RACE INFO: Event: Samsung Mobile 500
Date/Time: April 14/6:30 p.m. CT
2011 winner: Matt Kenseth
2011 polesitter: David Ragan
Distance: 334/501 laps
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 24 degrees
Track Shape: Quad Oval
EXPRESS NOTES: Martinsville Recap: Denny Hamlin finished sixth in the most-recent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (April 1), leading 31 laps and avoiding a late-race incident en route to the checkered flag in the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota. A four-time Martinsville winner, Hamlin started third but battled a tight condition throughout the 515-lap event won by Ryan Newman. Hamlin took the lead after a pit stop on Lap 363 and led the next 30 laps before the car’s handling went away and he slipped back to 10th on the long green flag run, before a caution came out with three laps remaining to set up a ‘green-white-checkered’ finish. A multi-car incident involving the leaders in Turn 1 on the first attempt brought out another yellow, as Hamlin was able to avoid trouble. He restarted and finished sixth after the second attempt. Crew chief Darian Grubb and the FedEx crew worked throughout pit stops on the half-mile track to try and free up the #11 machine for Hamlin, but it never responded. Hamlin ran in the top-10 throughout the race in his home state and recorded his 12th top-10 finish in 14 races at Martinsville. The finish kept Hamlin seventh in the NASCAR standings, 16 points behind leader Greg Biffle after six of 26 regular season races.
Racing for a Cause in Texas: Hamlin will race a special #11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota paint scheme this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. FedEx has donated a paint scheme to the organization in each of the past five seasons to help raise awareness for March for Babies walks that occur in 900 communities nationwide — including the Dallas/Fort Worth-area — in late-April. In addition, Hamlin will be accompanied by a special guest at the track — six-year-old Kieran Wittstruck. Kieran was born two months premature, but has grown into a healthy young boy with help from the March of Dimes.
Hamlin is a two-time winner at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth facility, sweeping the races at the track in the 2010 season. He led the final 12 laps in the rain-delayed spring race two years ago en route to victory lane, just three weeks removed from reconstructive knee surgery. In the 2010 Chase race at Texas, Hamlin led 31 laps to take the checkered flag first and take over the points lead with just two races remaining. Hamlin will be making his 14th-career start at Texas on Saturday night, a place where he has eight top-10 finishes in 13 races. He finished 15th and 20th at Texas in the spring and fall races last season, respectively.
Race Series Date Start Finish Laps Led AAA 500 Sprint Cup Nov. 6, 2011 28 20 333/334 Samsung 500 Sprint Cup April 9, 2011 23 15 333/334 AAA 500 Sprint Cup Nov. 7, 2010 30 1 334/334 31 Samsung 500 Sprint Cup April 19, 2010 29 1 334/334 12 Dickies 500 Sprint Cup Nov. 8, 2009 25 2 334/334 2 Samsung 500 Sprint Cup April 5, 2009 22 12 334/334 Dickies 500 Sprint Cup Nov. 2, 2008 17 17 333/334 Samsung 500 Sprint Cup April 6, 2008 14 5 339/339 Dickies 500 Nextel Cup Nov. 4, 2007 7 29 324/334 45 Samsung 500 Nextel Cup April 15, 2007 7 9 334/334 Dickies 500 Nextel Cup Nov. 5, 2006 6 10 339/339 Samsung 500 Nextel Cup April 9, 2006 8 4 334/334 41 Dickies 500 Nextel Cup Nov. 6, 2005 14 7 334/334 Averages/Totals
17.7 10.2 99.7% 131
Texas North Sales Team Along for the Ride at Texas Motor Speedway: The FedEx Office Texas North Sales Team will be recognized with its code “7372” on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas North is the leading Sales team in the annual FedEx President’s Club program, and attributes its success to its focus on creating solutions to meet their customers’ needs.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – Texas Motor Speedway: What does it mean to you to represent the March of Dimes this weekend? “This is the fifth year that we have had the March of Dimes paint scheme on our #11 FedEx car, and I’m proud to help represent such a great organization. They do so much work for premature babies to help them grow up to be healthy children and adults. Getting to know some of the kids and families over the years makes me appreciate how fortunate we are in the NASCAR community, and it gives me the added boost to go out there and give them a great finish.”
2012 FEDEX RACING TEAM – SEASON RESULTS DATE EVENT LOCATION START FINISH LAPS STATUS WINNINGS LED PTS TREND Feb. 27 Daytona 500 Daytona 31 4 202/202 Running $702,091 57 4th March 4 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix 13 1 312/312 Running $238,016 61 1st March 11 Kobalt Tools 400 Las Vegas 17 20 267/267 Running $140,321 3rd March 18 Food City 500 Bristol 20 20 498/500 Running $132,901 5th March 25 Auto Club 500 California 1 11 129/129 Running $149,771 2 7th April 1 Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Martinsville 3 6 515/515 Running $128,101 31 7th Averages/Totals 14.2 10.3 99.9% $1,491,201 151
