Circuit City 250 - Denny Hamlin Notes

DENNY HAMLIN
No. 20 Rockwell Automation CHEVROLET
RICHMOND QUOTES & NOTES

EVENT: CIRCUIT CITY 250 DATE: MAY 5, 2006
TRACK: RICHMOND INT. RACEWAY TV: FX 8:05 PM ET
LAPS/MILES: 250 / 187.5 RADIO: MRN 8:00 PM ET

QUOTES

Driver Denny Hamlin on returning to Richmond International Raceway…

“I can’t wait for this weekend’s race at Richmond. We have had some bad luck the last couple weeks and I don’t know any better medicine than a good short track under the lights. I am really excited about my Chevrolet Monte Carlo that I am strapping into for this weekend. We had a great test a couple weeks ago and had the car really good. After lunch the second day, J.J. (Yeley – teammate) and I swapped cars and I found a couple things that they do differently that I liked so we are going to try that in our car. We left with a real good car and with those tweaks it should be even better.

Running both series has kept me extremely busy this year. Fortunately with the testing schedule I have been able to get home more this year than I did last year. I have been to Richmond twice last month for the Busch Test & the Cup test and came in a little early to see family and friends. I am trying to treat this weekend like a regular race weekend. Last year, the Richmond races were hectic because I was being pulled into a lot of different directions and also trying to see all my friends that I had not seen in a while, but with a lot of that already done, I can just focus on the race this weekend. This is a track I definitely want to win at. If Friday or Saturday go especially well, I am sure I will stick around for a day or two before going back to Charlotte.”

Crew Chief Dave Rogers on Richmond….

“This weekend’s schedule will present some challenges we have not seen this year, but we might as well get used to it because we will run it several times before the year is over. We don’t plan to do anything different with the team, other than making sure our mechanics, who are over the wall guys, are getting rest when they can. With the short practice sessions, time is crucial and I don’t want to upset the chemistry we have with our normal setup guys. We have also tried to rest those guys during the week, to make sure they are fresh for the busy day on Friday.

We are going to unload with an aggressive setup for the race. We know that this race is really important to Denny and we want to give him the best shot to win this. We had a good test and feel that we have a solid setup that we can resort back to if he is not happy with this one.”

NOTES

Local Ties … Hamlin grew up in Chesterfield, VA about 20 miles south of Richmond International Raceway. Whether it was go-karts, Mini-Stocks, or Late Model, Hamlin has won in everything he raced. Hamlin was often a fixture at local tracks of Southside, Langley and Hampton. In addition to Hamlin, spotter Curtis Markham also began his racing career in the Richmond Area.

Car History...This week the #20 team is bringing car #2043. The favorite short track car of the shop will be making its first start of the season. Last season, Hamlin drove this car to top ten finishes at Milwaukee, IRP, Memphis and Phoenix. He also drove this car to the best finish of 2005 at New Hampshire (3 rd) and his best start of 2005 at Phoenix (2nd).