On paper, starting fourth and finishing fifth could seem like a quiet night, but it was anything but for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Freight team at Chicagoland Speedway.  Hamlin and the team put together an excellent drive and took advantage of great pit stops and strong restarts to continue a mid-season surge and earn a fourth top-five finish in the last five weeks.


Mark Martin led 195 laps to claim his fourth win in 2009 and visit victory lane for the 39th time in his career. Following Martin across the line and filling out the top five with Hamlin were Gordon, Kahne and points leader Tony Stewart.


Hamlin led the Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in Chicago with his fifth-place finish.  Rookie Joey Logano finished 18th while Kyle Busch came home 33rd on the day.  By virtue of his finish, Hamlin gains one spot and now sits fifth in NASCAR Sprint Cup points going into the off weekend before heading to the Brickyard in Indianapolis in two weeks time.


“We gave ourselves a chance,” said Hamlin about the second to last restart. “We got into the 5 (Mark Martin) and the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) there on that restart.  The 83 (Brian Vickers) got a little loose under me and got us up the track but that’s part of it.  That’s double file restarts for you right there – that’s what the fans came to see.  It was definitely an exciting finish.  The FedEx Freight pit crew was great all night – We’re going to try our best with the FedEx team to keep digging.  If we keep getting stronger runs like this, we’ll find ourselves in championship contention.”


Hamlin started from the outside of the second row and almost immediately began to fight a “tight” car.  By lap 35 he had dropped back to eighth place.  Thankfully the yellow flew on lap 39 and a lap later Hamlin pitted for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustment.  He entered pit road in eighth and, after a great stop by the FedEx crew, restarted fourth on lap 44.  This would be the first of many quick pit stops over the course of the night.


Once again Hamlin fought handling, this time “loose,” and at the 75-lap mark he had dropped back to seventh place – ten seconds behind leader Martin, Johnson and Vickers.  20 laps later Hamlin pitted for the second time and Mike Ford and the crew made a wedge adjustment, took on fuel and four tires and got Hamlin out quickly again to restart seventh.


On lap 107 Hamlin reported “the car is freed-up but bouncing the front tires – too loose.”  He continued to struggle, dropping to a race low 11th spot on lap 125 before the cool night air and changes to the car began to yield very positive results.


After a pit stop on lap 136, and only the second restart of the night, Hamlin moved smartly from 11th to seventh by passing both Gordon and Carl Edwards for position.  By lap 160 Hamlin had battled up to 5th place.  With 100 laps to go the running order was Martin, Johnson, Kahne, Stewart and Hamlin.


The fourth pit stop of the night came on lap 185 and saw track bar and wedge adjustments to Hamlin’s FedEx Freight Toyota.  A quick pit stop moved Denny from fifth to third position – a spot on the track he would hold until the restart on lap 224 when the action picked up considerably.


On lap 224 Vickers passed Hamlin to gain the fourth spot.  Hamlin would hold that spot through a restart on lap 232 and then through the eighth caution of the night on lap 246, Hamlin stayed out while some mid-pack cars pitted and an excellent restart saw the Chesterfield (Va.) native jump from fourth to second on lap 250 passing Johnson and Martin.  Hamlin fought side-by-side with Vickers for a lap before Martin slid by the pair to assume the lead with Hamlin then running second, Kahne third and Gordon fourth.


On lap 258, with Gordon running on newer tires, the #24 Chevrolet passed Hamlin for the second spot.  Kyle Bush brought out the final caution of the night setting Hamlin up for the chance of one last shot to pass the leaders on a restart – but it wasn’t to be as the cars behind him with newer tires snuck by in the remaining laps.


Hamlin improves one spot to fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings leaving Chicago.  The series moves just to the east in two weeks when the stock cars visit Indianapolios Motor Speedway.  Indy has been a very good track for Hamlin and the #11 team – and they certainly think a win is within their reach.


“I’m excited to get back to Indy.  We’ve run so strong there.  We give ourselves the chance to win there each time but just come up a little short.  I’m proud of our FedEx team and proud to go back there and be on these strings of top-fives and give us a little bit of a comfort level once we go there.”