NASCAR Driver Denny Hamlin: Virginia Native Gone NASCAR Superstar

Denny Hamlin was born November 18, 1980. Growing up only 21 miles (less than half an hour) from NASCAR's Famed Richmond International Raceway, the Chesterfield, Virginia native was caught by the racing bug at the young age of 7. His go-kart career started with amazing success. Denny entered the Junior Sportsman competition and won the first event he raced.

His family, recognizing his talent and envisioning his future success, sunk everything they could to support the young Hamlin's racing career. They believed in Denny's ability to the point they almost went into financial ruin trying to support him.

With limited participation in 3 karting classes, Denny claimed 5 championships, and 127 feature wins. He was named Mini Stock Rookie of the Year at Southside and Langley (VA) in 1997 and was the youngest driver at Langley to claim at Mini stock title at only 16.

He backed up his Mini Stock title with a Late Model Stock Rookie of the Year at Southside, and then set his sights on NASCAR's ranks of series glory.

Between the ages of 21-22 (2002) he won his first NASCAR races 10 in all, and claimed 15 poles at South Hampton Virginia's SMS (South Hampton Motor Speedway).

In 2003, with 25 wins and 30 poles, Denny Hamlin stole the season's top honor obtaining the Southern National Speedway Track Championship.

All told he collected nearly 50 wins from 2002-2004 in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. These prestigious accomplishments caught the eyes of many, and ultimately lead to Hamlin's premier into the top 3 series of NASCAR.

In 2004 The (then) Craftsman Truck Series was caught off guard, as Hamlin posted a top 10 finish in his very first start at IRP. But, Hamlin didn't stop there. He made his Nationwide Series (then Busch Series) debut that same year running only one race (Darlington) and finishing 8^th.

In 2005 Hamlin finished 5^th in the "Busch" (now Nationwide) Series points and ran seven Cup series events. Between the two series, Hamlin logged 14 top ten finished and earned his first Cup series pole at Phoenix.

2006 marked Hamlin's first full Season in NASCAR's premiere Series. He was the first the "rookie" to win the Budweiser Shoot out, and the first since the start of the chase format to make the Chase to the Cup. Hamlin swept both races at Pocono from the pole position in 2006, and he was named Raybestos Rookie of the Year finishing 3^rd in over all series points standings.

Hamlin spent the following 2 seasons claiming a win at Loudon, New Hampshire and Martinsville, Virginia. He also made the Chase for the Cup in both 2007 and 2008 finishing 12^th and 8^th respectively.

In May of 2008 He opened the Denny Hamlin Foundation, a charity organization supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Victory Junction Gang Camp, The NASCAR Foundation, and the Children's Hospital in Richmond, VA. To mark the opening of this charity Denny headed back to his own beginning, and held the DENNY HAMLIN 175 at Southside Speedway to raise funding and awareness.

In 2009 Denny Hamlin Hopes to make his 4^th consecutive Chase for the Cup, in his Fed-Ex sponsored #11 car for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Resources:

http://www.dennyhamlin.com/

http://www.nascar.com/

http://nascar.about.com/od/nextelcupdrivers/p/dhamlin.htm

http://www.dennyhamlinfoundation.org/index.php