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Watkins Glen Post Race Report Bad Luck Relegates Hamlin to 37th Place Finish at Watkins Glen

Denny Hamlin piloted the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota to a frustrating 37th place finish on the road course at Watkins Glen International. Hamlin was unable to avoid a spinout by Jimmie Johnson with 20 laps remaining in the race and the contact resulted in heavy damage to the front end of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, leaving the team unable to finish the race.

“It’s frustrating on a day when you probably have a top 10 car, to run into some bad luck like this, Hamlin said. “We went into Watkins Glen hoping for a strong finish to give us a boost in the points standings, so this is obviously a disappointment. But now our focus turns to Michigan next week.”

Juan Pablo Montoya claimed the checkered flag, posting his second career Sprint Cup win. Kurt Busch followed Montoya in second place, with Marcos Ambrose, A.J. Allmendinger and Carl Edwards rounding out the top five. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished eighth and 33rd, respectively.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway next week with just four remaining races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The FedEx team came into Watkins Glen confident after earning top 10 finishes in four previous starts, including a second place finish last season. The team also knew the 11-turn, 2.45-mile road course presents many uncertainties with 43 cars in the field and a variety of strategies in play.

Hamlin started the day on the outside of row seven in the 14th position, but quickly worked his way up to seventh place. Pit strategy and preserving fuel mileage are keys to winning on the twists and turns of Watkins Glen. On lap 27, Crew Chief Mike Ford made the strategic decision to pit before the majority of the field, taking four tires and fuel.

As more cars came into pit, Hamlin regained seventh place and maintained a top 10 position until the second caution of the day came out on lap 41. During the caution, Hamlin radioed Ford to let him know the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota was freeing up on the exits of the turns. Despite being loose, Hamlin and Ford agreed to keep the car on the track to preserve position.

Hamlin continued to battle through tight road course racing and kept the #11 FedEx car in contention as he came into pit on lap 58 for four tires, fuel, a clean grille and small air pressure adjustments to all four tires. Again preempting much of the field in pitting, Hamlin came out in 31st place.

Shortly after pitting, the caution flag was back out for debris on the track. The goal now was to conserve fuel and attempt to remain on the track for the duration of the race. A flurry of pit stops under caution, pushed the #11 car up to 19th place.

With 25 laps to go, the green flag waved over the straightaway. Hamlin quickly worked his way up the field and back into contention in 12th place to only see yet another yellow flag come out. Three laps later, on lap 70, the field was green and fans came to their feet.

Just after restarting, Jimmie Johnson got loose on turn 11 and spun out and into the wall. Hamlin, trailing Johnson by a few car lengths, was unable to avoid the 48 car, abruptly ending the day for the FedEx team.