Catchfence

Denny Hamlin

Event:Heluva Good! At The Glen
Date/Time: Aug. 14/1:00 p.m. ET
2010 winner: Juan Pablo Montoya
2010 polesitter: Carl Edwards
Distance: 90 laps/220.5 miles
Track Length: 2.45 miles
Turns: 11 turns
Track Type: Road Course

EXPRESS NOTES:

Pocono Recap:Denny Hamlin led a race-high 65 (of 200) laps Sunday at Pocono Raceway, but a lengthy final pit stop relegated the FedEx Racing team to a 15th-place finish. Hamlin — a four-time winner at Pocono — started sixth and quickly worked up to the front on the 2.5-mile ‘Tricky Triangle.’ The 30-year-old Virginian took the lead on Lap 25 and led 65 of the next 77 circuits during a long green flag run just prior to the race’s midpoint. The caution flag flew on Lap 101, and differing tire strategies shuffled the #11 Toyota back in the running order. With rain looming, Hamlin maintained third-place behind leader — and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate — Joey Logano, and when the skies finally opened up on Lap 125, the red flag came out, lasting nearly two hours. When officials dried the track, Hamlin came to pit road for fuel, tires and adjustments, maintaining pace in the top-10. As the laps clicked, Hamlin battled a loose race car in traffic, pitting twice under green just inside the team’s fuel window to make it the distance. The event’s final caution flag flew on Lap 181 with Hamlin running seventh. Crew chief Mike Ford called Hamlin to the pits for two tires, hoping the fresh rubber and double-file restart would catapult the team into contention for the win. However, a hang-up on the right-rear tire during the stop kept the #11 machine in the pits longer than expected, returning in 17th-place. Hamlin was able to make up two spots in the final 15 laps to finish 15th. The result kept Hamlin 11th in the NASCAR point standings following Pocono, 102 points behind leader Carl Edwards after 21 of 26 ‘regular season’ races. Hamlin continues to hold one of two Chase ‘wild card’ spots, alongside Pocono winner Brad Keselowski.

Watkins Glen Preview: The Sprint Cup Series shifts to upstate New York for the season’s second and final road course event, Sunday at Watkins Glen International. Hamlin is making his sixth-career Cup start at the 2.45-mile, 11-turn circuit, looking to avenge a crash one year ago that led to a 37th-place finish. Hamlin finished in the top-10 in his first four trips to The Glen, including a career-best runner-up result in 2007. He finished eighth in 2008 and owns a pair of 10th-place finishes — in 2006 and 2009. In five events, the FedEx team has never started worse than 14th, including an outside pole run in 2007 and third-place starting position in 2009. Hamlin qualified fourth and led 12 laps earlier this season on the road course at Infineon Raceway.

FedEx Office – Closest to Watkins Glen International: 605 W. State St., Ithaca, NY 14850, (607) 272-0202

Gulf Coast Along for the Ride in Watkins Glen: The Gulf Coast FedEx Ground district covering parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and the Texas coastline will be recognized with its “GCST” code letters on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota this weekend.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – Watkins Glen International:

What are you expecting to see at Watkins Glen this weekend?
“I think this weekend will be a crazy race for a lot of reasons. Many of the guys outside the top-10 will be looking to do anything to get that first or second win, the road course guys will be in the mix and battling, and the guys at the back half of the top-10 will try to avoid the madness and get a good finish. As we saw in Sonoma earlier this year, guys drive very aggressive on these road courses, and with the new ‘wild card’ format for the Chase, anything is possible. Our team is in a position where a string of good finishes can get us back into the top-10, and a second win would put us in good shape for a ‘wild card’ spot. Watkins Glen has been a good track for us in the past, and our road course cars have been pretty fast lately. We had a good car in Sonoma, and I’m expecting another fast car this weekend. We’ll see how it shakes out.”

What are the keys to success at Watkins Glen?
“Compared to Sonoma, the Glen is a lot faster. You need to be smart with the brakes, especially running down into turn one where you have your main opportunity for passing, and it’s a place where you are carrying a bunch of speed. You are working to get the car slowed down and trying to turn as all of that weight is shifting to the front of the car under braking. Getting that brake balance right is really important, and like Sonoma, fuel strategy is big, too.”

- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing, Press Release