RACE INFO:
Event: Bank of America 500
Date/Time: Oct. 13/7:30 p.m. ET
2011 winner: Matt Kenseth
2011 polesitter: Tony Stewart
Distance: 334 laps/501 miles
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 24 degrees
Track Shape: Quad-Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Talladega Recap: Denny Hamlin avoided a last-lap wreck and piloted the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota to a 14th place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. With the result, Hamlin remains third in the Chase for the Sprint Cup points standings, 23 markers behind Brad Keselowski after four of 10 playoff races. The No. 17 of Matt Kenseth crossed the finish line ahead of the pack to claim the checkered flag. Jeff Gordon finished in second place, with Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch finishing third. David Ragan and Regan Smith rounded out the top five finishers. The FedEx team’s race strategy going into Talladega was to avoid the dangers of the middle of the pack and sit back and wait for a window of opportunity to move up the field. Hamlin started the day 23rd, but moved toward the back of the pack by the first caution flag of the day on lap 17. Biding his time at the back throughout the 188-lap event, Hamlin came to the pits to top-off fuel as a few drivers remained on the track to push their fuel mileage after a caution with six laps remaining. Green flag racing returned for a two-lap fight to the finish. The tight pack shootout that ensued led to a wreck that claimed 25 cars in turns three and four as the field headed to the finish line.
Charlotte Preview: The Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s 500-mile event at the 1.5-mile quad oval. Hamlin is making his 15th career Cup Series start at Charlotte this weekend, owning seven top-10 finishes in 14 previous events, including a runner-up result in this year’s Coca-Cola 600. Starting from the eighth position, Hamlin spent the first half of the race in the back of the top-10. The crew made several adjustments to try to free up the car, and while the handling improved slightly, the team was still looking to gain valuable track position for the final 100 laps of the race. The opportunity presented itself during a caution with 80 laps to go. Crew chief Darian Grubb made the call to keep the car on the track when the majority of lead lap cars headed to pit road for a pair of tires. The decision paid off and sent Hamlin to the front of the pack coming out of the restart. Hamlin would lead twice for a total of 13 laps before giving way to eventual race winner Kasey Kahne.
Race Series Date Start Finish Laps (Led)
Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup May 27, 2012 8 2 400/400 13
Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup Oct. 15, 2011 15 9 334/334
Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup May 29, 2011 4 10 402/402 24
Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup Oct. 16, 2010 24 4 334/334 1
Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup May 30, 2010 7 18 400/400 3
NASCAR Banking 500 Sprint Cup Oct. 17, 2009 17 42 192/334 54
Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup May. 25, 2009 13 11 227/227
Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup Oct. 11, 2008 12 16 334/334
Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup May 25, 2008 16 24 399/400 1
Bank of America 500 Nextel Cup Oct. 13, 2007 11 20 337/337
Coca-Cola 600 Nextel Cup May 27, 2007 6 9 400/400 1
Bank of America 500 Nextel Cup Oct. 14, 2006 22 28 265/334
Coca-Cola 600 Nextel Cup May 28, 2006 8 9 400/400 25
UAW-GM Quality 500 Nextel Cup Oct. 15, 2005 39 8 336/336 1
Averages/Totals 14.5 15.0 95.7% 123
FedEx Office – Closest to Charlotte Motor Speedway: 7741 Gateway Lane NW, Ste 110, Concord, NC 28027, (704) 979-1971
Mountain District Along for the Ride in Charlotte: The FedEx Ground Mountain district will be recognized for outstanding service quality with its district code “MNTN” on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Mountain district, based out of the Denver hub, encompasses all of Colorado and Wyoming, as well as western Nebraska and northeast Utah.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION — Charlotte Motor Speedway:
Heading towards the halfway point of the Chase, where do you put the FedEx team’s chances?
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“I think our FedEx team is in pretty good shape. Obviously, we gave a few points away at Chicago and Dover, but we’re still in striking distance. We were able to avoid trouble at Talladega and get a decent finish, and I think we have a good shot of competing for the win almost everywhere we go from here on out. We have wins at five of the last six tracks, and finished second at Charlotte earlier this year. Hopefully we can do one spot better than that Saturday night.”
