FedEx Racing Express Facts – Pocono Raceway

FedEx Racing Express Facts – Pocono Raceway

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Ground Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Pennsylvania 400
Date/Time: July 31/1:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 160 laps/400 miles
Track Length: 2.5 miles
2015 Winner: Matt Kenseth

Brickyard Recap: Denny Hamlin finished fourth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, overcoming a mid-race speeding penalty to capture his ninth top-10 finish of the 2016 season in the #11 FedEx Express Toyota. Hamlin lined up fifth for the overtime restart at the famed 2.5-mile speedway, and picked off one spot during the two-lap shootout, barely edged by Jimmie Johnson for third in the race won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Matt Kenseth finished second. Hamlin started fourth and immediately climbed to second behind Busch in the early going. A long stretch of green flag racing through the event’s midpoint saw a handful of pit stops, and during one, Hamlin was caught speeding exiting pit road and forced to serve a pass-through penalty. The penalty dropped him back to 18th in the running order, but still on the lead lap. A rash of late-race cautions provided the FedEx team the opportunity to put on tires battle among the top-10 for the final laps.

Giving Back: Hamlin is assisting those affected by the flooding in West Virginia by delivering toys to children in Greenbrier County, W.V. on Thursday, July 28. Hamlin and fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor Kyle Larson purchased toys in Concord, N.C. on Tuesday, July 26. Hamlin will be available to the media at 5:00 p.m. ET at the main entrance of The Greenbrier resort, and will deliver toys to children from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. ET at the White Sulphur Springs, W.V. train station.

Pocono Preview: This weekend marks the 10-year anniversary of Hamlin’s sweep of the Pocono races as a rookie in 2006. After coming from the back of the field to win his first-ever Cup race in the spring event at the track, Hamlin dominated the summer event at Pocono, leading 151 of 200 laps from the pole to sweep the season’s races at the “Tricky Triangle.” Hamlin has posted 13 top-10 finishes in 21 career races at Pocono, and has led 669 laps at the track. He started 10th and finished 14th in the June race earlier this year.

Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Pocono
Races: 21
Wins: 4
Top-5: 9
Top-10: 13
Average Start: 7.0
Average Finish: 12.4
Laps Led: 669

Hamlin Conversation — POCONO:

What does the FedEx team need to do in these last few races before the Chase?

“Obviously, we still have to clean up a little bit our mistakes on pit road. In these races, you have to execute flawlessly to win, and we haven’t done that each week. We have shown the speed we need to compete for race wins and set ourselves up for the Chase, but we need to execute a little better to close races out. I’m confident that we’ll be ready to go, and Pocono has been a great place for our team in the past. Hopefully we can put it all together this weekend.”

Midwest District Along for the Ride at Pocono: The Midwest district of FedEx Ground will be recognized for extraordinary safety improvements with its district code “MWST” on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota this weekend. Operating through the Chicago hub, the Midwest district serves that metro area as well as other parts of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.