Denny Hamlin and his #11 FedEx Racing team saw their bad luck at “the Monster Mile” continue to haunt them Sunday at Dover International Raceway as a promising run turned into a disappointing 36th-place finish.  Hamlin, running a strong second to eventual race-winner Jimmie Johnson, suffered a cut right-front tire on lap 231 that sent him hard into the turn-three wall.  The damage to the #11 FedEx Office Toyota was too severe to fix and the team loaded the car on the truck for the trip back to North Carolina.  Hamlin and team had a similar experience one year ago at Dover, when Hamlin was involved in an early multi-car incident at Dover and finished 43rd.


On a day that started with heavy rain showers, Hamlin’s FedEx Office Toyota and team shone bright in the early stages of the Autism Speaks 400, moving smartly from his 16th-place starting spot to inside the top -10 after just 50 laps.  A highlight of the afternoon was the lightening quick pit stops by the FedEx crew, allowing Hamlin to gain a total of nine spots on pit road over the 232 laps he completed.  On his third stop on lap 165, the crew earned five spots and moved the #11 from seventh to second – just behind Johnson for the restart.


While Hamlin’s move to second was memorable, it was Hamlin’s unfortunate hit off the turn three wall that would ultimately define the Dover experience.


“I tell you what, that was a pretty hard hit,” said a dejected Hamlin.  “I didn’t have any warning at all.  Our car was actually pretty free that run.  I pushed a little bit harder than what we had all day, but if anything we were going to be hard up on the right rear not the right front.  I think it was a freak deal.  The tire just blew out.  We made progress – my FedEx Office pit crew did an awesome job getting me up there, but I guess it’s just some more bad luck for the team.”


Asked about tire wear and if he saw the problem coming, Hamlin commented, “I just blew a right front.  We weren’t tight or anything like that.  We looked at the tire and there was no wear on it on the inside so either something punctured it or it’s a freak blowout deal with the tire.  It wasn’t with our setup or anything like that.  I had no burning, it just flat blew out.”


Hamlin entered the afternoon fifth in NASCAR Sprint Cup points and leaves Dover in seventh, 223 points behind new point leader Tony Stewart.  Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, finished 15th and 23rd, respectively.  Busch sits one spot in front of Hamlin – in sixth –in the Sprint Cup point standings while Logano is scored in 23rd place.


Early in the afternoon Hamlin fought a tight car but the team brought the issue under control through air pressure and wedge adjustments.  NASCAR threw a competition yellow on lap 30 because early morning rains had washed the rubber out of the groove and they wanted to check tire wear – at that point Hamlin had only improved one spot to 15th in the 43 car field.  But, by the next round of pit stops completed on lap 53, Hamlin was up to eighth because of great pit work and skill on the race track.


Hamlin struggled on the next stint with a tight car, falling back to 10th place, but after a very quick pit stop Hamlin was up to seventh place when the green waved again on lap 120. After battling with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a long stretch, he settled into seventh before pitting on lap 165 to make his big move off pit road into second place.


At the halfway point the running order was – Jimmie Johnson followed by Hamlin who was 6.2 seconds back, the remainder of the top five were – Martin, Edwards and Earnhardt Jr.  Johnson and Hamlin were both pulling away with Hamlin planning to make his fourth pit stop of the day on lap 250 – but, as it has gone at Dover recently, it wasn’t to be.  As Hamlin charged down the backstretch in pursuit of Johnson his right front tire failed, sending him hard into the outside wall, making major contact and destroying the right front of the car. 


Crew Chief Mike Ford ordered the #11 FedEx Office Toyota to the garage area for evaluation and after 10 minutes of scouring the front of the car it was determined that the damage was too extensive and Hamlin’s afternoon was finished.