Hamlin enjoys time on Busch circuit

The Nextel Cup race winner faces a stamina test this weekend.
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
MILWAUKEE -- He's definitely Denny now, not J.J. or Jason.
Perhaps that's the biggest benefit to winning a NASCAR Nextel Cup race for rookie Denny Hamlin; he's no longer confused for a teammate and a predecessor at Joe Gibbs Racing.
But it's not only at the top level of stock-car racing where the 25-year-old Virginian has established his identity.
A full-time double-duty driver, Hamlin is enjoying a breakout second season in the Busch Series, as well. And success in one garage seems to bubble over into the other.
"I do love running that Busch car," Hamlin said, flashing a broad smile. "It's a lot of fun when you're competitive, top five every week. If I was running like I was last year, I'd say forget it, I'll just run Cup. But I think it does help me quite a bit."
This weekend will provide a particularly tricky test of stamina and logistics as the two series run separately, Nextel Cup today, Saturday and Sunday on the road course in Sonoma, Calif., and the Busch Series on Saturday night at the Milwaukee Mile.
Ready to race
Yet as Hamlin has shown all year, he expects to show that he's up to the challenge.
"When we had the races [at the same track] we had to run from one to the other, and you really don't have enough time to debrief with your crew chief like you should be able to," he said. "I like these events where we're kind of stand-alone."
Elevated from the late-model ranks last year, Hamlin finished fifth in points in the Busch Series, scoring a top finish of third place in Loudon, N.H. He also finished sixth three times, including Milwaukee.
Then Hamlin got behind the wheel of Gibbs' No. 11 Cup car and really turned heads. The team struggled with Jason Leffler, but Hamlin drove the final seven races, winning a pole and finishing three of them among the top 10.
The pole put Hamlin in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, which he won. Then Hamlin collected his first points-paying victory this month in Long Pond, Pa. At ninth in the standings, Hamlin ranks three spots behind one teammate, defending champion Tony Stewart, and 18 ahead of his other, fellow rookie J.J. Yeley.
Busch success
Meanwhile, Hamlin also has won two Busch races, at Mexico City and Darlington, and ranks third in points behind Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
"Denny has as much confidence in his Rockwell Automation Busch team as he has in his Cup team," said Dave Rogers, his Busch crew chief. "And just that confidence in believing he's getting good race cars every week boosts his talent on the racetrack.
Certainly Hamlin will have his work cut out for him this weekend.
Gibbs won a Busch road race in Mexico City, but Sonoma will be his Cup road-racing debut. He also will have to deal with his longest commute of the season.
On Saturday, the first time he'll sit in his Busch car is just before the command to start engines. Hamlin will have to come through the field from the rear because it will have been qualified by Craftsman Truck Series regular Aric Almirola.
"Yeah, it'll take him a couple of laps to bring the car up to speed," Rogers said, "but two, three laps under his belt and he'll be off and rolling."
As long as Hamlin continues to fare well, he and Rogers expect that he'll handle the strains of double duty, both physical and mental. Where trouble might come, they fear, is if Hamlin begins to struggle.
"I knew coming into this racing season that there are going to be weeks that we absolutely run like junk," he said. "Knock on wood, that hasn't happened yet.
"If we can just get on that roll that Stewart and those guys got on last year at this time. ... He started knocking down top-10 after top-10 and our team is hitting that stride that they had last year."
That's a sure-fire way to be recognized in either series.