Hamlin, FedEx Racing Struggle at Dover
If Dover International has been an Achilles heel for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team in the past, Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at the “Monster Mile” might just be chalked up as a stubbed toe.  Hamlin fought handling issues all race long and, despite best efforts of driver and crew alike, he was never able to challenge his fellow Chase contenders as he drove the FedEx Ground Camry to a 22nd place finish in the AAA 400.  The result sees Hamlin drop from third to sixth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings heading to Kansas.  He currently trails leader Mark Martin by 108 points and sits only two points behind Tony Stewart in fifth.


Hamlin at Kansas Speedway - Back Where it All Began
This weekend will mark Denny Hamlin's fifth Cup start at Kansas Speedway, his 144th career Cup start, and a return to the site of Hamlin's Cup Series debut four years ago this weekend. Through three Chase starts at Kansas, Hamlin has yet to finish in the top-ten but those finishes aren’t necessarily indicative of overall performance.  Last season, despite starting deep in the field, the FedEx team made continual gains on the car but never found the exact balance they needed to compete with the leaders.  They did, however, fight their way forward from 30th place into the top-ten with just over 30 laps before taking the checkered flag in 11th place.  In 2007, Hamlin had a promising run derailed when collected in a lap-184 wreck.  After enduring long delays for rain, Hamlin had the #11 car inside of the top-15 but the incident forced him back in the pack and he finished 29th.  In 2006, Hamlin and team suffered through a pit-road speeding penalty on lap 146 and a loose wheel on lap 209 before ultimately finishing 18th.  In September of 2005, with the #11 team struggling to find success and consistency, J.D. Gibbs, President of Joe Gibbs Racing, offered his then Busch Series driver Hamlin the opportunity to make his first Cup start.  After turning heads with a top-ten qualifying lap, Hamlin ran competitively until being forced two laps down by a cut tire and eventually finishing 32nd.


Kansas Chassis – JGR 256 and 253
The team will unload JGR 256 this weekend at Kansas.  This car last ran two weeks ago at New Hampshire where Hamlin piloted it to a second-place finish.  JGR 253 will serve in backup duty.


FedEx Freight Center “SBC” Along for the Ride in Kansas
FedEx Freight LTL Center “SBC” in San Bernardino, Calif. will be featured on the wing caps of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota this weekend at Kansas Speedway.  SBC was named the “Western Region Center of the Year” for fiscal year 2009.


FedEx Express Fact
Sunday’s 22nd-place finish marks the first time Hamlin and the #11 team have finished outside of the top-ten since mechanical issues forced them from the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26.  Hamlin averaged a fifth place finish over the seven race stretch.


Hamlin Conversation – Kansas


The past two Chase years you have felt like you were essentially out of contention by the time you made it to Kansas.  You struggled a bit at Dover and now sit a little more than 100 points out.  How are you feeling in 2009?
“Even with what we felt was a disappointing run at Dover last weekend we know we aren’t out of it at all.  With every one of the Chasers running so well we know we need a solid race at Kansas to keep pace with the field but we also feel like we are up to that challenge.  It doesn’t change our approach now that we are little further back than we wanted to be coming to Kansas.  Based on how we’ve run recently at these intermediate tracks – tracks where we’ve had our biggest improvement since the start of the season – I think we’ll be really competitive here and that gives us confidence to go out and have a good race.  We are bringing back a car that is light and has a really good aero package so I am excited to put it on track and see what we can do.  There is a lot of racing left to do.”


You made your first Cup start at Kansas four years ago this weekend, what do you remember about that experience?
“I remember everything about it.  The first time I qualified a Cup car was here at Kansas and my first lap was really quick, top-ten at the time, then I went for a second lap because I thought I could get more out of it and I ended up piling it in the wall.  So, that is a pretty vivid Kansas memory for me.  Not the best start, but we ended up alright.  I tested at Kansas before the race there and I was really nervous because things were happening so fast.  I was just getting comfortable in the Busch car and then they came to me and said they wanted me to test with the #11 Cup team and I wasn’t sure if I was ready.  I went out and was turning good lap times but at the same time I was on the radio telling Mike (Ford) how I was just getting up to speed, asking him to give me some time, be patient with me.  So no one on the crew told me that I was as fast as the other cars.  They left me out there wondering, but it probably helped in the long run.  The rest is history – this core of this team in Mike (Ford, Crew Chief), Wheels (Mike Wheeler, Engineer), Spider (Chris Gillin, Crew Chief), Tim (Sparklman, Shock Specialist) and Patrick (Mullen, Tire Specialist) has been together ever since.”