DENNY HAMLIN — #11 FEDEX EXPRESS TOYOTA CAMRY
Michigan Recap: A brush with the wall and extensive time in the garage for repairs resulted in a 35th-place finish for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Hamlin started fourth and maintained a top-10 position throughout the first half of the 203-lap race on the two-mile circuit, won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Battling a loose race car, Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford worked through a series of adjustments to try and bring the #11 Toyota to life for the second half of the event. However, Hamlin brushed the wall while driving the top groove with less than 70 laps to go, causing right-rear damage and forcing the FedEx team to the garage for repairs. Hamlin lost 15 laps to the leaders while the crew fixed the car, and returned to the track to take the checkered flag in 35th position. The finish dropped Hamlin two spots to 14th in the NASCAR standings following Michigan, 164 markers behind leader Busch. Hamlin does maintain hold of the second Chase “wild card” spot with three races remaining before the cutoff.
Bristol Preview: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where Hamlin will make his 12th start on the half-mile bullring in Saturday night’s 500-lap event. In the spring race at Bristol, Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team endured a long day, as early contact disrupted the rear alignment of the #11 Toyota and resulted in a 33rd place finish. A group of cars just in front of Hamlin made contact on Lap 29, and Hamlin spun trying to avoid the wreck, but was hit from behind in the left-rear. What looked like cosmetic damage turned out to be much more severe, as it made the car a handful to drive for the remainder of the 500-lap event. Hamlin does own six top-10 finishes at the Tennessee track in 11 races, including a career-best runner-up finish in the spring 2009 race and third-place result in the summer 2008 event. Late-race fuel pickup problems spoiled potential victories in the spring 2007 and 2008 races at Bristol, when Hamlin led 275 of the 1,004 laps but settled for 14th and sixth place finishes, respectively.
Richmond District Along for the Ride in Bristol: The FedEx Express district in Richmond, Va., will be recognized with its “RIC” code letters on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota this weekend.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – Bristol Motor Speedway:
What does it take to be successful at Bristol?
“Look at Kyle Busch’s notes. He’s just a great driver at that race track. We go to Martinsville and he’s asking me. But, Bristol is the one track that I’ve run well at — don’t get me wrong — we’ve led a lot of laps and been in position to win a lot of races, but he’s over the last couple years had a dominance on that track. We’ll just kind of use their notes. I’ll talk to him about what he does as far as braking and things like that. He makes it look so easy in the sense he’s never really strong in practice but in the race he fires up and takes off. I have to find some information before I can tell you what’s good there.”
Do you think you can get a second victory to try and lock your team into the Chase?
“These are three good race tracks for us. There’s Richmond, there’s Atlanta and obviously Bristol this week that we’ve all run well at all of them. We have to get this ship up and pointing back in the right direction and it’s going to take a lot of hard work to do it. A lot of communication and obviously we have some stuff we have to work on but we’ll get through it and we’ll try to get in there these last three races.”
2011 FEDEX RACING – TEAM ROSTER
Crew Chief: Mike Ford – Morristown, Tenn. Front Tire Changer: Nick Krizmanich – Kenosha, Wis.
Car Chief: Chris “Spider” Gillin – Smithtown, N.Y. Front Tire Carrier: Brandon Pegram – Statesville, N.C.
Engineer: Mike Wheeler – Southholt, N.Y. Rear Tire Changer: Mike Hicks – Salisbury, N.C.
Shocks: Drew Bible – Coldwater, Mich. Rear Tire Carrier: Heath Cherry – Belmont, N.C.
Tire Specialist: Patrick Mullen – Brick, N.J. Jackman: Nate Bolling – Swanton, Ohio
Engine Tuner: Chris Woodward – Franklin, N.H. Gas Man: Scott Wood – Liberty, S.C.
Mechanic: Rick Bray – Placerville, Calif. Pit Crew Coordinator: Paul Alepa – Vienna, Va.
Mechanic: John Furino – Long Island, N.Y. JGR Athletic Director: Michael Lepp – Charlotte, N.C.
Spotter: Curtis Markham – Fredericksburg, Va.
Hauler Driver: Jerry Hess – Lancaster, Pa.
Hauler Driver: Frank Hodel – Blythe, Calif.
