Carl Edwards finally has his shot at redemption. Will Denny Hamlin get his as well?
In 2011, Edwards was in the heart of the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship battle through the end of the finale. He entered the race three points ahead of Tony Stewart and led the most laps in the final race. But Stewart held him off in the end, and the one-two finish left them tied in the points. Edwards lost the title on a tiebreaker.
Now, he gets a chance to fight for the title once more, this year against Jimmie Johnson and two as yet undecided contenders. Edwards locked into the championship race with his win in Texas on Sunday night. He’ll know the full slate of his competition after Sunday’s race at Phoenix, the final elimination race of the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
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Hamlin, meanwhile, must wait another week to see if he’ll have a similar shot. Hamlin led the points entering the season finale in 2010, but after a somewhat painful to watch news conference in which Kevin Harvick showed his proficiency at getting inside a competitor’s head, Hamlin crashed early in the finale. While he recovered in the race, he settled for being the series runnerup. He was the first driver to lose the points lead in the finale, finishing second to Jimmie Johnson by 39 points.
Denny Hamlin at Homestead in 2010. (Getty)
Each has been a perennial contender for the Cup title. Both finished third in the standings in their rookie season and have been a runnerup at least once. Neither, though, has managed to win the championship.
Edwards has seven top-10 season finishes overall, including runnerup in 2008 and 2011, third in 2005, fourth in 2010 and fifth last year. Hamlin has eight top-10 season finishes, including the runnerup in 2010, third in 2006 and 2014 and fifth in 2009.
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Edwards has fond memories of the 2011 showdown, despite finishing as runnerup to Stewart, who will retire from Cup racing after Homestead this year.
“I was really hoping he'd be there and I could beat him, we'd be even,” Edwards said. “That was truly the neatest thing I've been involved with in motorsport. That was so much fun. You talk about buildup and focus, being able to execute. That weekend, that race, had a lot of pride in the way we dealt with that and raced.
“I felt like ever since that checkered flag fell, man, I just wanted that opportunity again. Now we get it. It took a couple years. But I'm ready. That was a lot of fun.”
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Things are a little different for Edwards now. He moved from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2015 season. And this year, he’s been part of a Toyota foursome that has been tough to match week to week. Yet, as of now, he’s the only Toyota and Gibbs driver locked into the final four.
Hamlin, meanwhile, has seen a mixture of confidence and concern throughout this Chase. He’s bemoaned his bad luck, looping in past seasons as he wondered why nothing seemed to go his way in these playoff races. Then he’d rally and seem thrilled that his luck had turned. And then the pendulum swung once more.
Now he’s looking to lock in at Phoenix — and found inspiration in Edwards doing just that at Texas.
“Phoenix was a good track for us in the spring,” Hamlin said. “I look to go back there and have another great run and go out there and try to win. That’s what we’re going to do. We saw (Carl) win right there with a great run (Sunday) and got in.”
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Now he’ll try to match that feat next weekend. Hamlin said after Texas that whenever he faced an elimination race, he and his team found a way to get into the field.
“It’s a pressure race and I like pressure,” he said.
He has a chance to face the ultimate pressure — a one-race showdown with the title on the line.
Edwards is certainly embracing it. He knows what lies ahead and was already thinking about what it would take to win it all in the moments after his win at Texas.
He’s ready for Homestead — and his shot at putting 2011 firmly in his past.
“It's so much fun,” he said. “Just the idea of getting to race for a championship, getting that opportunity. It's not just going there like we did in 2011 to race against one guy in championship form, we're going to go there and race against three guys, one of which is a six time champion, top of his game. I know whoever else in there is going to be tough as nails.
“I mean, it's cool. If we're able to win that, stand here 14 days from now with that championship trophy, we're going to have earned it. That's as good as it gets.”