DENNY HAMLIN
#11 FedEx Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

RACE INFO:
Date/Time: Sept 3, 2006. 7 p.m. ET
Track: California Speedway
Banking: 14 Degrees
Length: 2.0 Miles
Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Distance: 250 laps/500 miles

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin at California Speedway: Sunday’s race will mark Hamlin’s second Cup appearance at California Speedway. Hamlin’s only previous Cup start came earlier this season in the 2006 Auto Club 500 on February 26. Hamlin qualified fifth but battled an ill-handling car for much of the race before finishing 12th. Hamlin has three California Speedway starts in the Busch Series including two starts in the 2005 season when he recorded finishes of 18 and 20th. His best Busch Series performance at California came this February when he started 17th and finished 10th.

Hamlin Brings NASCAR to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) Patients: Before preparing for race day at California Speedway, Denny Hamlin and FedEx will take racing excitement to patients in Los Angeles. In addition to joining FedEx in presenting the hospital a donation of $25,000, Hamlin will spend the morning signing autographs and racing radio-controlled cars on a special FedEx race track. Hamlin also will receive a helmet designed especially for him by 10-year old CHLA patient Elizabeth Cerritos which he will wear for all Cup activities at California Speedway, including Sunday’s Nextel Cup race. Hamlin has previously visited young patients in Atlanta, Richmond, Chicago and Oakland and was presented with specially designed helmets at the last three. They have brought him considerable luck on the race track as Hamlin is averaging a top-ten finish (9th) in races where he has sported a special helmet.

“I have been fortunate to meet kids in a lot of the cities we visit during the season and I can honestly say it has added a lot to what has been a great year for myself and the entire FedEx Racing program,” said Hamlin. “These kids don’t have a lot of opportunities to get out and go to a race so to bring some of the fun of racing to them is really cool. Wearing a helmet designed for me by one of the kids is a great way to let them know we are thinking of them. They take a lot of pride in designing the helmet for me and I take a lot of pride in wearing what they designed on the race track.”

Top Ten Streak Alive: Denny Hamlin maintained his impressive run of consecutive top-ten finishes to six with his sixth-place finish at Bristol. Hamlin’s streak dates back to New Hampshire in July. His average finishing position over the six-race stretch is seventh place.

2006 Points: Hamlin’s sixth-place finish at Bristol bumped him from eighth to sixth in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings heading to California. Hamlin is currently 21 points behind Jeff Gordon in fifth place and six points ahead of Jeff Burton in seventh. With two races to go before the Chase cutoff, Hamlin has a 21-point lead over Mark Martin in tenth place and a 111-point lead over Kasey Kahne in 11th.

2006 Rookie Race: The top-ten run at Bristol earned Hamlin his 13th Raybestos Rookie of the Race award and extends his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings after 24 races on the Nextel Cup schedule. He currently leads second-place Clint Bowyer by 53 points (244-191).

California Chassis JGR 121 – The Pocono Car: The #11 FedEx Team will unload car JGR 121 California Speedway this weekend. A favorite of the team, JGR 121 made its last start at Michigan, turning in a ninth-place finish. Prior to that, it recorded a tenth-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This car built its reputation by twice dominating the field at Pocono Raceway, leading 234 of a possible 400 laps, to give Hamlin his two career Cup wins.

FedEx Express Car at California: Hamlin’s #11 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will sport the FedEx Express colors for the tenth time this season. Throughout the season, Hamlin and FedEx Racing will feature schemes representing four of the FedEx operating companies; FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Kinko’s.

Hamlin on Moving Closer to Qualifying for the Chase: “Each week it seems we get a little closer but certainly not anywhere close enough to take anything for granted. The points between third and 11th are so close that guys are being shuffled pretty good each week – all we can do is keep on doing what we have been and that should be enough to get us in. This team is having a great season and we are running well enough to have earned a spot, we aren’t backing in to Chase contention by any means.”