RACE INFO:
Event: The John Wayne Walding 400
Date/Time: July 27/1 p.m. ET
2013 winner: Ryan Newman
2013 polesitter: Ryan Newman
Distance: 160 laps/400 miles
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Banking: 9 degrees
Track Shape: Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
New Hampshire Recap: Denny Hamlin finished eighth in the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, after being forced to pit for a splash of fuel after a late-race caution and rallying eight spots from 16th in the final two laps to the checkered flag. Hamlin was running second and saving fuel with three laps remaining until a caution for a wreck made it nearly impossible for the #11 machine to make it to the distance without more gas. Hamlin dove to pit road for four tires and fuel, but lost all of his track position. The #11 FedEx machine started the race third, and Hamlin proved to be one of the strongest cars throughout the afternoon in the 305-lap event on the flat, one-mile oval. He took the lead from teammate Kyle Busch on Lap 63, and led twice for a total of 20 laps in the race.
Varying tire strategies during pit stops shuffled Hamlin around the running order, but he was always able to move back into the top-five to challenge with the frontrunners. Crew Chief Darian Grubb called for a handful of changes in the race to give Hamlin more lateral grip in the corners, which he used to make passes in the final 100 laps of the event. Grubb kept Hamlin on the track under caution on Lap 250, and he restarted second behind Jeff Gordon, but with less fuel than the majority of lead lap cars that pitted. Keselowski used fresh tires to pass the #11 with less than 40 laps to go, and then Hamlin got around Gordon for second with less than 25 laps remaining. The finishing order was seemingly determined before the final caution on Lap 299.
Current Standing: Hamlin is currently 12th in points, 140 behind leader Jeff Gordon. Hamlin has one victory (Talladega) and two poles (Bristol and Pocono) on the season.
Indianapolis Preview: Following the final off-weekend of the season, the Series heads to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s 400-mile event on the 2.5-mile oval. Hamlin is making his ninth career start at the Brickyard, with a career-best finish of third in the 2008 event at the track, when he led 26 laps. One year ago, Hamlin qualified fourth for the race and led four laps en route to an 18th place finish in the race won by Ryan Newman.
Champaign/Urbana, Ill., Along for the Ride in Indianapolis: The #11 FedEx Express Toyota will carry the letters “CMIA” on the B-posts in recognition of the U.S. Operations team in the Champaign / Urbana market. CMIA runs the FedEx Express pickup and delivery operations for the customers in east-central Illinois. They are being recognized for outstanding performance and have won their District’s Station of the Year Award for four (4) consecutive years.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – INDIANAPOLIS:
What are the keys to success at Indianapolis?
“I’m always excited leading into the Indy weekend, with it being such a historic track and to get back to racing after the off weekend, Our FedEx team is anxious to get our first win here and we’re going to work as hard as we can to put ourselves in a position to compete with the frontrunners. This is definitely one of the more unique tracks in NASCAR and one where we’ve run pretty well over the years, including the pole in 2012. Now we’re just working to push ourselves a little more to get to that next level and finish as strong as we can.”
