Wounded Hamlin takes checkered flag in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas

His reconstructed left knee tender and immobile, Denny Hamlin leaned out of his car, scooted atop the door area and thrust his fist upward before he gingerly climbed from the vehicle.

Hamlin then leaned against a car that took him to victory Monday at Texas Motor Speedway in a celebration unlike any of the other nine times he's won a Cup race. Despite the pain in his knee and work to do on the car, this win felt good.

"It's a big statement win for us," he said. Yet, Hamlin wanted to look ahead to when his body and cars would be 100 percent and he can be the championship contender many predicted before this season.

To compete for a title, he'll have to beat Hendrick Motorsports, which placed all four of its cars in the top 10 in points for the first time in team history after Monday's race - this despite teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon saying they were "disappointed" with how each ran the other.

It was enough to almost forget many viewed this as the first true test of the rear spoiler. Most comments were favorable, although a few drivers said it was a bit more difficult in traffic.

Such conditions don't compare to Hamlin's daily routine less than three weeks after surgery to repair a torn ACL he suffered while playing basketball. Hamlin said his knee is about 60 percent.

The 29-year-old said his knee's range of motion is so limited he can only make one revolution on a bicycle.

"It's borderline depressing to not be able to do anything," Hamlin said after his second Cup win of the season, both on Mondays after rainouts. "I have to just sit on my tail when I'm not rehabbing every single day.

"When it's nice weather outside and everyone's outside doing stuff, it's frustrating."

That's a feeling he has at times in the car. Crew chief Mike Ford admitted the team is experimenting with setups.

"You're not going to see the full strength of this team until later in the season," he said. "We are trying some things that are going to show inconsistency week to week.

"Without testing, you have to do that to a point if you want to progress faster than the other guys. We're benchmarking the Hendrick guys and we want to beat them at the end of the season."

It's a high benchmark.

Hendrick drivers combined to lead more than 60 percent of Monday's race. Gordon led 124 laps, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 46 and Johnson led 39. At times, they ran first-second-third. Gordon had the dominant car but didn't make it to the finish.

He restarted eighth and took four tires during a late caution-flag pit stop. The top six cars took only two.

"We'll kill all those guys on rights," crew chief Steve Letarte radioed Gordon before that restart.

"Glad you feel that way about it," Gordon said.

"Try to make as much magic as you can," Letarte said.

Two laps after the restart, Gordon was collected in a nine-car crash as cars attempted to go nearly four-wide in a rush to gain as many spots as possible before the field spread out.

Even with the early end of his race, Gordon remains fifth in the points.

Johnson, who finished second to Hamlin, still leads the points with Earnhardt seventh and Mark Martin climbing to 10th.

That's what Hamlin, 11th in the points, faces if he's to challenge for his first Cup title.

"There are going to be roller coasters, races where we're high and we're low and things like that simply because of what we're doing," Hamlin said. "But I know what's coming, and that's what I'm really excited about."