Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Office Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Race Info:
Race: Federated Auto Part 400
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 22/7:30 pm ET
Distance: 400 laps/300 miles
Track Length: .75 miles
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 14 degrees
2017 Winner: Kyle Larson
Express Notes:
Las Vegas Recap: Denny Hamlin was forced to retire early from Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs kick-off race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, collecting a 32nd-place finish after sustaining significant damage to his #11 FedEx Ground Toyota during a spin in the closing laps of the 267-lap event. Hamlin started Sunday’s race third and battled tight conditions early on, falling outside the top-10 as Stage 1 continued under green. He went on to finish the first 80-lap segment in 15th, then fluctuated position throughout Stage 2 to ultimately cross the line 14th as the segment concluded.
Richmond Preview: The NASCAR Playoffs head to Hamlin’s “home track” for Saturday’s 400-lap event at Richmond Raceway. Hamlin is no stranger to the Virginia raceway’s leaderboard, capturing three wins – the most recent during the 2016 regular season finale – and leading a career- and series-high 1,659 laps at the .75-mile track. Hamlin has finished in the top-five in his last four starts at Richmond, including a third-place result there earlier this season.
Playoffs Performance: Following Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, Hamlin shifted to 16th in the NASCAR Playoffs standings. With two more races to go in the Round of 16, Hamlin is currently 20 points outside of 12th place, the final transfer spot.
Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares: This season, FedEx is tying the performance of the #11 FedEx Toyota on the track to its efforts to improve road safety through a new program, Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares, by donating $111 for each lap Hamlin leads and $11,000 for each race victory to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. FedEx will also contribute $111,000 to Safe Kids if the #11 team wins the 2018 NASCAR championship. New for the 2018 season, the Denny Hamlin Foundation will also match the total donation to Safe Kids Worldwide.
After 27 regular season races, Hamlin has led 308 laps resulting in a $34,188 donation to Safe Kids Worldwide which will ultimately be matched by the Denny Hamlin Foundation. Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of fedexracing.com.
Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Richmond Raceway
Races: 24
Wins: 3
Poles: 3 (tied for Series-best among active drivers)
Top-5: 11
Top-10: 15
Laps Led: 1,659 (career-best & Series-best)
Avg. Start: 9.8
Avg. Finish: 9.3
Hamlin Conversation – Richmond:
You are preparing to return to a track where you have been successful throughout your career. How important is it to perform well at Richmond this weekend?
“Obviously Las Vegas ended in a disappointing finish, so I’m looking forward to returning to Richmond where I know I can be competitive. We’ve really got to work hard to collect Playoff points this weekend to put us back in contention, and we’re going to keep going after that win to make sure we set ourselves up to advance.”
