, who darted in and out until he finally passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart on the outside for the lead with four to go. Next, Kevin Harvick got under Stewart, put him in the wall to necessitate the overtime period in which Hamlin was a sitting duck.

Five races into Sprint Cup '08 and, like Hamlin said, it's been that kind of season.

He had a promising start with a victory in the Duel 150 at Daytona, and led five times for 32 laps. It looked like the 27-year-old driver from Chesterfield, Va., would be a contender at the end, but contact with Bobby Labonte leaving the pits ruined the handling. Hamlin later had more contact on the track and finished 17th.

At California, the weepers got him. On a track that shouldn't have been raced upon, ground water from three days of steady rain seeped up and Hamlin ran over it in Turn 3, turning him into the wall early in the race. He finished 41st.

Hamlin didn't have any bad luck at Las Vegas, just a bad car early that put him down a lap. The No. 11 eventually got better, getting back on the lead lap before finishing ninth. At Atlanta, the power steering failed and Hamlin was 15th, a lap down.

Hamlin has made the Chase and won races in his first two Cup seasons, establishing himself as one of NASCAR's emerging stars. He and the No. 11 team have high expectations, justifiably, which have gone unmet during the start of the 2008 season. The good news is they're 15th in the points -- one good race from cracking the top 12 -- and Cup has 31 races remaining. Hamlin has been plenty competitive and this string of misfortunes can't continue indefinitely. There is no need to panic or change what they're doing. Hamlin and the No. 11 will get to the Chase.

Penske adds Sebring to victory portfolio

Roger Penske was inducted into the Sebring Sports Car Racing Hall of Fame on Friday for his accomplishments 40 years ago. The Captain made a substantial addition to his hefty portfolio in Saturday's 56th running of the 12 Hour race by winning overall for the first time.

Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyder, driven by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard, ran 351 laps on the bump 3.7-mile course to win by over 62 seconds over Dyson Racing's Porsche RS Spyder driven by Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Andy Lally.

Penske and Dyson compete in the LMP2 class which, with 475 horsepower, have 275 less than the LMP1 Audis and Peugeot's. LMP2 cars also are 250 pounds lighter than LMP2.

Audi had won Sebring overall for the past eight seasons. Peugeot had entered for the first time. Their diesel-powered duel never materialized. The Peugeot had hydraulic and wheel bearing problems. The No. 1 Audi had a turbo malfunction and damage to its undertray when Mike Rockenfeller went off course, and the No. 2 Audi had early contact and went 25 laps down.

The No. 1 Audi, driven by Rinaldo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, finished third overall.

Penske became the first car owner to win the Daytona 500, Sebring and the Indianapolis 500.

"This is a great win for Porsche Motorsport and Penske Racing," team president Tim Cindric said. "To win the Daytona 500 and the 12 Hours of Sebring within four weeks is a tremendous accomplishment for our entire organization. This is the toughest road race of the year and we had not won it on our previous two attempts, so this victory is extra special."

Penske had previous class victories three times as a driver and once as an owner, in 1968 in the Trans-Am. The team was third overall. Penske also served as team manager in 1965, the year before he started Penske Racing, for Jim Hall's Chaparral team that won overall.

"It was 50 years ago we first came down here," Penske said at the induction ceremony. "I was [a student] at Lehigh and it was spring break and we had nothing to do."

Penske's organization competed in sports cars into the mid-1970s before switching to IndyCars and NASCAR. He returned to sports cars with Porsche three years ago.

"I didn't realize how much fun you can have going road racing," Penske said. "There's lots of racing and lots of thinking. Sebring is a special place because people don't realize what it takes to win. It's a tough track on equipment, it takes durability from the car, takes driver patience, takes good strategy and some luck."