Michigan Post Race Report
Hamlin, FedEx Racing Finish 35th After Brushing the Wall at Michigan
Denny Hamlin drove the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota to a 35th place finish for the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. Contact with the wall with 78 laps to go sent the FedEx car to the garage for repairs and out of contention.
"It's frustrating to have this finish, especially so close to the start of the Chase, when I felt like we had a good car coming in," said Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota. "As a team, we need to regroup and really focus on the next three races and do whatever it takes to ensure our place in the Chase."
Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch took the checkered flag for his fourth win of the season. Busch was followed closely by Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski, with Mark Martin and Ryan Newman rounding out the top five finishers. Hamlin's other teammate, Joey Logano, finished in 21st place.
Beginning the day on the outside of row two, the FedEx team felt they had a car that could compete for the win. Hamlin has two previous Sprint Cup wins at Michigan, including claiming the checkered flag at the June race.
However, handling issues appeared early in the race, and turned out to plague the team for most of the day.
Lap 31 brought the first opportunity to pit with a caution flag waving over the infield. Crew Chief Mike Ford called the FedEx car to the pits for four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment to help free-up the handling. When the green flag dropped on lap 35, Hamlin filtered out in eighth place.
Unable to fully correct the handling issue on the car, Hamlin quickly began to lose position. By lap 88 and the third pit stop, the FedEx team had fallen to 17th place.
A caution flag on lap 102 was a welcome opportunity to pit and address a tight race car. This time, Ford called for a track bar adjustment to go along with four tires and fuel. Hamlin was running in 14th place as green flag racing returned on lap 108.
Despite the best efforts of the team, a loose race car forced Hamlin to clip the wall on turns one and two of lap 122. The resulting damage required Hamlin to bring the car to the pits. Uncertain of the full extent of the damage, the team put on four fresh tires and got the car back out on the track. But lap 130 abruptly returned Hamlin to pit road with a blown-out right front tire.
The team then rushed the car to the garages to make repairs to the right front wheel well of the car. Quick work by the crew got the car back out onto the raceway with 47 laps remaining.
The FedEx team was now down 15 laps and fought to maintain the best possible scenario of a 35th place finish.
With the finish, Hamlin is 14th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, and still holding one of the wild card spots based on wins. The FedEx team looks to rally next weekend at Bristol with three races remaining before the Chase field is set.
