Down Shift in Charlotte – Hamlin, FedEx Racing Finish 20th
Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing crew waited and worked patiently throughout Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Starting eleventh, but forced back in the field by the midway point of the race, the combination of smart changes and clinical driving had Denny Hamlin running in the top-five with twelve laps to go. Unfortunately, just as Denny Hamlin appeared poised to bring home a top-five finish, transmission issues that had been threatening for much of the race finally crippled the #11 under caution. The ensuing repairs forced Denny Hamlin to ride out the remainder of the race in fourth gear while mired back in the pack. He would ultimately take the checkered flag in 20th place – a disappointing end to an evening that had showed so much promise only laps earlier.
“It’s the worst kind of frustration and disappointment,” said Denny Hamlin. “We worked and worked on this FedEx Kinko’s Chevy to get it where it needed to be. We fought for position all night, so to finally get the car right and get the track position we needed only to have the transmission go is just really tough for this team to take. It looked like we might get out of here with a top-five finish and, with the cautions coming, even have a legitimate chance to race the leaders at the end but I lost the transmission and we had to come into to fix it. It’s a tough way to end for sure.”
Jeff Gordon held on for his second consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win, holding off Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch for the win. With the victory Jeff Gordon extends his points lead to 68 over Jimmie Johnson. Denny Hamlin’s 20th place finish keeps him in ninth place in the Chase standings but the gap to leader Jeff Gordon grows to 349 points.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Tony Stewart, in the thick of the Chase hunt, fought through pit road adversity to record a well-deserved seventh place finish to hold onto fourth place in the points. J.J. Yeley finished 13th on the night.
The Nextel Cup season continues next weekend when the series visits Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va. Denny Hamlin will look to rebound at a track where his record is very good, and try to improve upon recent finishes of second and third at the half-mile track.
Denny Hamlin started the night from the eleventh spot on the grid and he wasted no time pushing the #11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet into the top ten after passing Scott Riggs on lap six. He would hold the position until the second caution of the night flew on lap 22 and offered the team the opportunity to come work on a car Denny Hamlin described as free on throttle.
In the pit, crew chief Mike Ford called for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and the crew worked quick only to have the pit exit blocked by the late arriving #84 of A.J. Allmendinger. With Denny Hamlin forced to back up in hopes of finding the room to exit the pit box, several cars passed the #11 and he would line up 15th for the restart.
Finding himself bogged down in traffic, Denny Hamlin patiently waited for opportunities to gain position but was often stuck at the mercy of others and he slipped as far as 18th before working his way forward. He pushed the #11 from 18th to 12th before the #41 of Reed Sorenson found the wall in turn three and brought out the third caution of the night on lap 66.
Conscious of where the team’s pit road neighbor would be pitting, Denny Hamlin pulled into the #11 stall for tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment and slight air pressure adjustment. However, just like the previous stop, the pit exit was blocked by the incoming #84 and Denny Hamlin would again lose valuable positions when it appeared the quick work would have him out in the top ten.
Restarting 14th on lap 71, Denny Hamlin once again pushed forward and after going three wide with Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Martin gained the 12th spot on lap 84. When the caution flag came out on lap 116, Denny Hamlin ran in eleventh place and reported to the crew that the #11 FedEx Chevy was tight both through the center of the turns and back to the throttle.
Ford called him onto pit road for four tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and a very small air pressure adjustment to the right rear tire. Quick work and no obstructions had Denny Hamlin out in ninth for the restart on lap 121.
Almost immediately after the restart Denny Hamlin reported that the car was “the best we’ve been tonight” and backed up the praise on the track as he took the eighth position from Martin Truex Jr, on lap 136, a lap before the sixth caution flag of the day flew.
With only 16 laps on the tires, Ford called Denny Hamlin onto pit road for a two-tire stop and an opportunity to gain more track position but the best laid plans were again foiled as Denny Hamlin was forced to wait on exit as the #84 entered the neighboring pit box.
Restarting in 13th, Denny Hamlin once again found himself at the mercy of the pack but managed to force his way past Matt Kenseth for 12th place on lap 146. The caution on lap 150 not only brought Denny Hamlin to pit road, it brought to light a potential transmission issue when Denny Hamlin reported he was having trouble shifting into second gear. He ultimately succeeded in finding the gear, but the news certainly raised concerns on the #11 pit box.
Through a lap 176 caution and subsequent two-tire stop, Denny Hamlin drove the #11 Chevy into eleventh place before keying the radio and proclaiming “I just want to see the front tonight. It is tough back here.”
His hopes would be realized on lap 189 when the caution came out and a flawless fuel only stop pushed Denny Hamlin from ninth to fourth for the restart on lap 194. Considering Denny Hamlin had run as far back as 16th only thirty laps before, the progress was a positive sign for the #11 team.
The caution flag was out again almost immediately on lap 208 when Michael Waltrip and John Andretti made contact on the front stretch and Ford called Denny Hamlin onto pit road for four tires and fuel. Unfortunately, a slow stop saw Denny Hamlin spend nearly twenty seconds in the pit stall and he would ultimately lose fourteen spots before lining up to restart 18th on lap 217.
Through cautions on lap 223 and 231, Denny Hamlin gained several positions and by running the high line at LMS, was able to push the FedEx Chevy into 12th place. Clearly the car was coming in at the right time and the extended green flag run allowed Denny Hamlin time to find a line that worked. The team enjoyed a little luck when the caution flag flew on lap 279 catching several cars that had started green flag stops a lap down. Denny Hamlin inherited ninth place and the FedEx crew picked up two more on pit road to send Denny Hamlin out to restart seventh on lap 282.
The night was looking up as Denny Hamlin had a very good car in a very good position. Following the restart he again took the #11 up to the wall and carried huge momentum off the turns to pass Bobby Labonte for sixth, then Jeff Burton for fifth.
A caution flag on lap 323 appeared to be another stroke of luck for the team as it erased the gap opened up by the first four cars but that luck quickly turned bad when Denny Hamlin reported that he was unable to get the car into gear. Teammate J.J. Yeley dropped down to push Denny Hamlin to the entrance of pit road where the crew went to work on assessing the damage. Unfortunately, NASCAR then brought out the red flag and stopped the field on the front stretch meaning the crew could not work on the car. As soon as the red flag was lifted and the field was back under caution, the crew managed to find fourth gear and, with a push, send Denny Hamlin out to restart in 20th. On track and struggling to maintain pace speed with only fourth gear available, he had no way to accelerate quickly when the green flew and had to drop down for the restart. Denny Hamlin would eventually get the #11 up to speed but there was no opportunity to improve on his position in 20th place before the checkered waved on lap 334.
