RACE INFO:
Event: Aaron’s 499
Date/Time: Oct. 19/1 p.m. CT
2013 winner: Jamie McMurray
2013 polesitter: Aric Almirola
Distance: 188 laps/500 miles
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Banking: 33 degrees
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Denny the Deliverminator: Denny Hamlin will drive a special #11 FedEx One Rate/Deliverminator Toyota paint scheme in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The paint scheme, and accompanying firesuit, are derived from the FedEx One Rate commercial titled “Nickname” that starred Hamlin and began airing earlier this year.
Talladega Preview: Hamlin is making his 18th career Cup Series start at Talladega on Sunday, and returns to the 2.66-mile facility as the most-recent winner at the track. Hamlin led 12 laps at Talladega in May en route to victory lane, his lone win of the 2014 season. Hamlin has six top-10 finishes in 17 career starts at the restrictor-plate track. In three restrictor-plate points races this season, Hamlin has one victory, a runner-up result (Daytona 500) and a sixth-place finish (Coke Zero 400).
Charlotte Recap: The FedEx Racing Team recorded a ninth-place finish in Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hamlin battled a tight #11 FedEx Ground Toyota throughout the 334-lap event won by Kevin Harvick, falling back as far as 20th mid-race from his third-place starting position. Crew chief Darian Grubb called for a host of changes throughout the night, and the team battled back to take the race lead on Lap 272. Hamlin led 22 laps and was lined up third for the race’s final restart with two laps to go. However, contact from behind in Turn 1 sent Hamlin up the race track, and he lost a handful of spots before the checkered flag. With the finish, Hamlin dropped two spots to seventh in the Chase standings following Charlotte, 15 points behind leader Joey Logano with one race remaining in the Contender Round. Hamlin is 16 markers ahead of eighth-place Kasey Kahne.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – TALLADEGA:
What does the FedEx Team need to do to advance in the Chase this weekend at Talladega?
“Obviously, it’ll be important for us to miss the wrecks at Talladega. There is a lot of uncertainty in restrictor-plate racing, and so much is out of the drivers’ control. The racing is tight and with the intensity so high in the Chase, I think you’ll see a lot of aggressive driving as teams and drivers work different strategies to advance. Also, there are a lot of guys out of the Chase that see Talladega as an opportunity to win, which will play a factor in the race.”
