Quote Originally Posted by rspears View Post

I was surprised that Hamlin didn't play a bigger part in the finish too, Bob. He'd been up front a lot all night.
I ran track in high school and had to learn the hard way when doing middle distance (440, 660) not to be the rabbit and run myself out too early. Competitive spirit makes you want to bury the competitors (in your mind anyway) early. The smart runners kept with the pace of the group and had energy in reserve to kick to the finish. I'm gonna guess Hamlin was embarrassed by his performance last year and wants to "make a statement", and he did himself proud last night. But when the end came, he showed (I think) that he wasn't quite in league with the top three finishers who were separateing themselves in the last lap.