Hamlin exceeds all expectations
By BEN VOLIN

West Palm Beach, Fla.

Less than an hour after he finished third at the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, dozens of fans and autograph seekers mobbed Denny Hamlin behind pit row. One fan had Hamlin autograph his biceps. Another shouted, “My wife loves you!” as three women grabbed the driver for a picture.

Hamlin didn’t mind the attention.

“It’s not bad,” he deadpanned before being led away by race officials. “It’s a lot better than hanging your head and not being noticed by anyone.”

Hamlin, a relative unknown entering the 2006 season, completed the best rookie season in NASCAR history. He finished the Chase for the Championship in third place — 68 points behind winner Jimmie Johnson — and was the first rookie to make the top 10 in the three-year history of the Chase.

His third-place finish in points also was tops for a rookie, besting Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart’s fourthplace finish in 1999.

He won close to $4.5 million this year — a nice payout for someone who spent eight years moving up through NASCAR’s lower divisions.

“This is a huge deal — huge not just for Denny, but for the guys on the team that went through all those hard times,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “Next year, we’re gonna expect a lot more out of him.”

A few hundred yards away in the media center, Hamlin knew exactly what his boss was thinking.

“I told J.D., ‘Don’t be expecting this every single year,’ ” Hamlin said.