Catchfence

NSCS Denny Hamlin - Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Race Notes:

• Denny Hamlin will make his 176^th career Sprint Cup Series this weekend when he climbs behind the wheel of the #11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

• Welcome Sport Clips!: Sport Clips will serve as the primary sponsor of the #11 Toyota this weekend at Atlanta.  It is the first time the long-time Joe Gibbs Racing partner in the Nationwide Series has sponsored a Sprint Cup Car.  Sport Clips is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas with more than 700 Sport Clips locations in 38 states. The franchise ranked in the top 100 overall and top 50 in growth for the sixth straight year in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Franchise 500.”

§     Sunday night’s race at AMS marks Hamlin’s 11^th Cup start at the 1.55-mile track.  To date, he has recorded one top-five and three top-ten finishes at Atlanta.  His best finish came in the fall of 2008 when he led 56 laps on his way to a third-place finish

• Earlier this season: Hamlin led on five occasions for 32 laps before a cut tire as the laps counted down forced him to pit and finish a disappointing 21^st on the day

• Spring vs. Fall: Hamlin’s average finish in the fall race at Atlanta (12.0) is a nearly eight full positions better than his average finish in the Spring (19.8)

• Hamlin and team are looking to reverse a current run of finishes that has kept them out of Victory Lane after reeling off a series-leading five wins in the first half of the season.

• Green flag for the Emory Heathcare 500 will drop at 7:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on ESPN Television and PRN.

Hamlin on Racing at Atlanta:

“Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks, even though it’s a place where we haven’t really had the chance to show our best. The track as a ton of history and it’s a place where drivers have to prove themselves because it is so big and really, really fast.  It took me a few races to feel as comfortable as I do now, but you can’t ever get too comfortable here because it’s a hard place to master. As a team, I know we bring really good cars to Atlanta and we’ve shown we can run up front here, it’s just having track position when it matters.  We want to qualify well and I think if we can get our car right and continue to be good on pit road there is no reason we can’t be fighting for a win at the end.”

“With one race before the Chase cutoff we just want to go out and try to add a win and that (Chase) bonus that comes with it. We are in a good position but we want more and think this will be a good weekend for us. Obviously heading to Richmond next weekend, which is a home track for me, and a place where we’ve had success in the past, we know we have a big opportunity to go into the Chase with some momentum.”

“It’s exciting to have Sport Clips on board this weekend. They have been with Gibbs for a while now supporting the Nationwide teams and they’ve had a lot of success there.  I am hoping to give them a good race this weekend on the Cup side – would be fun to celebrate with them on Sunday night.”

#11 Team Roster:

Driver: Denny Hamlin – Chesterfield, Va.

Crew Chief: Mike Ford – Morristown, Tenn.

Car Chief: Chris “Spider” Gillin – Smithtown, NY                                                .

Shocks: Tim Sparkman – St. Louis, Mo.

Engineer: Mike Wheeler – Southholt, NY

Tire Specialist: Patrick Mullen – Brick, N.J.

Mechanic: Rick Bray – Placerville, Calif.

Spotter: Curtis Markham – Fredericksburg, Va.

Engine Specialist: Chris Woodward – Franklin, NH

Mechanic: John Furino – Long Island, NY

Hauler Driver: Jerry Hess – Lancaster, Pa.

Hauler Driver: Frank Hodel – Blythe, Calif.

Front Tire Changer: Mike Hicks – Salisbury, N.C.

Front Tire Carrier: Brandon Pegram – Statesville, N.C

Rear Tire Changer: Jonathan Sherman – Monroe, La.

Rear Tire Carrier: Heath Cherry – Belmont, N.C.

Jackman: Nate Bolling – Swanton, Ohio

Catch Can: John Eicher – London, Ky.

Gas can: Scott Wood – Liberty, S.C.

JGR Athletic Director: Michael Lepp – Charlotte, N.C.

- Joe Gibbs Racing, Press Release