Jan
25
Denny Hamlin Success Surprises Even Joe Gibbs
January 25, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
It’d be hard to find anyone that successfully predicted that Denny Hamlin’s rookie year would have been successful as it was, not just making the Chase but finishing third in the championship standings, but it’s pretty funny to read that even Joe Gibbs was shocked at his success:
“That really made no sense,'’ Gibbs said of Hamlin’s rookie year. “Honestly, every single thing he’s touched — Denny just seems to have a gift and nobody would have guessed that. We put him in the FedEx car because we decided we were going to put him in just to see what he looked like, and for him to do what he did — I was blown away.'’
You definitely get some points for honesty, Joe, but admitting that his success was crazy and that you just threw him out there to see what happened, expecting very little, well, that’s kind of a backhanded compliment, no?
Comments
2 Comments so far
talent…. or I suppose “gift”… either way the kid came from the bottom and without a doubt earned his accomplishments. his humble beginnings and the struggles his family went through to help him along are nothing but amazing. i wish him all the success in the future and hope his sophmore year is just as good or better than his rookie year… future champ??
I did pick him to slide back a bit this year and not make the Chase, but it was pretty refreshing to see him handle success so well last year.
Definitely rooting for him in the long run, as he’s got a great story and seems like a great guy.