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DENNY HAMLIN
RACE INFO: EXPRESS NOTES: Hamlin Chasing Rookie History: Denny Hamlin will line up Sunday as the first Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. By virtue of a season that saw him post two wins, capture three poles and ride a seven-race top-ten streak down the stretch to Chase qualification, Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team finished the 26-race “Race to the Chase” schedule in fifth place. Perhaps Hamlin’s and the team’s most impressive stat is his single DNF so far and a finishing spot on the lead lap in all but three races. Hamlin at New Hampshire International Speedway: Hamlin returns to the scene of one of his most frustrating 2006 season finishes. Running third in a race plagued by late-race cautions, the additional laps finally took their toll and Hamlin ran out of fuel on the last lap. He coasted across the line for a sixth-place finish. In addition to his single Cup start, he has two Busch starts at the track, posting two third place finishes. Race Series Date Start Finish Laps 2006 Lenox Tools 300 Cup July 16, 2006 12 6 308/308 2006 New England 200 Busch July 15, 2006 3 3 200/200 2005 New England 200 Busch July 16, 2005 6 3 201/201Hamlin on Starting the Chase at New Hampshire: “We see New Hampshire as the ideal place to start this Chase. The FedEx Chevrolet was really good here in July and, if not for the fuel issue at the end we would have left here with a top-three finish. The low banked tracks suit my style and we’ll bring the same car we ran here in the summer so I feel pretty good about our chances. I fully expect the intensity to pick up this week as teams start taking more risks and try to turn top-tens into top-fives and top-fives into wins. The past couple of years have shown that’s what you need to do to win a championship. And, you can’t forget that there are 33 other cars still doing their best to win races too.” 2006 Points: A tense 15th-place finish on his home turf in Richmond was enough to not only clinch a place in the Chase, but saw Hamlin leapfrog Dale Earnhardt Jr for fifth place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings. With the points reset to five point increments as part of the Chase, Hamlin will start 20 points behind leader Matt Kenseth in first and 25 points in front of Kasey Kahne in 10th. 2006 Rookie Race: Hamlin maintains his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings with only 10 races to go in Nextel Cup schedule. He currently leads second-place Clint Bowyer by 44 points (251-207) heading to New Hampshire where he won Rookie of the Race honors in July. New Hampshire International Speedway Chassis JGR 105 / 133: This car made a short stop at the JGR shop in Huntersville, N.C. after Richmond before being loaded back into the truck for duty this weekend at NHIS. After winning the pole and leading 19 laps from the green, a burned sparkplug wire forced Hamlin to complete the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 on seven cylinders. He posted a 15th-place finish and earned a place in the Chase. This car has a history at NHIS, running top-five for most of the July race before the late race cautions caused him to run out of fuel on the final lap. Prior to that, this car finished second at RIR in May after qualifying seventh. Hamlin on the Chase for the Nextel Cup: “To make the Chase and line up with some great teams is a huge honor for me and for this team. We worked extremely hard this season, we stuck to our plan and we put competitive race cars on the track each and every week. We won a couple of races and sat on the pole three times so I think our place is deserved and now we have nothing to lose. We’ll take each race as they come, but the goal is to continue and see if we can be a factor here over the final ten races. I respect all of these guys in the Chase so much for what they have done both this year and over their careers. Racing this full Cup season has taught me just how much effort it takes to be successful over the course of one year. To maintain a high level of performance over several seasons like these drivers have says a lot about their ability and their teams.” Hamlin on his Richmond Experience: “To make the Chase at Richmond and celebrate with all of the fans there was something I’ll never forget. I would even rank winning the Pole there in front of my hometown crowd as the highlight of the season so far. It just means a lot to me go out there and represent a lot of people in the Richmond area that helped me get to where I am today.”
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