Martinsville II: Hamlin - Friday media visit
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Impala SS, met with members of the media on racing in home state of Virginia; racing at Martinsville Speedway; on Atlanta Motor Speedway; goals in the remainder of the Chase; open wheel drivers coming in to Cup
Select quotes from driver interview:
ON WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR HIM TO WIN AT MARTINSVILLE IN HIS HOME STATE OF VIRGINIA: "We have been just short of getting that Grandfather Clock (trophy) a lot of times here. There have been a lot of opportunities. I felt like we could have gotten it in the late model series and didn't. Then, last year, in this race with Johnson (Jimmie) on the last lap. I definitely feel like we have had some slip away from us here a little bit. Eventually it will come around and we are going to us one of the Grandfather Clocks."
ON HOW YOU WILL STRATEGIZE LAST LAP PASSES AND CONTACT WITH OTHER DRIVERS BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCES WITH COT: "I think a lot of it has to do with the position in which you are in behind the guy. If you are square behind him, yes, it is going to launch the guys forward. If you are more to the left side of the guy, it can get them out of shape, so really, it really just depends on that last lap how you can position yourself to kind of get that guy out of the way. Because, really it is going to be hard to pass here clean, especially on the last lap."
ON WHAT IT IS ABOUT MARTINSVILLE HE LIKES: "It is such tight quarters, it is short track racing, you are going to run in to each other, that kind of stuff happens. It is pretty much what we all grew up on. Me especially, running so many late model races here. "
ON WATCHING JIMMIE (JOHNSON) AND JEFF GORDON BUMP AND BANG FOR WIN DURING SPRING RACE: "It was interesting, I thought I was going to put myself in a good position to win the race. Those guys have driven around each other enough to know what each other can take, there toward the end when Jeff was getting a little frustrated, I thought I was in a good spot."
ON RACING IN TRUCK RACE AT MARTINSVILLE: "It is a good one for me to run. It is a relatively easy weekend; we don't have the Busch cars here. The trucks drive very very similar to the new generation race car Impala SS, so I feel like maybe I could learn a little bit as far as handling to help me for Sunday. This is one of the very few tracks where the two drive similar enough where I feel like there is a benefit."
