FedEx Racing Express Facts — Bristol Motor Speedway

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Freight Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Food City 500
Date/Time: April 23/2 p.m. ET
Distance: 500 Laps/266.5 Miles
Track Length: 0.533 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 24-28 degrees
2016 Winner: Carl Edwards

Express Notes:

Texas Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 25th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the newly repaved Texas Motor Speedway, battling an ill-handling #11 FedEx Office Toyota throughout the 334-lap event won by Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin started 17th on the inside row for Sunday’s event, and immediately started fighting a tight race car when the field took the green flag. The FedEx crew took advantage of the mandatory Stage cautions throughout the race to earn him positions on pit road during the 500-mile event, but Hamlin found himself forced into the outside groove during the restarts, causing undesirable racing conditions including a right-front vibration and little grip on the 1.5-mile speedway. Hamlin remains 16th in the NASCAR standings following the race at Texas.

Bristol Preview: The Series gets ready to go short-track racing at Bristol Motor Speedway for Sunday’s 500-lap event on the high-banked concrete oval. In 22 starts at the Tennessee bullring, Hamlin has one win, six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, and has earned himself three pole starting positions. Hamlin finished last year’s spring race in 20th after sustaining damage to the #11 FedEx Toyota during two separate on-track incidents.

Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares: This season, FedEx is tying the performance of the #11 FedEx Toyota on the track to its efforts to improve road safety through a new program, Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares, by donating $111 for each lap Hamlin leads and $11,000 for each race victory to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. FedEx will also contribute $111,000 to Safe Kids if the #11 team wins the 2017 NASCAR championship.

Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of FedExRacing.com. To date, FedEx has donated $3,108 to Safe Kids through the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program.

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway

Races: 22

Wins: 1

Top-5: 6

Top-10: 10

Poles:  3 (tied for career-best)

Average Start: 14.5

Average Finish: 16.2

Laps Led: 597

Hamlin Conversation – BRISTOL:

You tend to favor short track racing. How does that play to your advantage at Bristol?

“I’m definitely feeling refreshed after the off weekend and ready to get back on track, especially at a place where our FedEx team has seen success before. I obviously enjoy short track racing, and Bristol is somewhere I feel confident in contending for a win, so long as we can stay clear of any trouble in the early stages of the race.”

Knoxville, TN Team Along for the Ride at Bristol: The Knoxville, Tennessee  FedEx Freight service center will be recognized for their commitment to making every FedEx experience outstanding by having its “KNX” code letters on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

FedEx Office – Closest to Bristol Motor Speedway: 2116 N. Roan St., Suite 1A, Johnson City, TN 37601, (423.283.9503)