Denny Hamlin’s prediction was the sort that makes Coach Gibbs cringe

 

Shades of Dexter Manley.

Team owner Joe Gibbs was just as glad he didn’t learn of driver Denny Hamlin’s brazen prediction of a New Hampshire victory until later in the week.

After running out of fuel and finishing 16th with a top-five car in last Sunday’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland, Hamlin promised his Twitter followers “We will win next week.”

That’s the kind of statement that reminded Gibbs of the braggadocio of one of his former Redskins linemen, outspoken Dexter Manley.

“I had a throwback on that one,” Gibbs said. “You knew Dexter was going to say something like, ‘We’re going to kill ’em,’ or something — you know what I mean.

“And I would be going like this, ‘Don’t you dare.’ I’m glad I didn’t hear about (Hamlin’s promise) until later on, because, normally, that one for me doesn’t work out.”

But Hamlin delivered in Sunday’s Sylvania 300, giving Gibbs his 100th victory in the Cup series.