Phoenix Post Race Report
FedEx Freight Team Delivers 11th-Place Result in Phoenix
The #11 FedEx Freight team battled its race car throughout Sunday's 312-lap event at Phoenix International Raceway, as Denny Hamlin drove the Toyota Camry to an 11th-place finish behind race winner Jeff Gordon.
It was a fairly uneventful day for the #11 team, spending the majority of the race between eighth and 13th in the running order after a 12th-place starting spot. Crew chief Mike Ford made one final attempt to bring the car to life during the final caution, changing tire pressures before the last restart with 20 laps to go, but the car didn't respond and settled in 11th.
The car seemed at its best early on, as Hamlin moved quickly into the top-10 at the drop of the green flag. Closer to the front with cleaner air on the nose of the car, Hamlin was able to maneuver around the one-mile race track with ease, passing Kurt Busch for the lead on lap 32 and leading four laps before a caution.
Thirty laps later, Hamlin narrowly avoided a 14-car melee when Brian Vickers spun off turn 2 in front of the field, collecting a host of race contenders. The #11 Camry came out fairly unscathed, with only minimal rear damage.
Ford kept the #11 Camry on the track during the caution to inherit the lead, but a loose race car on the ensuing restart and older tires than the leaders kept Hamlin from getting nestled in the top-five.
Hamlin led twice for a total of nine laps in the race, but was unable to get the car ideal to challenge for the win, spending the last half of the race in the back half of the top-10.
Gordon passed Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with eight laps remaining for the victory -- the first in 66 races for the four-time Cup champion.
Hamlin climbed five spots in the unofficial Sprint Cup Series standings following Phoenix, 22 points behind leader Busch.
The FedEx team heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a 400-mile event on Sunday, March 6.
