DENNY HAMLIN
#11 FedEx Chevrolet Monte Carlo
FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
COCA-COLA 600 – LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY

RACE INFO:
Event: Coca-Cola 600
Date/Time: May 28, 2006 /5 p.m. ET
Track: Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Length: 1.5 Miles
Shape: Quad-Oval
Distance: 400 laps/600 miles
Banking: 24 degrees
2005 winner: Jimmie Johnson
2005 polesitter: Ryan Newman

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin’s Top-Ten Streak Continues: Denny Hamlin brings consecutive top-ten finishes with him to Charlotte this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600. Hamlin followed-up a career best second-place finish at Richmond with a tenth-place finish at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago. His finishes at Richmond at Darlington saw him jump six places, from 19th to 13th, in the Nextel Cup season standings.

Hamlin at Charlotte: In only his second career NASCAR Nextel Cup start, Hamlin started the FedEx #11 Chevrolet from the 38th spot on the grid and drove a great race to finish eighth in the caution-filled UAW-GM Quality 400 on Oct. 15, 2005. In two Busch Series starts in 2005, Hamlin posted finishes of 20th and 30th. Recently, Hamlin completed two multiple-day practice sessions at the 1.5-mile track in both Cup and Busch cars to get a better feel for a new surface and Goodyear tire compound. Hamlin proved he knows his way around the track, posting top-ten times in both series’ test sessions. Hamlin raced in the Nextel Open on May 19, finishing fourth and failing to qualify for the Nextel Challenge.

2006 Points: Hamlin’s tenth-place finish at Darlington moves him up three spots to 13th in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings heading to All-Star weekend and on to the Coca-Cola 600 in two weeks. Hamlin currently sits 76 points behind Jeff Burton in tenth. 13th is the highest position the #11 FedEx team has held since coming into the sport last year.

2006 Rookie Race: Hamlin built on his season-best finish at Richmond by once again capturing the Raybestos Rookie of the Race award at Darlington. Hamlin increased his lead heading into the Coca-Cola 600 and now leads second-place Clint Bowyer by nine points (119-110). Darlington was the fifth time this season that Hamlin has been the highest finishing rookie.

Charlotte Chassis JGR 127/ 137: The #11 FedEx Team will roll out car #127 for the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend. This car ran the Nextel Open last weekend, has only one previous Nextel Cup start, finishing 31st at Atlanta Motor Speedway despite leading 16 laps. Backup chassis JGR 137 debuted at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9, 2006 and posted a fourth-place finish.

Mike Ford Wins Crew Chief of the Race Award at Darlington: For the second consecutive week, FedEx #11 Crew Chief Mike Ford won the DirecTV Crew Chief of the Week award honoring the crew chief whose car starts and finishes each race the best in terms of position.

FedEx Freight Car at Charlotte: Hamlin’s #11 Chevrolet will sport the FedEx Freight colors for the third time this season this weekend in Charlotte. 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 the Changes to LMS: It was much different out there during the Open compared to practice and qualifying. After the rain and with it being so humid that the track stayed pretty warm and we were way too loose. We thought things would tighten up after a few laps and with the cooler temperatures but it didn’t happen. Seemed to me everyone was having the same problem and the only way you could really pass was waiting for someone to make a mistake. That was how I lost position out there, I would just get a little loose and that was enough of an opening or the other guys to take advantage of.”

On the Coca-Cola 600: This is a huge race and one of the biggest weekends of the season. This will be the longest race I have been a part of, so I think our goal as a team will be to stay patient out there and try to make sure the #11 FedEx Chevrolet is running at the end. This is the same car we ran in the Nextel Open and we are really glad it came though that race unharmed. It is a very fast car and it turned really good so to be able to bring it right back to this track is a great. A lot can happen in 600 miles and it will be interesting to see how the tires and the fuel cells affect the cars and the strategy. The All-Star race had a lot of cars getting really loose on account of the tires and track so it’s possible we’ll see more of that. Passing opportunities will be at a premium so we’ll just have to take our chances when we can.”