RACE INFO:
Event: Food City 500
Date/Time: March 22, 2009 ~ 2 p.m.
2008 winner: Jeff Burton
2008 pole winner: Rain
Distance: 500 laps ~ 266.5 miles
Track Length: .533 miles
Banking: 36 degrees
Track Shape: Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin, FedEx Racing 13th at Atlanta: Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx team posted a 13th-place finish two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway – a result that keeps Hamlin in 14th-place in the Sprint Cup standings but also a result that left them wondering what could have been. Hamlin ran in the top-five for much of the day but with the laps winding down, he found himself with an extremely loose race car. He was scored in sixth place with 51 laps remaining but slid back in the field before the end and ultimately brought the #11 FedEx Camry home in 13th.
Hamlin at Bristol Motor Speedway: Hamlin at Bristol Motor Speedway: This weekend will mark Hamlin's seventh career Cup start at Bristol Motor Speedway and 120th Cup start of Hamlin’s career. Last fall, Hamlin brought the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota home in third place after working his way into second as Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch battled for the lead. In March of last year, Hamlin led 98 laps and held the lead for the green-white-checkered restart before a fuel-pickup problem stalled the car as he took the green flag on lap 504. With only intermittent power, it was all he could do to bring the car home in sixth. In the fall 2007 race Hamlin was forced to the back for the start after a post-practice engine change, but that didn't stop him from making his way up to sixth place in only 103 laps. It was at that time, however, that the first signs of engine trouble started and the #11 FedEx machine would only make it 100 additional laps before the engine let go and Hamlin was forced from the race. Much like the race at Bristol in the Spring of 2008, the spring of 2007 event ended with fuel pick-up agony. Hamlin led 177 laps before a late fuel-pickup problem stalled him on a restart with less than 20 laps to go and relegated him to a 14th-place finish.
FedEx Express – St. Louis ramp and market “Along for the Ride” in Bristol: The #11 FedEx Express Camry will feature “STL” on the wing caps this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. STL is the code for the FedEx Express ramp and market that is being recognized for their ninth consecutive “Ace” award for operational excellence and quality performance.
BRISTOL CHASSIS – JGR 222 & 232: JGR 222 will carry the FedEx Express livery this weekend at Bristol. Though the first race of the 2009 season for this car, it posted third-place finishes at both Auto Club and Indy during the 2008 season. JGR 232 will serve in backup duty this weekend.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – BRISTOL:
Back to Bristol this weekend – do you feel like this place owes you a win?: “I would like to say yes but I’ve definitely learned that it’s never that easy. No place owes you a win no matter how close you’ve come over the years. You really have to earn a win in this series, and you need a little bit of luck on your side. We’ve been really close at Bristol and watched a couple potential wins slip away with mechanical issue but I think it makes this team want to win all that much more. Bristol is a special place to race and to win - we’ve been right there but just missed closing the deal. We’re hoping to change that this weekend.”
Fuel pick up issues have bitten you twice here – is it hard to put that out of your mind?: “I was frustrated the first time and it was really hard to take the second time it happened. You run a good race, you play it right on fuel and then you just can’t get those last few drops when you need them. It was a situation where we had the fuel but when I went to the throttle on the restart it wouldn’t pick it up. Everyone at the shop was working to fix the problem and we’ve got it figured out. We ran really good here last fall and I don’t expect to have the problem again.”
You’ve said before this spring stretch is one favorite stretches of the season: “This is a great stretch of races and this is where we expect to be at our best. In Bristol and Martinsville we have short tracks where we’ve run really good in past seasons and where we think the combination of our equipment and my strengths as a driver really suits the track. We’ve had a win at Martinsville and been close at Bristol. From there we go to tracks like Texas, Phoenix and Talladega where we’ve been good before going home to Richmond. We want to be challenging for wins and these are places where we really feel we can do that. We also see these tracks again at the end of the season as you head into the Chase or when you are deep into the Chase so we want to put together good races now in the Spring, and I hope we’ll come back to these tracks in the fall racing for a championship.”
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