He enters this weekend's race at Richmond International Raceway with five consecutive finishes of sixth or better, including a victory at Martinsville. Hamlin has climbed from 19th to fourth in points during that run.
While Hamlin makes his move, many of the questions he hears are about teammates: Kyle Busch's early-season success or Tony Stewart's contract saga.
Consider the Chesterfield, Va., native, the forgotten driver at Joe Gibbs Racing.
"It's just motivation when we don't get the press that I feel like we deserve,'' Hamlin says.
Hamlin and his team are noted for using unfavorable preseason predictions as motivation.
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