Fitting Finale at Homestead for Hamlin, FedEx Racing
Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing brushed aside their Chase struggles Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing third to cap the season in fine style and set their sites squarely on a championship run in 2008.
Denny Hamlin led twice for a total of 18 laps and had the #11 FedEx Express Chevy in the top-five for much of the night, always looking prepared to challenge the leaders. After a late caution reset the field with just over ten laps to go, Denny Hamlin pushed past Martin Truex, Jr to take the checkered flag in third place. Despite it being Denny Hamlin’s 12th top-ten finish of the season, it was not enough to lift him out of 12th place in the championship standings.
“It was a great way to end the season for this whole team,” said Denny Hamlin. “We were able to get back to running the way we know we are capable of, the way we haven’t been in the Chase this season. To put this #11 FedEx Chevy out front tonight and leave here with a top-three finish certainly helps look forward to next season and gets a lot of our confidence back.”
Matt Kenseth turned in a dominating performance, leading 214 of 267 laps on his way to the win. The story, however, was Jimmie Johnson capturing seventh place and claiming his second consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Tony Stewart and J.J. Yeley finished 30th and 31st, respectively, after being involved in on-track incidents. Tony Stewart finished the Chase in sixth place.
Denny Hamlin had his work cut out for him early, starting from 32nd place on the grid Sunday afternoon. However, after starting 33rd in 2006 and finishing third, there was a precedent for driving from the back to the front. There was also a strong performance in Saturday’s final practice that had Denny Hamlin and team confident that the #11 could run with the lead cars on Sunday.
From the drop of the green flag Denny Hamlin wasted no time showing what the FedEx Express Chevy could do on the progressive banking. Using both the high line along the wall, and taking advantage of an extended green flag run, Denny Hamlin knifed his way forward - picking up 15 positions in only 18 laps. Denny Hamlin ran just outside of the top ten by the time the field had reached their fuel windows and started their green flag stops. Crew Chief Mike Ford called Denny Hamlin onto pit road on lap 50, but as he reached the pit box the caution flag came out for a spin behind him. With quick direction from Ford, he passed through pit lane but didn’t stop and was able to rejoin the field under caution. When pit road opened he turned down pit road and the crew only changed tires and added fuel before sending him out restart tenth.
After an extended caution following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s lap 50 spin, Denny Hamlin worked the #11 into the top ten and set the stage for the first track position play by the FedEx team. With the caution out on lap 78 and with Denny Hamlin running seventh, Ford called for right-side tires only and the crew sent Denny Hamlin out to restart out front. Denny Hamlin led the race for six laps before Matt Kenseth’s four fresh tires allowed the #17 to pass but he held onto second place until he pitted under green on lap 131. With Denny Hamlin comfortable, the team made only a minor wedge adjustment to go with fuel and tires before sending him out to cycle through in second place.
The fourth caution of the day brought Denny Hamlin to pit road on lap 149 and the team, again, made only minor changes before sending him out to restart third on lap 152. It didn’t take long, however, for Denny Hamlin to pull up again to the bumper of leader Matt Kenseth and then take the lead from him on lap 166.
Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth then provided some of the best racing of the evening as Denny Hamlin twice held off the nearly unstoppable #17 Ford before ultimately giving way to the eventual winner on lap 166.
Denny Hamlin visited pit road under caution on lap 194 for fuel, tires and another small wedge adjustment but was still very happy with the car and urging the crew to make only minor adjustments. He restarted in fifth place but wasted no time pushing past Jeff Gordon for fourth place on lap 222, then ran to the end of his fuel window before pitting on lap 244.
He cycled through in fourth and ran in that position until the final caution of the race on lap 255 tightened the field and set up a ten-lap dash to the finish. Denny Hamlin caught and passed Truex, Jr. but he was unable to reel in the leaders. He took the checkered flag in third.
For Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team, it was a bittersweet end to a season that started brightly but featured a tough Chase run. After holding down a spot in the top five for much of the season, the win bonus dropped the #11 team to the bottom half of the Chase field. From there, bad luck took over and the team struggled down the stretch. For a third year team with a second year driver, their record of consecutive Chase appearances is a great accomplishment. The goal for next season will certainly be to compete for championship again.
“I am so proud of this team for sticking together this season and fighting to the end,” said Denny Hamlin. “We had a tough run in the Chase, but we really wanted to finish on a good note. We did that tonight and it will definitely give us some momentum as we look ahead to next season.”
