Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track that boasts over 100 years of racing history, was a place Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Office team wanted to forget at the conclusion of Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.


After starting 14th and showing early on that he had the car capable of being a factor in the 400-mile race, Hamlin’s day unraveled when he pitted for the first time on the afternoon.  After the #11 FedEx team made changes, Hamlin’s car broke a drive shaft on exit from pit road.  In addition, the shifter broke off the transmission leaving Hamlin not only unable to shift, but physically holding the shifter in his right hand.


The Chesterfield (Va.) native coasted around the 2.5-mile track and into the garage where crew chief Mike Ford and the FedEx Office crew replaced the drive shaft and shifter in less than 20 minutes but lost 16 laps on the track to the leader in the process.  The setback essentially ended Hamlin’s day at Indy.


When the checkered flag brought the event to an end Hamlin was scored in 34th place, 16 laps behind winner Jimmie Johnson who benefitted from a Juan Pablo Montoya pit road speeding penalty to capture his third Brickyard 400.


“It was a really long day for the FedEx Office team,” said Hamlin looking at his car after the race.  “We broke a drive shaft coming out of the pits after the first stop.  The drive shaft broke and the shifter broke apart from the transmission – I was holding the shifter in my hand.  We were starting to move through the field slowly and then it all ended – just like that.  The FedEx Office crew fixed the problem back in the garage but we were too many laps down.”


Hamlin would continue to run until the end, working through a number of changes and gathering valuable car notes for the 2010 Brickyard 400.  He picked up several spots as other drivers dropped out of the event.


Despite his finish, Hamlin lost only one spot in NASCAR Sprint Cup points, dropping to the sixth position behind current point leader Tony Stewart who finished third on Sunday.


“You just can’t ever lock yourself into the Chase,” said Hamlin.  “It was good to only lose one spot in points.  After we fixed the drive shaft we ran well but we were way behind and out of it.  Our luck at Pocono has to be better than here.”


Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finished 12th and 38th, respectively, and are scored 19th and 14th in Sprint Cup points heading into Pocono next weekend.


The Sprint Cup Series continues next weekend when the teams head to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (Pa.) for the running of the Pennsylvania 500.  It’s the second time the Series will be at Pocono this summer and Hamlin will be looking to avoid the mechanical problems that knocked him from the race just after taking the green flag on lap one.