Relying on good fortune to come across next big thing

In the final analysis, Denny Hamlin owes his breakthrough into NASCAR's national divisions not to ability but sheer good luck. Certainly, his talent allowed him to capitalize when the opportunity arose. But had Joe Gibbs Racing not made a call to his late-model team owner about building a few cars for their diversity program, and had Hamlin not turned some heads shaking those cars down, the four-time Cup Series race winner might still be earning $10 an hour welding trailer hitches at his father's shop in Chesterfield, Va.

All too often, that's the way it seems to happen in NASCAR. Major-league baseball teams employ a vast network of scouts who scrutinize players from high schools to Latin America. NFL teams seem to have tape on every college player capable of running a 40-yard dash in 4 seconds or less. NBA executives study college games and international leagues. In those sports, scouting is as thorough as an FBI background check. If you're good, somebody is going to notice. A prospect who comes out of nowhere is an anomaly.

But in NASCAR, it's the status quo. Hamlin broke through only after Gibbs contacted Jim Dean, his late-model team owner, about building cars. Greg Biffle broke through only after the late Benny Parsons recommended him to Jack Roush. Clint Bowyer broke through only after the businessman sponsoring his ARCA car asked friend Richard Childress to keep an eye on the kid. Matt Kenseth broke through only after his late-model crew chief, Robbie Reiser, made the gutsy move to take his program to the now-Nationwide Series circuit. Jeff Gordon broke through only after he switched to stock cars, went to driving schools, and impressed Bill Davis at a tire test.

It goes on and on and on. In a technology-driven sport, talent is often mined through the most unscientific of methods -- word-of-mouth and fate. There is no "scouting" as the practice is employed in baseball and football, whereby people with an eye for natural ability are sent out into the hinterlands to find prospects with the tools to make it big.

Occasionally a kid like Joey Logano or Reed Sorenson sets the world on fire at an early age, and the big teams take notice. But typically, drivers break through in one of three ways -- they bring money or a sponsor to the table; they know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody; or they're strictly the beneficiary of good fortune.

"Roush has those gong shows, and you have to have done something to get invited. But it basically comes down to fate," said Dean, who runs a successful late-model program for which Hamlin once competed. "I mean, Denny's situation is amazing. If Mark McFarland doesn't win the [NASCAR Weekly Racing Series] national championship in 2003, [Gibbs] probably never calls us, they never meet Denny, and Denny is welding trailer hitches at Chesterfield Trailer and Hitch for $10 an hour. He would still be there. It's just a fluke. He had the right timing." (Continued)