It's not a win, but it sure helps hard-luck Hamlin

With about 30 laps remaining in a bizarre race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin allowed himself to think that the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was his to lose. Even on two new tires, he was faster than his closest pursuer, Jimmie Johnson, was on four. If he could stay out front in the clean air, that big gold brick of a trophy would be his.

Denny Hamlin
2008 Results

First 10 Races Second 10 Races

Daytona............17 Darlington........7
Fontana.............41 Charlotte.........24
Las Vegas.........9 Dover...............43
Atlanta..............15 Pocono.............3
Bristol................6 Michigan..........14
Martinsville.......1 Sonoma............27
Texas.................5 New Hamp. .....8
Phoenix..............3 Daytona...........26
Talladega...........3 Chicago...........40
Richmond...........24 Indianapolis.....3

• Community | Superstore"I knew if there was an opportunity at the end of the race, if we could take the same tires he did, we could outrun him," Hamlin said. "I held my hand all race long. I was taking it easy, taking it easy, waiting to really push it. And when we did push it, we were able to pull away. We just didn't get out on pit road the way we needed to."

Hamlin had the closest thing to the dominant car at the end of Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Indianapolis, which was marred by concerns over tire failures. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 26 of 27 laps until NASCAR issued the last of six competition cautions to check for tire wear. The No. 11 car dropped from first to third after the final pit stop, and couldn't catch Johnson in the 10-lap sprint to the end.

It's been that kind of season for Hamlin, NASCAR's hardest-luck driver this year. He led 98 laps at Bristol before going out with the same power-steering pump failure that had plagued him the previous week at Atlanta. He led 381 laps at Richmond before going out with a tire failure. He lost five positions in the standings two weeks ago at Chicagoland when he was knocked out early with an electrical problem.

And then came Sunday, when his bid to win one of NASCAR's biggest events was undone partly by a tipped tire. On the pit stop during the race's final competition caution, Hamlin entered first, followed by Elliott Sadler and Johnson. On the ensuing two-tire stop, the car of Reed Sorenson made slight contact with one of Hamlin's old tires. It wasn't much, but it was enough to delay the tire carrier by a few more fractions of a second. Hamlin exited pit road third, behind Johnson and Carl Edwards, and finished in the same spot (watch video).

It's been that kind of year for crew chief Mike Ford and the No. 11 team.

"The 41 car was coming around us, and the last two tire stops we made, [Sorenson] came in and hit our right-front tire," Ford said. "We needed to make sure we got that tire under control so we didn't get penalized. We needed to make sure that tire was back. It cost us a little bit of time on pit road, but it's just one of the things that can happen. We didn't get any damage from it, but our guys had to hesitate and that cost them a little bit of time. I don't know if we'd have gotten the 48 [car of Johnson] off pit road with the stall that he had. But I think we would have definitely come out at least second."