Associated Press

Denny Hamlin won a career-high four Sprint Cup races last season.

Not yet 30 and beginning only his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Denny Hamlin's quest for greatness reaches a pivotal point.

While Mark Martin proved that drivers can compete for a championship even when they're 50, if Hamlin wants to be considered among the sport's elite drivers, he must start winning titles now.

The last five drivers to win Cup championships -- Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon -- each won a crown by their fifth full season. All also were no older than 31 when they won that first title.

Hamlin, who turns 30 this season, is outspoken about his desires. A year ago, he said he was tired of being labeled as a driver with potential. He responded with a career-high four wins. Now the goal is Cup champion -- something no Virginia native has done since Norfolk's Joe Weatherly in 1963.

An offseason ACL knee injury playing basketball won't deter Hamlin. Shortly after his injury, Hamlin wrote on his Twitter account: "nobody wants it as bad as me ... PERIOD."

Time to prove it.

"You can only get beat by someone so many times before you start learning how to beat them," Hamlin said of Johnson. "We're starting to get to that point where our paths are starting to cross a bit."

Johnson said he knows that many challenges could be coming this season.

"We've been a motivational tool for a lot teams ... over the last few years," he said.

Hamlin could provide Johnson's stiffest challenge to another title. Consider:

n Hamlin's four wins in the final 16 races of last season matched Johnson's mark in the same span.

n Hamlin won the season finale at Homestead, the first time he'd won on a 1.5-mile track. Four of the 10 Chase races are at 1.5-mile tracks.

n His team improved as the season progressed last year.

n Hamlin is developing into a team leader.

The leadership role might be the biggest factor in considering Hamlin a worthy foil to Johnson. Earlier in his career, Hamlin publicly criticized his pit crew after mistakes cost him wins. The disgust led to a post-race meeting among Hamlin, crew chief Mike Ford and team president J.D. Gibbs on pit road at Darlington in 2007 moments after the pit crew had once again cost Hamlin a victory.

Hamlin remained vocal in 2008. After blowing an engine at the August Michigan race, he said: "We don't even deserve to be in the Chase."

Hamlin was outspoken at times last year, but it was more constructive than the personal lashings at his team. He also accepted blame when merited.

"Denny Hamlin did an incredible amount of maturing in the second half [of last season] to become the leader of that team," said former driver Kyle Petty, a broadcaster for TNT and Speed Channel. "And I thought the last 10 races of the year, he made a mistake, they had some engine failures, but it wasn't the Denny of old.

"He said, 'I made a mistake. That was my fault.' He began to step up and assert himself in a different position within that team, but I think he's done the same thing on the track. If they can roll into this year like they finished and work smart during the winter, the Gibbs group will be tough, and Denny will be tough."

Hamlin's leadership has grown as his maturity has. Ford cites patience and communication as two areas Hamlin has improved since joining Joe Gibbs Racing.

"Patience comes with knowledge," Ford said. "The more you can learn about the whys and the limiting factors, the more at ease you are with working through your problems. That is what we gained last year."

Wait, patience and Hamlin? What about his feud with Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide series last year? After several run-ins, Hamlin proclaimed he would wreck Keselowski in the season finale at Homestead. Hamlin honored his word.

Now with Keselowski in Cup full time, can Hamlin keep his cool?

Hamlin admits that "not letting that stuff frustrate you as much, that's what could make me better."

A cool composure is critical because the sport is about problem solving. For all the talent teammate Kyle Busch has, he acknowledged last year that he needed to rein in his emotions when the car isn't running as well as he wants. Otherwise he can't help his team make the car better.

With limited practice time each weekend, trying to catch Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and the rest of the No. 48 team is not easy. The 10 races in the Chase seem to suit Johnson's driving style -- he's won 30 percent of the 60 Chase races run -- and few, if any, are better than Knaus.

"You look at them in practice and they run as fast as they have to," Hamlin said of Johnson's team. "Somebody beats them, they'll go out there and run a little bit faster. Chad and those guys always have a little bit in reserve that they're always able to give."

That's what Hamlin has to find, while his team searches to improve its reliability. Engine failures forced Hamlin out of two Chase races. Avoid those issues and he's got a chance to unseat Johnson for the title.

"If Jimmie is at his best, and I'm at my best, I feel we're going to be toe-to-toe," Hamlin said.