Catchfence

Denny Hamlin celebrates his TUMS Fast Relief 500 win in Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway. - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Event: AMP Energy Juice 500
Date/Time: Oct. 31, 2010/1 p.m. EST
2009 winner: Jamie McMurray
2009 polesitter: Rain
Distance: 188 laps/500 miles
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Banking: 33 degrees
Track Shape: Tri-Oval

EXPRESS NOTES:

Hamlin, FedEx Racing Storm to Martinsville Win: If Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team had scripted Sunday’s race, they would have started from the pole, led every one of the 500 laps and recorded a resounding win for the program in the middle of very tight Chase for the Sprint Cup battle.  As it happened, they didn’t lead every lap but they led the laps that mattered most as Hamlin passed Kevin Harvick for the lead with 29 laps to go, and then brought the FedEx Toyota home in first. The win marked Hamlin’s seventh of the season, fourth at Martinsville and it closed the gap to current points leader Jimmie Johnson to six points heading to Talladega Superspeedway next weekend.

Hamlin at Talladega Superspeedway: This weekend will mark Denny Hamlin’s tenth Cup start at Talladega and his 184^th career Cup start. Hamlin’s visit to Talladega this spring will certainly be scored as one that got away.  For the first 188 laps Hamlin was able to run the race he wanted, moving the #11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry in and around the draft, from deep in the pack to the lead spot, all while searching for effective partners and mapping out his strategy for the final laps. It appeared Hamlin needed only the right partner and the luck of the line for the restart to secure a first win at Talladega, however as the race went into extra time through three green-white-checkered attempts, Hamlin found himself stuck in fourth, running out of laps before he was able to catch eventual winner Kevin Harvick. A year ago, a potentially great day was spoiled by an engine parts failure on lap 137 that sent Hamlin to the garage and ultimately relegated him to a 38^th-place finish. Up until that point, Hamlin had calmly navigated the #11 Toyota to the front on five occasions to lead a total of 11 laps, all while feeling out a machine that was clearly among the best in the field. A year ago, Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team led on seven occasions for a total of 28 laps before being caught up in a multi-car incident with only seven laps to go.  Despite having a dominant car for much of the race, Hamlin was unable to make it back to the front before the checkered flag came out and was scored in 22^nd place.  Previous races at the 2.66-mile superspeedway have seen the #11 team substantially raise their game – building very good race cars and consistently leading laps. In the fall of 2008 Hamlin charged to the point and had led nine laps before his right front tire went down and sent the #11 FedEx Toyota careening into the turn two wall.  The impact forced Hamlin from the race and gave the #11 team a first-ever DNF at Talladega.  Hamlin’s #11 was the class of the field in April of 2008 as the FedEx car showed the ability to pull up to the bumper of seemingly any car on the track then, regardless of where they sat in the pack, push them all the way to the front.  A late wreck shuffled the field with 15-laps to go and Hamlin was forced to drive forward from 20th place before finishing third. In the fall of 2007 Hamlin led 40 laps before finishing fourth.  In the spring of 2007, Hamlin led 48 laps during the middle portion of the race but, as the action picked up and the cautions started flying, he was forced to pit for fuel and settle for a disappointing 21st-place finish.  In his first two Cup starts at Talladega, Hamlin recorded 21^st and 22^nd place finishes while leading one lap in each race.

Atlanta  is going “Along for the Ride” with Denny Hamlin and FedEx Racing at Talladega: The #11 FedEx Ground Toyota will carry the letters ATL on the B-posts this weekend in recognition of the FedEx National LTL Atlanta (Ga.) Hub Center.  The center provides superior pickup and delivery service for its local customers and continues to offer their customers tremendous service and reliability.

Talladega Chassis – JGR 233 and 244: The FedEx team will unload Chassis JGR 233 this weekend in Talladega. This will be the fourth consecutive start at Talladega for this car. 244 will serve as the backup this weekend – it finished 17^th in the 2010 Daytona 500.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – Talladega:

You must feel due for a win here with as well as you’ve run over the years: “Well, you can never expect anything at Talladega other than you are going to need a great car and a good amount of luck. We’ve improved so much here over the years and we now come to Talladega thinking we can run up front and our record here shows that we can. It’s a matter of getting that strategy just right so when the time comes you know you are ready to go and we just missed that window last year. If we can keep our car out of the trouble at Talladega, I think we’ll have as good of a chance as anyone to win there.”

You ran very good here in the spring.  Is there anything you can take away from that race?: “I think we had a race-winning car here in the spring and it was frustrating to finish fourth.  With the cautions and the restarts at the end we just lost those couple of spots and we couldn’t make our way back to the front.  For as good as we ran all day, it was the cautions that killed us and we really just needed one more corner and I think we could have won that race.  I couldn’t ask any more from the team, we had a great car.  It just came down to where we were when those cautions came out.  I know what I need to do this time around.”

Six points back in the points – are you consciously keeping an eye on the competition or focusing solely on running your races?: “I am doing my best to focus only on what I can do and what this team can do to put ourselves in the best possible position.  At Martinsville, I was running right there with the 48 and 29 so I had a pretty good idea of where they were and how they were running.  By the time the race was over I think I knew exactly where we were points wise.  This weekend will be different but I know that both of those guys are really good at Talladega and I expect there will be times when we are running side by side or even working together in the draft.  In the end, it’s my job to finish up front so we’ll approach this weekend like any other – put the best car out there and run our race.”

2010 FEDEX RACING – TEAM ROSTER

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.

Windshield: Bobby “Spike” Christenson – Spokane, Wash.

Mechanic:  Rick Bray – Placerville, Calif.

Mechanic: John Furino – Long Island, NY

Spotter: Curtis Markham – Fredericksburg, Va.   

Hauler Driver: Jerry Hess – Lancaster, Pa.          

Hauler Driver: Frank Hodel – Blythe, Calif.

Front Tire Changer: Jonathan Sherman – Monroe, La.      

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

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

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

Jackman: Nate Bolling – Swanton, Ohio

Motor Specialist: Chris Woodward – Franklin, NH

Gas can: Scott Wood – Liberty, S.C.

Catch Can: John Eicher – London, Ky..

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

- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing, Press Release