After starting 16th and driving his way to the lead  just before the 50-lap mark of Sunday’s Carfax 400,  Denny Hamlin and the #11  FedEx Office Toyota claimed a well-deserved tenth-place finish on Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway.  The result sees Hamlin hold on to fifth place in NASCAR Sprint Cup points, only nine points behind Carl Edwards in fourth place, as the Chase grows ever closer and the teams gear up for the always exciting Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.


"We fought the balance of the car all day and then we got caught in fuel mileage game – but that always happens at Michigan,” said Hamlin standing in the garage area after the race.  “I was going as fast as I could in the FedEx Office Toyota after the final restart, I knew I had plenty of fuel and others needed to save but we just ran out of laps.  Tenth was good for points, you always want to win but to put the FedEx Office Toyota in a safer spot in the standing going into the Chase - that is what matters, if you can't bring it home first.  We were loose, Mike and the team tried to make the right adjustments - we just kept chasing it but never got it quite right.  We were second at Bristol in the spring and hopefully you'll see the FedEx Toyota up front again in a few days."


Pole sitter Brian Vickers came home first as Jimmie Johnson, leading the final segment of the race, ran out of fuel for the second straight race at MIS.  Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five while Johnson, who led a race-high 133 laps, finished 33rd.


Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finished seventh and 23rd, respectively.  Busch, seeking to drive his way back into Chase contention, now sits in 15th place only 70 points out of 12th place.


Hamlin fought a loose car all afternoon and tried to find the balance but it was a never-ending battle as the car and track changed dramatically over 200 laps.  Starting in 16th Hamlin smartly moved to eighth just before rain fell and the event was red flagged after only eight laps.  The drivers had to wait just under 19 minutes before they could resume battle on the track and when the event restarted Hamlin quickly drove up to fourth place.  As the sun came out from behind the clouds and heat the track, Hamlin began to deal with handling problems – first tight then loose.


Hamlin’s first pit stop came on lap 41 for four tires, fuel, and both air pressure and wedge adjustments, and he would leave the pits to cycle through in third place. After the rest of the field pitted, Hamlin assumed the lead on the lap 47 restart to lead two laps and pick-up the five bonus points.


At the 50 lap mark Jimmie Johnson led with Mark Martin second, Hamlin third, and eventual race winner Vickers running in the fourth spot.


Hamlin continued to battle handling and slowly fell back in the field before being shuffled even further back after taking four tires on his next stop – while many others took only two.  After his third stop on lap 96 Hamlin was running ninth and Mike Ford and the FedEx Office team continued to evaluate Hamlin’s on track handling problems as the second half of the event began.


On lap 127 Hamlin reported “a vibration on the right side” and slowed as he had problems with his right front tire.  Fortunately, only four laps later the yellow flag came out, allowing Hamlin to turn onto pit road but the stop dropped him to 18th place.  Rain fell again as the race reached lap 145, but it was not enough to cover the track and NASCAR did not suspend the race.


Most of the leaders pitted on lap 149 but Hamlin stayed out, having pitted on lap 127, knowing it was highly unlikely he could make it to the end of the race on fuel.  With the others making what they hoped would be their final stops, Hamlin moved form 16th to second place on the track.


On the restart with 48 laps to go, Hamlin ran in second place but couldn’t hold off the cars on newer tires that eventually passed and dropped the FedEx Camry to seventh.  Hamlin’s final stop for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment came on lap 159.  He entered the pits running seventh and left the pits in 22nd – behind many of the cars that had pitted on lap 149.  Hamlin, however, had enough fuel to make the end while others had to conserve.


Hamlin steadily moved up, running all out while others saved and saved in hopes of getting to the end.  From the final restart on lap 161 to lap 200 Hamlin improved 12 spots to finish tenth at the stripe.