HAMLIN’S TRACK
Denny Hamlin is no longer perfect at Pocono, but he’s still a threat to win on the 2½-mile triangle track.

Hamlin took both poles and swept the races last season, then followed that up with a second-place start here in June. Hamlin finished sixth in a rain-shortened race won by Jeff Gordon and qualified sixth for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500.

Hamlin, second in the Nextel Cup points standings, has one victory this season (New Hampshire) and believes he’d have at least one more had rain not caused the June race to be red flagged after 106 laps of the scheduled 200.

“We definitely would have won,” he said. “I feel like we had the best car. I feel like one kind of slipped away from us in June when they shortened it because of rain.”

Hamlin could have become only the third driver to win three consecutive races at Pocono.

When he was a rookie here last season, Hamlin credited playing video games with helping him learn the track. This year, he’s put down the joystick and simply relied on his own wildly successful experiences.

“I have kind of gotten used to the track enough where I feel like I am a lot more comfortable when I go out here for the first few laps than I was in the past,” he said.

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