FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 – INFINEON RACEWAY

RACE INFO:
Event: Toyota/Save Mart 350
Date/Time: June 24, 2007 / 3:30 p.m. Eastern
Length: 1.99 Miles
Shape: Road Course
Turns: 12
Distance: 110 laps/218.9 miles
2006 winner: Jeff Gordon
2006 polesitter: Kurt Busch

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin, FedEx Racing 14th at Michigan, Second in Points: Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team looked poised to continue their string of strong finishes last weekend at Michigan until a pit road mishap dropped Hamlin off the lead lap and forced him to fight back for a 14th-place finish. Despite the disappointment, the combination of Hamlin’s performance and the struggles of the other top teams saw Hamlin climb into second place in the Nextel Cup standings.

Hamlin’s Road Course Experience: The Dodge/Save Mart 350 will mark Hamlin’s third Cup start at a road course, and second at Infineon. Last season, Hamlin was forced into a back up car after a practice session wreck and, with no opportunity to practice, qualified that car 40th. Following the drop of the green flag, Hamlin and crew had their work cut out for them as they persevered through early handling issues and then a cut tire to post an impressive 12th-place finish. Hamlin then posted a top-ten finish at Watkins Glen in his debut at that track last season. Hamlin has five road course starts in the Busch Series and scored his first Busch Series win on a road course in March of 2006 at the Telcel Motorola 200. He finished second in the 2007 edition. Hamlin’s road course preparation dates back to January of 2005 when he visited the Bondurant School and received instruction from famed Corvette road course driver Bill Cooper.

Infineon Raceway Chassis – JGR 176 & 181: The #11 team will roll out two new cars this weekend at Infineon for the Car of Tomorrow road course debut this weekend.

QUOTES
Hamlin on the COT Road Course Debut: “The COT differs a lot from the old car but we had a good test up at VIR and think we found some useful stuff. Until we get on the track at Infineon and see how the car reacts we can only go off what we learned at VIR. There were times during that test when our car was running on three wheels, with one of the front wheels carrying way up in the air off the turns. The #11 team road course program is pretty good and everyone knows how good Joe Gibbs Racing is with our overall COT program so we feel pretty comfortable. We set a high standard for ourselves with this COT program and that’s true for these cars as well.”

Hamlin on Infineon: “Infineon demands you to be really consistent on each lap. It differs from Watkins Glen in that you have to be smooth all the way around or you’ll get off track and then it’s hard to get that rhythm back. The turns are sharper, you have some elevation changes and the speeds are slower so you need to be methodical going through – and really careful. I got off track in practice last year and ended up tearing up a good race car so I know what can happen on these courses. And, everyone out here will tell you that you need to be careful with the brakes. If you use them up early you’ll have a really hard time passing at Infineon.”

Hamlin on Running Road Courses: “I can honestly say I look forward to running road courses. I think my background running flat tracks has really helped me learn how to run a road course. I felt it really helped me in the Busch race at Mexico, though Infineon features a lot of elevation changes so it’s a little different. Joe Gibbs Racing takes a lot of pride in these road course races, our equipment is right there with the best of them, and in Tony I think we probably have the best guy going. He’s always good for some pointers out there.”

Hamlin on the Season to Date: “It says a lot about this team that we are in second place in the standings right now. I am getting really good cars week in and week out and that comes down to Mike (Ford), the crew that is at the track all weekend working on these cars, and all of the guys back at the shop who are building them. Every week we are competitive and we feel pretty unlucky not to have a win or two under our belt already. I know we certainly feel we have been good enough to win on a couple of occasions, but for whatever reason – bad luck or mistakes here or there – we’ve missed out on some chances to win. I don’t think you’ll see us take any unnecessary risks trying to get wins but if we can continue running well, we feel like we can get wins and hopefully put ourselves in position to be really good through the end of the season.”