Denny Hamlin and Crew Chief Mike Ford wait on the grid for the start of the Dodge Challenger 500 @ Darlington Raceway"We just weren't getting the fuel mileage that some of the teams were so we made the decision to pit from the lead," said Hamlin. "The FedEx Ground team was awesome all day on pit road and we gained a lot of spots today but as it turned out the track position we gave up was too much to overcome. These cars are so tight when you pull within a couple of car lengths and try to pass, we just couldn't make it back to the front."
Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch put his prodigious talent on display once again on his way to recording his third Cup win of the season. Busch dominated on the night, leading seven times for 169 laps in the #18 M&M's Camry and solidifying his place at the top of the standings. Card Edwards and Jeff Gordon filled out the top three while JGR's Tony Stewart, after being caught up in a needless early-race incident, finished 21st.
By virtue of scoring his third top-ten in three Cup starts at Darlington, Hamlin moves into fourth place in the Sprint Cup Series standings heading into All-Star week. Hamlin will race in the non-points earning Sprint All-Star race next weekend before lining up for the Coke 600 in two weeks time.
It only took two green flag laps before the #19 of Elliot Sadler turned up into Stewart and sent both into the outside wall. Staying out under the caution, Hamlin restarted 19th and slowly worked his way forward - being careful not to force the issue as two-wide racing often left at least one of the cars fending off the fence.
The next green flag run would give Hamlin his first real chance at finding a groove and rhythm in the FedEx Ground machine. As Hamlin picked off the positions, it became clear that the #11 was as quick as any car on the track but the team was in desperate need of track position.
The field started green flag stops on lap 65 and Hamlin ran in third place before turning on to pit road on lap 66. The crew changed four tires, filled the car with fuel and made both an air pressure and track bar adjustment before sending Hamlin out to cycle through in 29th.
With the adjustments helping, Hamlin sliced forward. By lap 78 he was up to 24th place and by lap 95 he ran in 20th. Another round of green flag stops brought Hamlin to pit road on lap 125 and, armed with fresh rubber and more grip, he made his way into the top-15 by lap 133.
With the caution flag out on lap 139, Mike Ford called Hamlin onto pit road for another round of air pressure adjustments, fuel and tires, and the FedEx crew had a great stop to get the #11 out to restart 12th.
Through another quick caution on lap 148, Hamlin would gain the tenth spot and then start a march on lap 154 that saw him take five more spots in only 24 laps.
Green flag stops would once again shuffle the order but this time it was quick work of the #11 crew that paid dividends. Hamlin cycled through in third place, behind only leader Greg Biffle and Martin Truex Jr. in second place.
On lap 234 Biffle lost his engine while leading the race to bring out the caution flag allowing Hamlin to assume the second spot behind Truex. Then on pit road, the team earned Hamlin the most valuable spot, ripping off a quick stop and sending Hamlin out to lead the field to the green on lap 240.
The Fed Ex crew makes adjustments to the # 11 Fed Ex Ground Camry during the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway
Running out front, Hamlin enjoyed the benefits of the clean air. After enduring an extremely tight car in traffic for the first half of the race, Hamlin was able to open up large gaps between the #11 and the rest of the field. With the lead comes the responsibility of dictating strategy so when the caution flew on lap 248, the field no doubt waited for Hamlin to make his move before deciding to stay out or visit pit road. Ford called Hamlin to pit road and Truex followed but Jeff Gordon stayed out and led a parade of cars past.
The decision to relinquish the position in favor of fuel and tires was ultimately a strategy call based on the way the race was going, the number of laps left and the fuel mileage calculations of the team. On pit road, the crew changed two tires and made a small chassis adjustment as well and sent Hamlin out to restart ninth on lap 253.
Running ninth, Hamlin let the crew know right away that his car was now extremely tight in traffic. In turn, the crew reminded him that the decision to pit could and should give Hamlin that track position back should the race stay green and force the other teams to pit. Unfortunately, the race stayed green just long enough to keep Hamlin mired in traffic, but left the team no choice but to pit with the lead cars when the caution flew on lap 279 - essentially undoing the earlier progress.
Hamlin picked off two spots on the track and the crew held serve on pit road to see him restart seventh on lap 284. As soon as the race went green Hamlin was back on the radio telling the crew just how tight the #11 had become.
The # 11 car of Denny Hamlin spins after being tagged from behind by the # 1 of Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 298.On lap 298 Hamlin, like so many before him, slid up into the wall and scraped the #11 off the right side. The loss of momentum left nowhere for Truex to go and the #1 found Hamlin's back bumper. Though he only made slight contact with Hamlin, the #11 spun down the banking but Hamlin managed to keep the car off the wall.
He pulled down pit road for tires and a full tank of fuel, but the calculations had him approximately three laps short on fuel.
He restarted tenth but, in typical fashion, kept pushing the FedEx Ground Camry forward, picking off three spots and conserving fuel over the final 60 laps to score a valuable seventh-place finish.
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