Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Office Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Race Info:
Race: Overton’s 301
Date/Time: July 16/3 PM ET
Distance: 301 Laps/301 Miles
Track Length: 1 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 7 degrees
2016 Winner: Matt Kenseth
Express Notes:
Kentucky Recap: Denny Hamlin made an impressive charge in the final laps of Saturday night’s 267-lap Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway to finish fourth in the race won by Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin pitted for four tires during the final caution as the race entered overtime. Lining up sixth for the final restart, he wasted no time when the green flag waved, and he drove three-wide to the outside as the leaders raced into Turn 1. The aggressive move paid dividends as the #11 cleared Erik Jones exiting Turn 2, and Hamlin picked up his fourth-place position coming to the line as the caution waved for an accident a few rows back, ending the race.
Hamlin started the race fifth and quickly worked his way up to third before the FedEx car was squeezed three-wide in the middle, forcing him to back out, losing all momentum and dropping him outside the top-10. With passing at a premium, the poor track position forced the FedEx team to change their race strategy taking just two tires at the first caution. By the end of Stage 1, Hamlin had worked his way up to seventh. During the stage break, the team bolted on four new tires and sent the FedEx Toyota back out sixth, but Hamlin was speeding entering his pit and was relegated to the back of the field. Hamlin pushed the #11 hard and raced his way back into the top-10, aided by solid stops from the FedEx crew. As the laps clicked, Hamlin settled into seventh during a long green flag run, and it looked like the team would have to settle for a top-10. But the late race caution gave Hamlin a much needed break that set him up for the final push in overtime, giving him his fifth top-five of the season. Hamlin’s fourth-place finish also moved him up two spots to seventh in the overall NASCAR standings, 172 points behind leader Kyle Larson.
New Hampshire Preview: The Series heads to New England for Sunday’s 301-lap race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin has a pair of wins at the “Magic Mile,” making his last appearance in New Hampshire Victory Lane in 2012. He’s also racked up eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in his 22-career starts at the track, earning himself a 10.4 average finish. One year ago at Loudon, Hamlin led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish at the one-mile track.
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.
To date, Denny has led 178 laps, and FedEx has donated $19,758 to Safe Kids through the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program. Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of FedExRacing.com.
Press Kit: Download the 2017 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Mike Wheeler and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights, statistics and 2017 crew roster.
Hamlin Statistics:
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Races: 22
Wins: 2
Top-5: 8
Top-10: 13
Poles: 0
Average Start: 10.9
Average Finish: 10.4
Laps Led: 495
Hamlin Conversation – NEW HAMPSHIRE:
You’ve notched three top-five finishes in your past four starts. Do you think you can continue that success at Loudon this weekend?
“Our program is obviously improving each weekend, and historically, we’ve performed well at New Hampshire, so I’m confident our FedEx team has what it takes to continue that success this weekend. We’re a solid contender week in and week out, we just have to get a win. It would be great if we got that win at New Hampshire.”
FedEx Office’s San Diego, California , Point Loma Team Along for the Ride at New Hampshire: For Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, FedEx Office recognizes the company’s San Diego, Calif., Point Loma team as a leading team in FedEx’s annual President’s Club program by featuring its “2701” code numbers on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota.
