DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FEDEX FREIGHT CHEVROLET: “Our car is really good, definitely a lot better than the Busch car. I’m pretty excited about that and I feel like we definitely got a car that we can contend with and run top-five, top-10.”

HOW ON THE EDGE ARE YOU HERE AT BRISTOL? “Quite a bit. This racetrack is definitely the most challenging we go to, physically and mentally, to try to stay focused the whole time. I feel like this is a racetrack where you can’t always help what happens, a lot like a superspeedway. Track position is going to be very key to try to stay out of trouble. If we can do that we’ll be in good shape.”

IS THIS TRACK TOUGH MENTALLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO TIME TO RELAX? “Yeah, it really is. You kind of lose track sometimes of where you’re at and what you’re doing. It can be very tough on you mentally. With little time to rest it doesn’t allow you to get your train of thought sometimes. When you go making mistakes, it takes a lot of times five laps just to get back in rhythm. That part is really tough.”

HOW MUCH EXTRA PRESSURE IS THE POINTS RACE? “It’s very tough. I feel like we’re in a position right now where we have a very, very small cushion over 11th but at the same time we’re only 50 points out of fourth. We’re made up a lot of ground. We’ve come from a long way back in points to be where we’re at so it’s no fluke. I feel like we’re here because we run good. We’re on a streak of top-10s. We’ve just got to keep that going.”

A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT YOU’RE GOING TO WAKE UP AND DROP OUT OF THE TOP-10 IN POINTS, BUT THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE HAPPENING. “It’s tough. You talk about all the guys going in and out and everything and it seems like our name just kind of flies way under the radar and never even really gets brought up which is good. I know what the critics probably say but we’re as good a team as anybody. We prove it week in and week out. We’re just trying to do what we can to maintain where we’re at and if we can do that, these next three races, performing the way that we have all year long, then we are a Chase contending car.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES MENTALLY TO STAY IN THIS THING? “Last night I was sitting there and I kept thinking about the Chase and everything and I said ‘You know what, I’m going to go for fourth instead of trying to defend where I’m at and not fall out of the top-10.’ We’re going to push for fourth. Let’s go and do the best we can, get as high in the Chase as we can, not even think about falling out. Let’s just think about what we’ve got to do to improve our position and instead of defend it.”

YOU’RE KIND OF ALONG FOR THE RIDE AT THIS POINT. “Basically. We’re at the mercy of luck it seems like at this place. California and Richmond, we can definitely put ourselves in position. The cars get spread out a whole lot more so there is a less chance of bad things happening. The way you run is the way you finish at those racetracks. I feel confident. We had a top-12 run at California earlier and a second at Richmond. If we have a shot going into Richmond we should be in good shape.”

COMMENT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREW CHIEF MIKE FORD. “Things are going good between me and Mike right now. I feel like our communication gets better and better every time we’re on the racetrack. It’s going to get better with years to come. I feel like our relationship is a lot like what Tony and Zippy have and hopefully we can keep that relationship throughout our careers. And if we can, we’re going to be very successful.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR THE ORGANIZATION FOR THIS TEAM TO GET INTO THE CHASE? “It would definitely mean a lot. This team went through a lot last year. They were in a battle for points but it was to try to stay inside the top-35 at this time last year. It is a huge improvement. This team was the biggest turnaround. It just shows how strong this team is. There’s a lot of mistakes I make week in and week out that a lot of people never notice just because I’m in such great equipment [and] I’m surrounded by great people. Eighth in points is how strong the team is, not necessarily the driver.”

COULD IMAGINE STANDING IN THIS POSITION ONE YEAR AGO? “No, I really didn’t think so. We figured this time during the year we’d probably be around 15th or so in points and that was my goal, to challenge for top-15 in points. Our goals haven’t changed. If we do fall out, hey, we’ve still had a successful year. We won three races with the Shootout. Things have gone great this year. I’ve been happy. Maybe I’ve stressed myself out a little bit more than I should but either way, it’s still been a great year.”

YOU SOUND LIKE A GOLFER THAT REMEMBERS THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES WHEN IT’S ALL OVER. “I don’t know. If we don’t make it, I feel like we missed a great opportunity to but at the same aspect, I’d rather be in the position that I’m at on the inside looking out than the outside looking in.”

