Hamlin, FedEx Racing Rebound in Kansas – Post Top-Five Finish at Kansas

Coming off a disappointing 22nd-place finish at Dover International Speedway in the second race of the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup, Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team were focused on getting back the level performance that had seen them streak into the final ten races with as much momentum as any team in the series.   Kansas Speedway offered them that opportunity on Sunday afternoon and they took full advantage as Hamlin charged forward early in the race and never looked back on his way to driving the #11 FedEx Freight Camry to a career-best fifth place finish at the 1.5-mile track.

As the laps counted down, Hamlin look poised to challenge for the win but a late caution gave all of the teams the chance to pit – undoing the #11 team’s fuel advantage – and Hamlin couldn’t chase down the leaders before the checkered flag came out.  He finished fifth on the day to claim his 11th top-five finish of the season and keep the FedEx team in the hunt for the Championship.  He now sits 99 points behind leader Mark Martin and only eight points behind Kurt Busch in fifth.

“It was a solid run for this FedEx team,” said Hamlin.  “I felt like maybe we could have finished a little better than that.  We didn’t need that caution at the end.  We got it better and better through the course of the day.  Just got on the inside line on that last restart behind the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and he was struggling with two tires.  So, that held us up for a few laps and kept us from a top-two or three finish but overall, it’s still a good day for us.”

Tony Stewart led five times for a total of 37 laps and pulled away after the final caution to claim his first win of the 2009 Chase.    Chase contenders Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya joined Hamlin in the top five, while Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished 12th and 28th, respectively.

The Chase continues next week when the teams head west from Kansas for a maiden October visit to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.  Hamlin has posted back to back top-ten finishes at Auto Club on his most recent trips to the 2.0-mile track.

Starting from the 22nd place on the grid Hamlin and the FedEx team knew they needed to make up considerable ground early in the race if they wanted to challenge the leaders, and fellow Chase contenders when the race reached its final stages.

Hamlin charged forward from the drop of the green, claiming two spots before Logano spun to bring out the first of six total cautions on the day.  Crew Chief Mike Ford kept Hamlin on the track and the driver of the #11 FedEx Freight Camry again rocketed forward when the green flag came out.

As the caution flag flew again on lap eight, Hamlin had already worked his way inside the top-twenty and when the field reached the pit window at the 51-lap mark, Hamlin ran in 15th place.

Hamlin turned onto pit road on lap 54 and the FedEx crew rattled off a quick stop for fuel, four tires and a wedge adjustment.  Up to that point, Hamlin had been fighting a car that was free in to the turns and searching for grip back to the throttle.  The team sent Hamlin back out to join the field and he cycled through in 12th place.

The third caution of the day flew on lap 68, just after Hamlin took the 11th spot from Marcos Ambrose, and the team again called him onto pit road.  After four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, Hamlin lined up 14th for the restart.

With the handling much improved, Hamlin again moved forward, working his way into the top ten for the first time on the day after passing David Reutimann on lap 79.

The caution flag came out on again on lap 127 and Hamlin stopped for four tires and fuel.   Again the team worked quick and sent Hamlin out to restart sixth on lap 131. Several teams took two tires on this stop and the #11 team paid close attention to their success for use later in the race.

The caution flag brought the teams to pit road again on lap 145 and this time the #11 team opted for only two tires and fuel and it worked to near perfection, earning Hamlin position on pit road and setting him up to work his way into the top-three – a position he held until the field again reached the pit window after the 200-lap mark.  As the cars peeled off Hamlin outlasted the leaders to lead lap 206 and claim five valuable bonus points before pulling onto pit road himself.

The team made a slight wedge adjustment to go with four tires and fuel and Hamlin cycled through in fourth place.  Shortly after the stop, Hamlin commented that the car was the best it been all day.

As Hamlin stalked the lead cars, knowing he was better on fuel than the cars ahead of him, the caution flag that the #11 team dreaded flew on lap 236.

With all of the cars on pit road, Hamlin and Ford made the decision to take four tires instead of two and the team worked quickly to send Hamlin out to restart sixth – knowing three cars ahead of him took only two tires.

Hamlin seemed to destined to take advantage of the four tire decision and, at one point, produced a stunning pass of Montoya and Kasey Kahne as he launched himself into turn one.  However, at the front of the pack, Stewart was opening an insurmountable gap and the field would eventually fall in line as the laps counted down.