DENNY HAMLIN
No. 20 Rockwell Automation CHEVROLET
QUOTES
Driver Denny Hamlin on the crew chief change…
“I am really excited to have Cully on board with us. You can’t say enough about the amount of experience he brings to this organization. They won three races last year including the one at Texas. We may have a couple bumps early as we start build the communication and he gets the cars the way he wants them, but once we get on the same page, I think we are going to be really good. We have started out the season decent, but this change will take us to the next level competitively.”
New Crew Chief Cully Barraclaugh on his first weekend with the #20 Busch Series Team….
“This is a great opportunity for me and I am thrilled to be here. This is a team that has all the components of a championship team: great facilities, engines, leadership and the resources to be competitive. This team is a really good team and I don’t see the need to come in and change a lot of things to make this team competitive. I am just hoping to tweak a few things that will improve us.
The biggest difference for me is going to be calling the races. I am coming from a situation where Matt was only running a handful of Busch Series races and the whole purpose was to win. Not that I don’t want to win now, but you have to balance running for the win with points racing. Last year I could run out gas and finished 32nd and it wouldn’t matter. Now, especially as competitive as the Busch Series is, you can’t afford to sacrifice a top-ten finish for 32nd.”
NOTES
New Crew Chief …This weekend Charles “Cully” Barraclaugh will take over as Crew Chief for the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. Barraclaugh comes from Roush Racing where he was Crew Chief of Matt Kennseth’s #17 Roush Racing Busch Series Entry. In 2004, the #17 car started 16 races and scored 3 victories, 8 top-five finishes and 11 top-ten finishes.
Texas Experience … Texas Motor Speedway is one of the few race tracks Hamlin visited during the 2004 season. Competing in the Truck series race in October, Hamlin wrestled an ill handling truck from the 24th position up into the top ten before fading near the end forcing him to settle for a 18th place finish.
Car History … This week the #20 team is bringing car #2045. One of the favorite cars in the shop due to it’s exciting win at Texas’s sister track Lowe’s Motor Speedway last October, this will be the second race of the 2005 season. This season at its only other race at Nashville Superspeedway, Hamlin qualified the car 5th , led some laps in the race and finished ninth, his first top ten of the season.
