FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
POCONO 500 – POCONO RACEWAY

RACE INFO:
Event: Pocono 500
Date/Time: June 10, 2007 / 2 p.m. ET
Length: 2.5 miles
Shape: Tri-Oval
Banking: 14-8-6 degrees
Distance: 200 laps/500 miles
2006 winner: Denny Hamlin
2006 polesitter: Denny Hamlin

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin Rallies for Fourth at Dover: Denny Hamlin and the #11 team continued their string of strong Car of Tomorrow performances at Dover International Speedway on Monday afternoon. Hamlin started 29th and clinically navigated his way into the top five to take the checkered flag in fourth. The result keeps Hamlin in fourth place in the season standings, 27 points behind Matt Kenseth in third and 138 points ahead of Jeff Burton in fifth.

Hamlin at Pocono – One Year Later: Expectations will be high as Hamlin and the #11 team return to Pocono Raceway after the success they enjoyed there in 2006. Hamlin won both 2006 races from the pole as a rookie and did so in dominating fashion. However, Hamlin’s first Pocono experience was also marked by a recovery from a lap 50 cut tire that forced Hamlin to spin the car on purpose before entering the tunnel turn. Facing substantial damage, the #11 FedEx crew made major repairs on pit road before sending Hamlin to work his from 40th place all the way to the front to take the checkered flag.

Pocono Chassis – JGR 121 and 137: Chassis 121 forged its reputation last season at Pocono by twice dominating the field at the 2.5-mile track - scoring two poles, two wins and leading 234 of 401 possible laps. In addition to success at Pocono, 121 served as the team workhorse throughout the 2006 season, scoring seven top ten finishes. In thirteen Cup starts dating back to Las Vegas in the spring of 2006, this car has recorded ten top-ten finishes, three-top five finishes and two wins. This will be the third start of the 2007 season for this car. To date, Hamlin recorded ninth-place finishes at both Texas and Charlotte behind the wheel of 121. 137, with starts at Fontana and Atlanta, will serve as the back up this weekend.

FedEx Express Fact: Hamlin joined his driving hero Bill Elliott as the only driver to sweep both Pocono races from the pole in a single season, a feat Elliott accomplished in 1985. (Darrell Waltrip won the pole and started first but his time was disqualified).

QUOTES:
Hamlin on Pocono: “What makes Pocono so unique is you’ve got three corners that are completely different, no other track we visit during the season requires you to prepare like this. One is a very wide sweeping corner but it’s got a little bit of banking to it. So, you need to have a car that basically will stay up in the banking. The second corner, the tunnel turn, is very flat and it’s very fast. That’s really where you can gain a lot of time on guys. And you know – it drives a lot like a road course kind of corner. And the other corner is like a short track – almost like Phoenix in turns three and four - it’s very flat and very wide and it comes out sweeping to the long straight away. It’s a lot like a mixture of different race tracks, a track that rewards a guy who is very smooth on corner entry and I think that’s where it kind of plays into my strengths.”

Hamlin on What Winning at Pocono in 2006 Meant for the #11 Team: “Because we were still a new team, I think the win at Pocono gave us some more credibility. Mike (Ford) was well known and respected in the garage, I think everyone knew the #11 team was good, and we had been putting up pretty good results, but breaking through and winning that first Cup race was a big step for us. From there we went on a good run and carried a high level of performance through the Chase. The wins at Pocono, and having a really dominant car at both races, gave us a lot of confidence and belief that we belonged among the best teams and it wasn’t a fluke that we were in the top-ten in points.”

Hamlin on 2007 Pocono Expectations: “It will be different for sure. It’s easy to look at tracks where someone has run well and assume they will be as good but we set the bar pretty high last season. We are definitely confident in our equipment, and Mike (Ford) has a lot of experience and success going back to his time with Bill Elliott, so I expect to be competitive, but it’s never safe to assume anything until you are on the track. We’ll have a different tire to deal with so all bets are off but we’ve been really good lately.