Tue, Jun 13, 2006 page18

• Hamlin impresses with Pocono 500 win

  • AP
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  Denny Hamlin earned some hand-cramping bragging rights in the garage with the way he beats other drivers playing racing video games.

  Turns out, the rising rookie can handle himself on the track just as well he can handle a game pad. Instead of entering his initials for the high score, Hamlin's entering his name as a candidate for the Nextel Cup title.

  ``We're just showing the potential of the race team,'' Hamlin said Sunday after winning the Pocono 500.

  

  NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin leads the pack out of turn three early in the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Sunday. Hamlin won the race.

  PHOTO: AP

  There was nothing virtual about the realities of this win, though: First, a blown tire sent Hamlin spinning. Then, NASCAR's elite drivers pushed him hard down the stretch.

  But he never lost his poise, showing Tony Stewart, his champion teammate, that he might have some company in the points race.

  ``I think he's on the verge of something big down the road,'' Stewart said.

  The 25-year-old Hamlin overcame the early blown rubber, surged late and held on to solidify his spot as NASCAR's top rookie. He owes some credit for his first career Nextel Cup win to the makers of his video game.

  ``I'd like to think I'm pretty good,'' he said of his gaming skills.

  Hamlin was even better taming Pocono. He never turned a lap at Pocono Raceway before this weekend, then went out and captured the pole and the win.

  ``I honestly didn't think it would be this easy,'' Hamlin said.

  Hamlin's introduction to the 2 1/2-mile triangle -- which he said was like driving on salt flats -- came Friday. But he had logged enough virtual hours to get comfortable, playing video games for three hours a day to familiarize himself with the comparatively flat Pocono track.

  "It helps with track awareness," he said.

  Hamlin held off the challengers -- including Stewart -- on the final five tenuous laps after the caution came out late following Jeff Gordon's harrowing accident.

  Fernando Alonso is making his Formula One world title defense look easy.

  He led Sunday's British Grand Prix from the pole to the finish for his 13th career victory, third in a row, and fifth this season.

  He says it is not as easy as it seems.

  "We attack every race as a challenge," Alonso said. "As professionals, we are serious every weekend and this results in victories. We are all focused and working in the same direction with no mistakes"

  He said he and his Renault team are still looking to get better.

  "We need to improve the car," Alonso said. "We need to keep developing and we need to keep winning races. We want to defend our position."

  Michael Schumacher of Ferrari was second and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen took third, his fourth straight podium finish in Britain without a victory.

  Alonso -- who also won in Monaco and Spain last month -- leads the standings with 74 points. Schumacher is second with 51, while Raikkonen is third with 33 after eight rounds.

  "With Spain to Monaco to Silverstone -- for me the last three races is a dream come true," Alonso said. "They are circuits with big names and big emotions."

  It was even a home victory of sorts. Although a Spaniard, he lives in nearby Oxford.

  "To win in this country, 20 minutes away from my home, it gives me a good feeling and a fantastic day," Alonso said.

  The 24-year-old Alonso, who last year became F1's youngest world champion, has finished on the podium in every race this year and 14 straight including last season.
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