Before Saturday night, Denny Hamlin had just one top-10 all season. He was stuck at 17th in the points and hadn't so much as sniffed the lead at any point late in a race.
Then Richmond happened. It started with Hamlin winning his charity race at the track on Thursday night. Then he won the Nationwide series race on Friday night.
By the time the Cup race started on Saturday night, Hamlin was brimming with confidence.
Sure enough, he had driven his No. 11 FedEx Toyota from an 11th-place starting position into the lead by lap 74. Hamlin ran in the top five all race long, eventually finishing a strong second to teammate Kyle Busch, who has won the last three spring Richmond events.
Hamlin didn't gain any positions in the standings, but he picked up a good chunk of points for his runner-up finish. Perhaps more importantly, he can use the confidence gained on Saturday night as a springboard for continued success going forward.
There is plenty of time for Hamlin to move into the Chase zone, and he can do it either by consistent finishes to move into the top 10 or by winning a few races to enter the Chase as a wild card. Hamlin is fully capable of making the Chase by either method, and his strong Richmond performance indicates that his team is far from done this season.
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