HOW DID THE SEVEN RACES THAT YOU DROVE LAST YEAR HELP YOU? “I just feel very lucky that we chose to do those last seven races. The plan was that when we had the tryout between me and J.J. He had his four races and I had my four and basically whoever was successful was going to run that last three. Luckily I had the last leg of the four plus the last three so they were all in a row. I had time to gel with Mike and learn him. We had enough time to really build confidence going into this year. We ended on a high note and I feel like we did really good building momentum coming into this year. Then to win the Shootout the first race of the year really kind of gave us that extra kick for this entire year.”

ARE MORE TEAMS GOING TO MAKE A CHANGE EARLIER THAN DAYTONA? “I think it would have been much harder to start off at Daytona and try to learn the things that I learned last year. Eventually it would have caught up and me and Mike would have started gelling. We went though the first eight races of this year and had half the races outside the top-30 just because of driver error and mechanical error. We still have that learning curve but I feel like it’s been cut down dramatically because of running last year. I think a lot of team owners are really quick to get rid of drivers nowadays. They don’t give them enough chances to gel, especially with the new Raybestos Rookie drivers. I know they’re not having the success that they wanted, but it just takes time. There’s always going to be exception to the rule. I see a lot of these guys that took years to get to where we’re at now so I feel very fortunate.”

ARE YOU THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE? “I hate to set high expectations for anyone that follows me, but I enjoy that versus worrying about my job every week.”

WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED TALKING WITH JOE GIBBS ABOUT THIS JOB, WERE THERE ANY EXPECTATIONS ABOUT BEING IN THE TOP-10? “I said at the end of last year ‘Hey, we’re going to be in the Chase next year. Ya’ll might as well count on it’ and I said that among my guys. I don’t know if they really took me seriously or not, but I think that they realized real fast that mine and Mike’s communication is working well enough to where we’re just taking Tony’s equipment, because we’re getting the same thing, and doing the same thing and him and Greg are doing with it. It’s amazing that I find myself in a championship battle with the guys that I am.”

HAVE EXPECTATIONS ON YOU CHANGED? “It’s hard to say. You know, a lot of people are expecting us to drop out of the top-10 these next few races. If we stay in we’re going to prove a lot of people wrong. I don’t know that there are a lot of people out there saying that we’re the guys that are locked in by any means and we’re not. But in the same aspect, I don’t feel that we’re on a string of bad luck and we’re on our way out. I think we’re more on our way in than anything.”

HOW ARE THE FINAL TWO RACES BEFORE THE CHASE GOING TO BE FOR YOU? “I think California is going to play out a lot like Michigan. I felt like we didn’t have a great car at Michigan but we still came away with a ninth-place finish. If we can just knock out these top-10s like we have all year long, we’re going to force those guys to really step it up.”

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS MAKING A CLEAN PASS HERE? “Yeah, I think you can. Without a doubt, I think you can cleanly pass. This is a racetrack, though, you can get frustrated and move somebody out of the way. It’s just not the way to do it because this racetrack is too small to get away from somebody.”

WHEN DO YOU GET TO THAT POINT WHERE YOUR TEMPER TAKES OVER? “It’s hard if you have nothing to lose. I feel like we have something to lose and I’ve really got to keep that in the back of my mind and I don’t think my temper is really going to get the best of me simply because I’m points racing, there’s no doubt about it. We’re doing all we can to better ourselves in points position and not fall out. We’re definitely going to think about that when somebody ruffles my feathers I might just let it blow off my shoulder and get them back another day.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO DO A LAP AROUND BRISTOL? “This track is so hard for a driver to really get a hold of, especially a new driver, because there’s nothing like it. You run corner speeds and get G-forces like you’ve had at no other racetrack. It’s very physically and mentally demanding but I still haven’t figured it out, by any means, but hopefully with years of experience I’ll get it figured out.”

HOW CLOSE TO OUT OF CONTROL DO YOU FEEL EVERY LAP HERE? “The more you run it, the better you feel. But those first few laps you definitely hold your breath, especially on a qualifying run. This track can really get the best of your nerves and take your breath away. It’s going to be nerve racking these next four laps that I’m going to run but you can back it down a notch in the race and not run as hard and still run just as fast.”

COMMENT ON NEXT WEEK’S RACE AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY. “I think we can win week in and week out. I don’t come to the racetrack thinking that we can run any worse than top-five, top-10. A lot of time I really feel like, somewhere like Bristol, if I can finish in the top-10 it is a win for us. Not because we run good bad here and we need luck, just because you can run good and finish 20th. Track position is a big key. Basically, we’re going to take what we can get out of here and hopefully it’s a top-15.”