FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
UAW-DAIMLER CHRYSLER 400 – LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

RACE INFO:
Event: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
Date/Time: March 11, 2007 / 4 p.m. ET
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Length: 1.5 miles
Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Distance: 267 laps/400.5 miles
Banking: 20 degrees
2006 winner: Jimmie Johnson
2006 polesitter: Greg Biffle

EXPRESS NOTES:
Familiar Surroundings: Heading to Las Vegas this weekend, the 2007 season is looking a great deal like the 2006 edition for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx team. Just as in 2006, Hamlin finished back in the pack in Daytona but rebounded with a strong finish at California Speedway one week later to move into the top twenty in points. In 2007, an 11th-place finish sees Hamlin climb from 28th to 18th in the points after two races. In 2006, Hamlin went to Mexico City and won his first Busch race on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course before returning to the Nextel Cup Series the following week and posting a tenth-place finish at Las Vegas. After a second-place finish in Mexico City this season, Hamlin will be looking to continue the similarities when the NNCS continues this weekend.

Hamlin Fights For 11th at California Speedway: In his last Cup race on Feb. 25, Hamlin battled back at the end of the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway to record an 11th-place finish. Hamlin fought the handling on the #11 for much of race but managed to make up several spots late in the race, including a daring last-lap pass that earned him three spots.

Hamlin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: This will be Hamlin’s second Cup start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a NASCAR Nextel Cup car. His previous experience at the 2-mile track includes a top-ten Cup finish one year ago, and two Busch Series starts where he recorded finishes of sixth and 12th, respectively.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Chassis JGR 140 and JGR 146: This will be the second start for JGR 140 but it is no stranger to the new layout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, having been put through it’s paces during Cup testing on January 29th and 30th. In one previous Nextel Cup start, Hamlin qualified this car 23rd and finished ninth at Dover in the Chase, however this car has been almost entirely rebuilt for the 2007 season. Chassis 146 is a brand new car.

FedEx Kinko’s Car Debuts at Las Vegas: This will be the first race of the 2007 season for the FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet. This season, the #11 FedEx car will carry the colors of four FedEx operating companies: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Kinko’s.

HAMLIN AND FORD QUOTES:
Hamlin on Las Vegas: “Unfortunately we can’t rely much on what we learned at Las Vegas a year ago now that they have made some really big changes to the track. And, really, a lot of what we learned at testing this year isn’t going to help with the new tire they are giving us this weekend. In a lot of ways we just really won’t know what we have until we unload and get on the track.

The track is incredibly quick now, much more like Charlotte since it was redone, and that makes it a completely different race here than we have run in the past. Along with the speeds being way up, I was really surprised at how rough the surface of the track was during testing. It was as bumpy as any other track we go but it didn’t affect our performance a great deal. We know the FedEx Chevrolet is good but with the new tire it will be a matter of taking what we know already and what we can figure out in practice and putting it together for race day.”

Crew Chief Mike Ford on Las Vegas: “We had a very good test there in January though with a new generation of tire to work with this weekend a lot of what we learned a month ago won’t be applicable. The changes to the track have increased speeds significantly and we can expect the cars to be much more aero dependent and that will probably mean less side-by-side racing from the start. It’s possible that multiple grooves will develop late in this race but it’s likely it will take a while for the grooves to come in and for this track to become a little more forgiving.”