Denny Hamlin

Racing is mostly about the here and now.

But the season-ending NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Miami gave Chevy reason to be very optimistic about the future as well. Monte Carlo SS driver Denny Hamlin finished third in the race and more importantly third in the Nextel Cup championship, easily winning Rookie of the Year honors. He won two races during the season (both at Pocono) and ran strong on a consistent basis, especially for his first full season.

“This has definitely been a year that exceeded every expectation, myself and everyone on the team had,” Hamlin said. “Our ultimate goal at the beginning of the year was to try to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year and finish Top 15 in points. We far exceeded that and I told J.D., don't get all excited now and expect me to finish top three from now on in the points. Hopefully, you know, these seasons, they don't come by very often. But what I'm excited about, I know the potential of me as a driver is not nearly at its peak yet, and we are competitive the way we are.”

Hamlin’s teammate is Chevy driver and 2005 Nextel Cup champ Tony Stewart, who had a fantastic finish to the 2006 season. Hamlin and Stewart had a running bet all season about the rookie standings.

“You know, he finished fourth in his rookie year, and we were able to beat that and I think that was the best that anyone's done since (19)60 or 50 or 40 or something, I don't know,” Hamlin added. “It's just fun to be competitive with Tony in that kind of way. We were able to finish higher in the points than he did in his rookie year. I would trade it for just his stats alone when I'm done with my career.”

If 2006 is any indication, Hamlin just might accrue similar stats.

Martin Truex, Jr.

Rookie Martin Truex, Jr. had a career-best second-place race finish Sunday, giving his Chevy team momentum heading into 2007.

“It's been a pretty tough season,” Truex said. “The last few months we've really come together and had some good runs and just to be able to close the deal, feels really good. We figured out a lot of things throughout the season and (Dover) was just about the time where we started putting them all together.

“You know, for a long time there, we were just kind of shooting in the dark, and took us a while to get some experience and some confidence. Once we got that, we just got on a roll, and our cars have been really good ever since. Just credit to my team for giving me great cars and doing a great job and making them drive the way I need them to.”