let's talk about hamlin

[willracefan]

i have tried to avoid this topic because hamlin is a driver i am neutral to, but now i have to ask.......

is he really the one that should dethrone jj? and will he? yes i have heard all about the knee surgery and the fact that he has won three races not healthy. and people are saying wait until he is healthy because then he will be even better. how much better can he be than he currently is? is the difference between a healthy knee and a unhealthy knee that much different when he still has one healthy knee left? there's a thing called overconfidence and thats what i think hamlin is possessing. the guy had arthroscopic knee surgery in the first place, i think there's too much of a big deal being made here. we'll see i guess, but i don't think two healthy knees in the chase is going to mean trouble for everyone else. i really think a lot of drivers will be on to this and want to go after him, thus allowing jj to win the title again.

the only thing this is doing is filling other drivers heads about thinking hamlin is going to leave everyone in the dust. there are a couple drivers out there that are not afraid of hamlin. the media needs to be careful because they are overrating hamlin like they did kyle busch in 08. i expect people like harvick and kenseth(dover is a track where kenseth can re-pick up the early-season steam) to see jj as their threat for the title, not hamlin. if hamlin reads too much into what the media is saying and believes his own hype, he will fail.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Hamlin is on a good team, he is a smart driver, and he has matured a little. Like his teammate Kyle Busch, he always had talent, but didn't always race smart.

Are either one of them ready to win a championship? Yes...why not? JJ's reign has to end at some point, and it seems ever since the wing was taken off the COT, the spoiler has been Jimmie's Kryptonite....

I think either Hamlin, Busch, or Gordon will win the championship this year. The rest are just not consistent enough...

[harvick#1]

add Burton and Harvick to your list Mark, RCR seems to have had a major turnaround since going back to 3 teams, they got their chassis right and they have been very good.

Kyle will implode as usual, its just gonna happen when the chase begins.

Montoya has been really fast and hes making a hard charge to get into the top 12, and we saw last year and this year, hes able to compete on all the different styles of tracks.

I believe this is the year Johnson's luck is ending, and if hes not careful, he can drop out of the top 12, remember that happened to Gordon a few years ago when he went from the point lead to missing the chase.

its still too early to tell whos gonna make it or not, there still 15 races left and alot can happen in those races.

Hamlin seems to be very strong right now, but everyone has strings of runs, but its the races you struggle is where you have to shine

[wedge]

Hamlin needs a bit more consistency, IMO.

Whether anyone will usurp JJ then its got to happen the Chase when hopefully someone will steal JJ's mojo.

[Iceman778]

hope so....lets see

[slorydn1]

i have tried to avoid this topic because hamlin is a driver i am neutral to, but now i have to ask.......

is he really the one that should dethrone jj? and will he?

"Should he" is not really for us to say. Hopefully somebody (I almost typed ANYBODY) will take him down a peg or to and Hambone may just be that somebody.

That said, everyone seems to be skipping over Harvick. He only has a 110 point lead over second place right now; although some have pointed out (and correctly so) that it doesn't mean a thing once the BS chase starts. However, as of right now he would be tied for P3 with several other drivers and only be 20 points behind Unibrow and Hambone.

Heck, he may mess up and win a few more races between now and Richmond (I have Daytona, Harvickland, Watkins Glen, Bristol and Richmond circled on my calender as definite possiblities-and for the younger crowd who doesn't know, Harvickland is Chicagoland.)

I think for the first time in years, we have a very interesting summer stretch in front of us :up:

[Iceman778]

yes i also enjoyed alot this summer

[patnicholls]

Right now Hamlin (and Kyle) do look strong, but there are fifteen more races pre-Chase.

Harvick looks very solid everywhere, Gordon and Burton have had pretty rotten runs of luck but are still in the mix, Montoya has hopefully got all his bad luck out of the way early and should make the chase, Kurt Busch is also there or thereabouts. How about McMurray too? - I know big fast tracks are traditionally his speciality and we've had a bunch of them recently, but he looks on the pace. At the minute there's plenty of guys taking it to Jimmie.

Conversely the Stewart-Haas and Roush squads seem slightly off the pace (how IS Carl Edwards in the Chase at the minute?), although they've got time to get it back.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I think RCR is the best alternative to Jeff Gordon and JJ in the Chev camp, and I do like Harvick as a threat to win.

I think if JJ pulls this championship out of the fire, he truly will have to stand on his head in the final half of the season. The reality is, Hamlin, Harvick and Gordon are my picks to win, and I don't discount the possiblity of Shrubbie, his brother or Burton being a factor either....

This is the toughest championship in racing to win any more...and this may be a very tough year...

[Iceman778]

good keep it up

[JimClarkFan]

This could be a classic year. I agree the top three right now are Hamlin, Harvick and Gordon want the championship really, really bad. Probably Hamlin and Harvick as they've never been this close. Even though JJ is struggling right now, his team always seems to turn it around when it matters. Going to be interesting. (BTW - the COT car sure looks a lot better without those stupid wings...Not that the COT ever is going to be a good looking car.)