Spotter's Stand: Denny Hamlin Discovers Racing Is Good Rehab

Denny Hamlin is doing wonders for the reputation and future of knee surgery for NASCAR drivers, should any of them ever need it.

Granted, the Southern 500 winner's ACL injury at his left knee isn't exactly a common one for guys who race cars for a living, but there are a few who like to cross train in other sports and their number is growing as fitness becomes more of a necessity for drivers.

That being said, I think it's safe to say we can officially stop pondering how much the surgery and its rehabilitation process is affecting Hamlin -- given the fact that he's now won more times (two) with the surgery than without (one) in 2010.

In fact, Hamlin said he considered the race itself to be one big rehab session.

"It really is pretty much like a physical therapy session in there with the cars that vibrate, you kind of have a little bit of vibration right there on the steering column, so I rest my leg against it -- it kind of acts as a stim. It feels good after races. It's during the week that I'm laying around that it gets all stiff."

-- On that same token, Hamlin's team insisted after Saturday night's race that they are somewhat surprised to be dominating in such a fashion as of late because their focus at the shop has shifted to being as strong as possible during the late-season Chase races.

That's an art that Jimmie Johnson has perfected in the last four seasons, and a goal that Jeff Gordon's team has set for 2010. All of it means one thing for race fans: we could be setting up for one dandy of a championship battle.

-- Tony Stewart has joined the list of drivers and teams looking for more sponsorship funding in 2011 after Old Spice decided not to renew their agreement with Stewart's No. 14 team, the Charlotte Observer reported Sunday.

Old Spice shares sponsorship on Stewart's car with Office Depot, so it could be worse. But Stewart joins a market already crowded with big-name talent looking for more money. Not only has his teammate Ryan Newman's No. 39 ride been looking for more sponsorship, but unconfirmed reports say Jeff Gordon's No. 24 car will apparently have a much smaller DuPont presence next season while Gordon's teammate Mark Martin is still looking to fill more races in 2010.

When guys like Stewart, Gordon and Martin can't fill up their sponsorship space with the drop of hat, it signals to me two things: 1) obviously, the economy is still hurting and 2) NASCAR racing is getting a little too pricey for many teams and, in turn, sponsors.

-- Newsflash: Jamie McMurray finished second Saturday night. Admit it: you expected his pole-winning Friday to turn into absolutely nothing positive for the race, didn't you?

That move back to Chip Ganassi's team seems to be playing well for McMurray, I'd say.

-- Plenty of media types and fans on Twitter Saturday night bemoaned the 500-mile distance of the Southern 500, Darlington Raceway's sole event of the Sprint Cup season. Heck, even Dale Earnhardt Jr. got in the act over the radio, saying at one point that 250 laps rather than 367 was more appropriate.

Perhaps folks have forgotten that there have been 500-mile races at Darlington since, well, 1950. It's not like this was anything new.

-- Remember that cat named Greg Biffle we talked about earlier this season? It was after Texas when we mentioned Biffle had, at that point, notched seven top-10s in the first eight races -- the only driver to record such a stat in 2010.

Racing hasn't been as good to Biffle since then. In the three races after Texas, Biffle has finishes of 17th, 22nd and 22nd -- the most recent coming Saturday night at Darlington amidst a team-wide struggle for Roush-Fenway Racing.

The slide has dropped Biffle to seventh in the point standings, 191 markers behind leader Kevin Harvick. Before the three-race skid? Biffle was third in the standings, 128 points back.

-- Someone needs to give FOX some credit for a couple of things in their broadcast Saturday night. First, they bumped the finish of the Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees game in favor of the race -- a good idea that probably even made baseball fans who hate seeing those two teams on national television nearly every weekend happy. (Yes, count me as one.)

Then, in the closing laps, when confusion arose around Jeff Gordon's placement by NASCAR at the end of the lead lap during the race's final caution, they were able to use a replay that showed exactly why NASCAR had placed him there and not one lap down.

That stuff is critical for race fans -- even if just to temper a post-race parking lot discussion about whether or not NASCAR is helping one driver or another.

-- Jimmie Johnson now has three DNFs in 2010 -- just one shy of the most he ever had in a season where he went on to win the championship. Should he be worried that such a statistic is a bad omen? No way.

-- Speaking of Johnson's Darlington DNF -- which, of course, was caused by A.J. Allmendinger intentionally spinning and heavily impacting Johnson after losing his brakes on the No. 43 car -- wouldn't it have been smarter for A.J. just to nudge his car into the outside wall instead?

That's a total Monday morning driver statement, I know, but I think the impact would be less on Allmendinger if he had guided the car into wall, and such a move would have had less of a chance to take out other drivers.