Hamlin, Ford finally feel ready to take next step

DOVER, Del. -- As amazing as it sounds, despite being in his fourth consecutive Chase, Denny Hamlin says it's only now that he and crew chief Mike Ford are truly on the same page.

"We've been steadily progressing and performance-wise, at the end of the day this is probably the strongest we've been," Ford said Friday after qualifying. "Denny's got more confidence in things and understands what he needs better, so I would say 'yes' from that aspect.

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Denny Hamlin discusses the team's improvements and his frustration with tire testing.

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"But the team has been strong from the beginning -- it just takes time to evolve, to get to championship contention. It's putting in the time and growing together and having a total team understanding -- not just crew chief and driver."

The past 13 weeks of the season are stark proof that Hamlin, who finished third in the championship in his rookie season, and his team truly have arrived. In that time he, Ford and their No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team have ripped off two wins, eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10s along with eight top-10 starting positions.

That moved Hamlin from 12th -- the last position in the Chase -- to the fourth seed as the Chase opened. He's now third after a hard-fought second in the Chase opener at New Hampshire, and it's positioning Hamlin for a career year as the sixth annual Chase hits its second of 10 rounds in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

"Yeah, [the team is] definitely [better than it's ever been] -- I think so," Hamlin said. "Me and Mike, the way we're communicating is definitely really, really good. It's hard to say it's taken four years, but he's really starting to figure out what it is -- the kind of feel that I like in a race car. He's definitely getting better as far as that's concerned.

"I think our communication is better, and I think every little aspect of our car has been getting better over the course of the year. Our pit crew has been getting a little bit better. We've improved in a lot of different areas that I felt like we needed to improve on." (Continued)