Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team endured a trying afternoon in Las Vegas on Sunday - fighting repairs and handling issues on their way to a 22nd-place finish in the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Despite having a streak of three consecutive top-ten finishes at the 1.5-mile track heading into the race, and a very fast car in practice, damage to the #11 suffered during a lap-three incident and then again during a spin on lap 172 was enough force Hamlin a lap down and keep the team from seriously contending on a caution-filled afternoon.
“We really fought it today,” said Hamlin. “We got caught got up there at the start and just couldn’t get the track position we needed early – then we got into the wall and couldn’t get the handling back. The #11 FedEx Office Toyota was fast and we deserved better today. It’s frustrating to end like this - it would have been nice to race the guys at the front and see what we had.”
By virtue of the finish, and the trouble suffered by other top teams, Hamlin climbs one spot to 14th in the Sprint Cup standings through three races, 127 points behind Jeff Gordon in first.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch produced a great display of driving for his hometown fans, coming from the back of the field, leading 51 laps and winning his first Cup race of the 2008 season.
Clint Bower, Jeff Burton, David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte filled out the top five.Joey Logano, Hamlin and Busch’s rookie teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing had a very solid run Sunday, bringing the #20 Toyota to the checkered in 13th place.
The teams will now return to the East coast and a visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway after a very long start to the season that included two weeks in Daytona followed by long trips to the West coast for races in California and Las Vegas.
Hamlin qualified 34th but took the green flag from the 30th-place on the grid after a handful of teams were forced to the back for changing engines during practice. Unfortunately, he barely had time to get comfortable in the seat before Brad Keselowski spun on lap three, forcing the field to check up and causing damage to the right front of the #11 Camry.
Mike Ford called Hamlin to pit road for some minor repairs and the crew sent him out to restart 40th on lap four.
Another caution flew after only three laps and again Ford called Hamlin to the pit road, this time to check to the damage again and take advantage of the limited laps to change tires.
Hamlin restarted 36th on lap ten and then used the first extended green flag run of the race to get a feel for the car beneath him. As he approached the fuel window, Hamlin informed the crew that he was looking for grip both in and out of the turns. Hamlin pitted on lap 55 for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment before cycling through in 25th place.
The first real opportunity to put pit road strategy to work came on lap 74 when a blown engine sent the #6 car of David Ragan to the garage and brought out the fourth caution of the day. Ford called for a two-tire stop and the crew worked quick to send Hamlin out in ninth-place for the restart.
Running in the top-ten, the team knew they had a car capable of competing and they worked to make sure any changes made in the short term wouldn’t adversely affect handling as the race went along. A caution on lap 94 brought Hamlin to pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and he would restart 16th on lap 100.
Through cautions on lap 124, 139 and 145 Hamlin kept his position just on the edge of the top-ten and his feedback to the team that he was tight on throttle just as the caution came out on lap 168. Hamlin visited pit road for fuel, tires and another wedge adjustment – this time in the right rear – and lined up 15th for the restart on lap 168.
Just four laps into the green flag run, Hamlin spun off of turn four under heavy pressure from Jamie McMurray and hit the outside wall. On the radio he notified the crew that he had pretty significant right side damage and Ford called him to pit road to check on the car. The crew worked quick to repair the damage and check the toe, bringing Hamlin to pit road a total of three times. They ultimately made the necessary repairs while keeping the #11 on the lead lap – and Hamlin lined up 25th for the restart on lap 176.
It was clear from the restart that the handling had been compromised by the hit and Hamlin worked hard to stay competitive despite the damage. He fell of the lead lap on lap 213 the narrowly missed the free pass when the eleventh caution of the day flew on lap 222.
Ford called Hamlin to pit road for tires, fuel and another check on the car damage before sending Hamlin out to fight for a spot back on the lead lap but Hamlin would ultimately run out the race one lap down to the leaders and end the day in 22nd place.
Joe Gibbs Racing.com
