Hamlin, FedEx Racing Record Fourth Third-Place Finish at Phoenix


In what has become a trend for Denny Hamlin at Phoenix International Raceway, the #11 FedEx Racing team ran extremely strong and recorded their fourth third-place finish in nine total starts at the 1.0-mile track.  While third place is an excellent finish by any measure, Hamlin and team worked their way within striking distance of the leader as the laps counted down and certainly felt they had a chance to take the checkered flag.


After a final pit stop on lap 242, Hamlin found himself less that a second behind eventual winner Jimmie Johnson.  Hamlin methodically carved into the lead, closing it to within .29 seconds with less than 30 laps to run but that was close as he would get.  When Jeff Burton reached his bumper and passed him on lap 284, Hamlin had pushed the car as far as he could and there was no recourse for him but to run out the race in third.


“Jimmie was awesome today so we had to try to push where we could to match their performance,” said Hamlin.  “The FedEx pit crew did a great job closing the gap on that last pit stop.  I got within a car length of him (Jimmie Johnson) but I just used my stuff up getting there and the 31 (Jeff Burton) came on strong at the end.  Overall it was a great day for us.  We’re running good every race.  This is a good finish for us and what we needed.  We are trying to crawl back up in the points just as high as we can.  Today was a good step for us and we will build on this as we look toward Miami and on to next season.”


For Hamlin, the result marks a 19th top-ten and 14th top-five finish of the 2009 season and he’ll head to Homestead-Miami sitting eighth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup points.


Johnson claims his seventh win of the season and all but clinches his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship.  Burton finished second, and Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr. joined Hamlin in the top-five.  Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished 12th and 21st, respectively.


The Cup Series continues next weekend when the teams visit the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway for the 36th and final race of the season.


Hamlin started the day from the fifth spot on the grid and from the beginning of the 312-lap race and though there were a handful of very competitive cars working to get to the front, it was clear that #48 Chevrolet was the car to beat.  Hamlin pushed the #11 FedEx Toyota into fourth place and held the position for the entire first segment of the race that ended when the drivers made their way onto pit road for their first stops of the day.


Hamlin pulled into the #11 pit on lap 74 and the team made changes aimed at tightening up a car that Hamlin described as loose on and off.  After a track bar and wedge adjustment, and four tires and fuel, Hamlin cycled through in fifth place.


The first caution of the day flew on lap 116, and once again Hamlin turned the #11 into pit road.  This time Crew Chief Mike Ford called for additional track bar adjustments to give Hamlin more grip off the corners and back to the throttle.


The team worked quick and sent Hamlin out to restart fourth on lap 120, only to have the caution fly again immediately after the green flag waved.  The quick caution and subsequent restart did, however, open the door for Hamlin to pull off a daring pass to grab second place by the time the cars passed the start finish line only one lap later.


The third caution of the day flew on lap 163 and Hamlin pulled the car onto pit road for fuel, tires and both wedge and air pressure adjustments.  He restarted third on lap 167 but the race was almost immediately halted by a multi-wreck on lap 171 that collected several cars on the front stretch.


Following the restart Hamlin pushed forward, charging by Clint Bowyer for third place then passing Kurt Busch for second on lap 233.


That set up the final stop for the #11 team and Hamlin pulled the FedEx Camry onto pit road on lap 242.  The FedEx crew worked quickly and Hamlin cycled through trailing Johnson by only 1.5-seconds – the team having cut a full two seconds into the lead.


Though able to close the gap significantly, Hamlin wasn’t able to put himself into position to truly challenge Johnson as the laps counted down.   By the time he found himself in striking distance, he had used up all that the #11 car could offer and he ultimately settled for yet another third-place finish at Phoenix.