Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Freight Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Race Info:
Race: TicketGuardian 500
Date/Time: March 11/3:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 312 laps/312 miles
Track Length: 1 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 9-11 degrees
2017 Winner: Ryan Newman
Express Notes:
Press Kit: Download the 2018 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Mike Wheeler and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.
Vegas Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 17th in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, unable to overcome a speeding penalty on pit road in Stage 2 in the race won by Kevin Harvick. Hamlin was one of the quickest cars throughout the day in the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, but a 19th-place starting position and mid-race penalty never allowed the team to capitalize on track position at the 1.5-mile oval. Hamlin dropped to eighth in the standings following the race at Las Vegas, 38 points behind Harvick after three of 26 regular season races.
Phoenix Preview: The Series makes its way to ISM Raceway in Phoenix (Ariz.) for the second of three stops that are a part of NASCAR’s ‘West Coast Swing.’ In 25 career starts, Hamlin has collected 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes at the one-mile oval in the desert. He rallied to a 10th-place finish at the track during last year’s spring event after a punctured tire forced him to start the race from the tail end of the field.
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 2018 NASCAR championship. New for the 2018 season, the Denny Hamlin Foundation will also match the total donation to Safe Kids Worldwide.
After three regular season races, Hamlin has led 48 laps, triggering a $5,328 donation to Safe Kids on behalf of FedEx. Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of FedExRacing.com.
Hamlin Statistics:
Track: ISM Raceway
Races: 25
Wins: 1 (2012)
Poles: 2
Top-5: 10
Top-10: 14
Laps Led: 638
Avg. Start: 11.3
Avg. Finish 11.8
Hamlin Conversation:
What are you most looking forward to this weekend at Phoenix?
“I’m obviously looking forward to Phoenix after a disappointing finish in Vegas. It was an unforced error that ultimately cost us out there, but it’s behind us, and I’m ready to move forward. Our team has high hopes for this weekend (at Phoenix), and I think we can get back into the top-five where we started this season.”
