Denny Hamlin was finally crowned as 2006 Raybestos Rookie of the Year with a third-place finish at Homestead on Sunday, while his points haul also confirmed a similar position in the Nextel Cup standings, beating Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Tony Stewart's previous best rookie mark.

Hamlin ended the season with two victories and eight top five finishes in the #11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, but third place in the standings capped a remarkable rookie campaign.

"This has definitely been a year that exceeded every expectation myself and everyone on the team had," he admitted after Sunday's Homestead finale, "Our ultimate goal at the beginning of the year was to try to win the Rookie of the Year, and finish in the top 15 in points. We far exceeded that.

"You know, these seasons don't come by very often - I've told JD [Gibbs] not to get all excited and expect me to finish top three in points from now on - but I'm excited about the fact that my potential as a driver is not nearly at its peak yet, and we are still competitive the way we are. It's just a great building year and I guess nothing less than second in the points [will do] from here on...."

The season success also allowed the youngster to collect on a bet with team-mate, and reigning Nextel Cup champion, Stewart, who missed the Chase cut this year.

"It was more of a competitive thing, just a handshake really - we really didn't bet anything," Hamlin explained, "You know, he finished fourth in his rookie year, and we were able to beat that and I think that was the best that anyone's done since 60 or 50 or 40 or something. It's just fun to be competitive with Tony in that kind of way. We were able to finish higher in the points than he did in his rookie year - but I would trade that for his stats alone when I'm done with my career."

Despite having started well down the field in Miami, Hamlin admitted that he would not have been able to chase eventual winner Greg Biffle for a third win of the year.

"I didn't think I had anything for Greg, although I thought I had something for the #9," he said of hunting down Kasey Kahne, "To tell you the truth, I didn't know the #1 was coming as fast as what he was. I thought I had JJ [Yeley] behind me - no-one told me he ran out of fuel. I figured I at least had someone to hold people up for a little while to let me work on the #9. At the time, I thought all I needed to do was get around the #9 to get into second in points, but it turns out I needed to win the race, so it didn't matter anyway."