As Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team debriefed following the Saturday night’s fourth-place finish in the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), they were both pleased at the night’s effort and filled with optimism ahead of the next week’s Coca-Cola 600.  The finish, earned through a strong effort from Hamlin behind the wheel, and good strategy from atop the #11 pit box, proved that the package the FedEx team prepped for the All-Star race is as competitive as anything they’ve previously put on the pavement at the hometown track.  That bodes well for the return to the Lowe’s, and points racing, in one weeks time for the Coca-Cola 600 – the longest race of the Sprint Cup Season and test of physical, mechanical and strategic endurance. 

“It was a good night for this FedEx team,” said Hamlin.  “This is the best our intermediate program has felt in a while and we learned some things we can definitely put towards the 600 next weekend.  We’re leaving here knowing that fourth place was a good night for us, but we feel really good about the bigger picture -  this car, this setup and what we can do next week when get back to points racing.”

Tony Stewart took the lead for the first time in the race with only two laps to go and held on for the win and $1,000,000 prize.  Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards joined Hamlin in the top-five. 

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Hamlin started the evening at the back of the field on account of the mechanical failure that forced the #11 FedEx team to abandon their qualifying run on Friday.   In a car equipped with a new transmission and driveshaft, Hamlin ran comfortably near the tail of the pack, getting a feel for the car through the opening 50-lap segment.    Hamlin had the #11 FedEx Express Toyota in 16^th place when crew chief Mike Ford called him onto pit road on lap 25 and looked to free up his driver with an air pressure adjustment on top of fresh tires and fuel.  He rejoined in 16^th place but took the 15^th spot from Kevin Harvick only ten laps later.

As the opening 50-lap segment ended, Hamlin ran 15^th and was still fighting a tight car so Ford ordered up significant changes when pit road opened.  Air pressure and wedge adjustments complimented the removal of a spring rubber from the left rear and the positive effects were noted by Hamlin as soon as the race went green.

Now into the second segment, a 20-lap dash, Hamlin worked his way up to 12^th-place on lap 55 when he passed his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano.

When the yellow flag waved on lap 70 to end the second segment, Hamlin hit pit road for right-side tires and fuel only, getting out quick to line up 11^th for the restart.  The tempo of the race, tepid through the opening two segments began to pick up and the first true incident of the night came on lap 72 when Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson made contact with the wall.  Hamlin earned two spots through the caution and lined up ninth for the restart on lap 75 – then took advantage of his fresh tires and heeded the urging of Ford to push forward to pass Jeff Burton and Mark Martin for eighth and seventh-place, respectively. 

When the third segment ended on lap 90, the red flag was unfurled and all of the cars hit pit road for one last opportunity to make changes before the 10-lap sprint to end the race.  Prior to the flag Hamlin radioed that he was having brake issues and when the crew went to change tires, they discovered brake fluid on the right front tire.  Further inspection revealed a leak caused by a ruptured seal.  Thankfully, the ten-minute intermission offered the team the time they desperately needed to fix the problem – in this case changing out the brake caliper at the right front.

With the brake reassembled, Hamlin restarted in seventh place and it soon became clear that the opening 90 laps were warm up laps by comparison to the final ten.  With the wick turned up, and more drivers pushing the limit and taking greater chances, spinning cars and cautions inevitably followed.

On lap 92, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon made contact and Gordon was sent spinning through the infield grass, then back across the track into the wall.  Fluid from the #24 Chevrolet covered the track and the ensuing cleanup took several laps - though during the final segment only green flag laps were counted meaning the race would restart on lap 92 with Hamlin sitting in sixth.

Another caution, this time for debris, on lap 95 had Hamlin scored in fifth.  The final five laps featured side by side racing as Stewart worked his way to the point and Hamlin claimed an impressive fourth place finish at the line.