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Maybe Denny Hamlin has been on to something. Since last season Hamlin has an outspoken advocate that someone - anyone - needed to step up to challenge four-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and insisted he and his Joe Gibbs Racing organization could do it.

It appears performance and now statistics are bearing that out.

Hamlin became the only driver other than Johnson with multiple wins this season after taking victory in Monday's rain-delayed Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

And after the race, all three JGR drivers - Kyle Busch (sixth), Hamlin (11th) and Joey Logano (12th) - were ranked in the top 12 for the first time ever.

So together, JGR and Hendrick Motorsports, with Johnson (first), Jeff Gordon (fifth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seventh) and Mark Martin (10th), account for seven of the top 12.

That's pretty good odds that this season's Cup title will come from that group.

In another plus for JGR owner Joe Gibbs, the average age of his three drivers is 24.7 years old. By contrast, Hendrick drivers' average age is 39.5 years old.

"To be truthful, everybody knows in our sport you've got to have great guys driving the cars. We're thrilled that we've got young great drivers," Gibbs said.

"I think Denny, his story is a great story. I think with his family sacrifice and all the things that happened to him, to have him on board and immediately take over that No. 11 car and do what he's done, it's helped us so much."

Gibbs, who is no stranger to the trials of athletes playing hurt having been a former two-time coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins, has been particularly impressed with Hamlin's effort in the three weeks since having surgery for a torn ACL in his left knee.

In his first race since the surgery, Hamlin gutted out a bad day in the car at Phoenix, even when battery problems left him two laps down from the leader.

"Denny had that surgery, and us going down two laps. I think a lot of guys would have chosen to get out of the car," Gibbs said.

"I sent a message that said, 'Hey, that showed a lot of courage.' He stays in the car, bad day, fought his way through that."

Busch has rebounded from a slow start to the season with three top-10 finishes in his past four races. Logano, last season's series rookie of the year, actually has spent more time in the top 12 this season than his more experienced teammates.

"What I'm hoping is that we have three great young drivers, and we're positioned for the future, and if we work together and what we try to do at Joe Gibbs Racing, everything we have is focused on three cars," Gibbs said. "Our hope is that we can get an edge there.

"Now you don't know in this sport. Is that going to pay off or is it going to be big numbers of cars that win? But anyway, that's our hope.

"I think our strength in what we have is our crew chiefs and our drivers - those young guys - and we're proud of them."[[In-content Ad]]

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