Denny Hamlin
11 FedEx Freight Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Saturday Race Info:
Race: Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 18/7:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 500 laps/266.5 miles
Track Length: .5 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Express Notes:
Richmond Recap: Denny Hamlin dominated most of the 300-mile race at his home track of Richmond (Va.) Raceway Saturday night, but he would have needed a few more miles to chase down Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the end for the win. The Chesterfield, Va., led 197 of the 400 laps, winning the first two stages of the race. But a couple slow green-flag pit stops in Stage 3 knocked Hamlin back further in the top five, leaving him with plenty of ground to make up. He spent the final 50 laps of the race pushing his FedEx Ground Toyota as hard as he could, closing a seven-second gap behind leader Truex to just 1.5 seconds at the white flag. The final lap around the three-quarter-mile oval wasn’t enough to close the remaining gap, and Hamlin crossed the finish line in second behind Truex, collecting two playoff points for his stage wins.
Bristol Preview: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the fan-favorite Bristol Night Race on Saturday, the final event in the Playoffs Round of 16. Hamlin has two career wins at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” – both in the annual night race. Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team have already clinched a spot in the next bracket of the Playoffs, the Round of 12, but look to add to their Bristol success on Saturday night.
Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Races: 30
Wins: 2
Poles: 4
Top-5: 9
Top-10: 14
Laps Led: 829
Avg. Start: 13.2
Avg. Finish: 14.7
Hamlin Conversation – Bristol:
Knowing you’ve already clinched your spot in the Round of 12, what are your goals for the Bristol race?
“We want to win. Even though we’ve already punched our ticket into the next round, we want another win. Our team enjoyed that trip to Victory Lane a couple weeks ago, and we want to go back. Bristol is a favorite of our crew chief, Chris Gabehart, especially, and I think he wants that trophy as badly as any of us.”
The series hasn’t raced on the Bristol pavement since last year. Will the time away make it more difficult to prepare?
“Yeah, the last time we were at Bristol Motor Speedway, it was covered in dirt. So, it’s definitely a completely different race with a different type of car as we go back now for the second race this year. But Joe Gibbs Racing has a long history at that racetrack and a lot of success, so we’ll be dialed in as we always are.”
