Becca's Denny Hamlin Blog

Budweiser Shootout and Budweiser Shootout Selection Show

2012-01-26T18:19:00.001-05:00

The ever-evolving rules that determine the potential lineup for the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway have opened the door for the top rookie drivers of the past decade. The revised qualifications are much simpler than its previous incarnations and include only two provisions:

· The highest ranked 25 competitors in 2011 NSCS driver points
· Previous winners at Daytona, including the Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, and Shootout events

Thirty drivers will be eligible for the Feb. 18 race. The Shootout, a non-points event, opens the NASCAR portion of Daytona SpeedWeeks. It will be the first NASCAR race on Daytona’s recently repaved surface.

The starting grid for the 75-lap (two segments of 25 and 50 laps) race will be set with a blind draw Feb. 17.

“Race fans expect to see NASCAR’s best drivers compete in the Budweiser Shootout to kick off the 2011 racing season, and this star-studded lineup will not disappoint when they take the green flag for the first time on the new asphalt,” said DIS president Joie Chitwood. “The Budweiser Shootout has showcased some of the most thrilling racing over the years, and our fans are in for an exciting night on February 17.”

With that in mind, the drivers eligible for the 2012 Bud Shootout at Daytona include:

2011 Top 25 Driver Points:
Tony Stewart
Carl Edwards
Kevin Harvick
Matt Kenseth
Brad Keselowski
Jimmie Johnson
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jeff Gordon
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Newman
Kurt Busch
Kyle Busch
Clint Bowyer
Kasey Kahne
AJ Allmendinger
Greg Biffle
Paul Menard
Martin Truex Jr.
Marcos Ambrose
Jeff Burton
Juan Pablo Montoya
Mark Martin
David Ragan
Joey Logano
Brian Vickers

Others (criteria in parentheses)Bill Elliott (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Shootout)
Geoff Bodine (Daytona 500, Shootout)
Derrike Cope (Daytona 500)
Michael Waltrip (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)
Jamie McMurray (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)
Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500)
Terry Labonte (Shootout)
Ken Schrader (Shootout)

The Budweiser Shootout Selection Show will air on SPEED Friday, February 17th @ 8:30 PM with a replay at 12:30 AM on Saturday, February 18th.

No More 'Secret' Fines

2012-01-26T18:07:00.000-05:00

WARNING: NASCAR will continue to fine competitors who 'Challenge the Integrity of the Sport'.

Gone of the days of "secret fines" that are hinted at in the Media, yet refuted by NASCAR and the party involved. Here to stay is the effort to keep drivers from making comments that are irresponsible and unhelpful to the growing of the sport.

Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman have been previously fined for comments each had made, but the sanctioning body did not make the penalties public knowledge at the time they were issued. Such secrecy, some competitors said, made it unclear of what would or would not be construed as “damaging.”

“We're not talking about who's critical of NASCAR,” France said. “You can be critical of things you don't think we're doing well, in particular a race call. You can say ‘I don't think I was speeding; I disagree with that.’ We understand that. It's when you go after the integrity of the sport is where we will step in, and they will be public.”

Keselowski, who was fined for criticizing NASCAR new fuel injection system last year, said he didn’t believe the decision to make future penalties public came from his fine last year or from recent meetings between the teams and NASCAR officials.

“I don’t think I have that influence,” he told a group of reporters Thursday. “It’s probably more of a direct result of you guys [the media] than anything else.”

While questionable comments aren’t as black and white as technical issues, Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, said the same group of officials determine if and when a line has been crossed.

“If it’s a competition fine, it isn’t just Mike Fisher (Managing Director, NASCAR R&D) or (Sprint Cup Series Director) John Darby ... weighing in,” Pemberton said. “We run that stuff all the way up and all the way down. Brian [France] weighs in on all the penalties. A lot of people do.”
Pemberton acknowledged that the move to announce such fines was partly due to the media’s concern over the secrecy aspect of the fines and the question of how they were being levied.
Previously, he said, the determination to keep such fines private was to protect those who were involved, the competitors as well as the team’s sponsors.

“If you were private on [issuing] one, and it got out there, immediately everyone thought we had [issued] 100 fines,” he said. “And [in reality] you could count them on one hand.
“When we started out, private was about giving the benefit to a team, to not drag them through the mud. They’re embarrassed about what they said and it’s an embarrassment for their sponsor, and then for us to go through and drag everyone through the mud again ....

“Obviously we tried it one way and it didn’t work. It got put back on us because everybody thought we were trying to hide something and we’re not. So there they are.”

The effort to keep the sport honest, will they also let us in on the happenings inside the NASCAR hauler during private meetings? Will they be honest about whether blows were exchanged between waring drivers? Or is that still a line that will not be crossed? I for one wish their 'open door policy' and full disclosure concept didn't have limits. If it's leaked to the Media they should address the rumors, tell the truth and let us see what really goes on behind the scenes.

2012 NASCAR Media Week - Quotes Denny Hamlin

2012-01-25T16:31:00.000-05:00

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing:
How different will your team look this year? “I think our team is going to look totally different even though there’s just a few changes here and there. It’s going to be a total different race team I feel like. I’ve got two different people speaking in my ear and you’ve got a lot of energy within the shop. I know you hear that a lot, but we’ve really gone through some big changes with our team and it’s obviously got a lot of people excited.”

How good of a hire was it for your race team to get Darian Grubb? “It was big for us because he (Darian Grubb, crew chief) had so many good options and he had an offer from every race team in the garage area. For him to pick me as his driver and continuing to want to be a crew chief, that’s a big deal. So, at least it gives you the faith that the guy has got a lot of faith in your talents and that you can bring him another championship.”

How much different will it be for you to have a new crew chief? “I think there’s a lot of things that are going to be different. I’ve got to be a little bit more aware of what’s going on with my feedback. I think at times I kind of took for granted that Mike (Ford) just always knew what I needed at certain times even though I might not say it. With him (Darian Grubb, crew chief) I’ve got to make sure I continue to voice those things and tell him the specifics because he’s not worked with me before. Working with other drivers, he’s got different ideas and stuff that he can bring up to me. I think it’s going to be key for me the first six months to really communicate a lot with him.”

How much information can you use from Darian Grubb? “You’ve got to listen to a guy that’s won five of 10 Chase races in one year. He’s (Darian Grubb, crew chief) obviously got that experience. He’s got a lot of Hendrick (Motorsports) information that’s coming over to (Joe) Gibbs (Racing). That part of it is always good. New blood sometimes is just what you need to kind of get your team fired up.”

What does it say about Darian Grubb to know he won five of 10 Chase races when he knew he was being let go? “It tells me in those situations that the guy is mentally tough. When he knows his job is on the line and might not know what he’s doing next year, he’s still got the focus to bring what he brought to the race track. For me, I think he’s one of the most well-respected guys within our garage and that’s going to be a key asset to have.”

How long did it take you to get reenergized after last season? “I just had to get away from Charlotte for a little while. That’s all it took. Get away from racing and you know when you have such a bad year like we had last year, you’re waiting for the season to be over with. You always kind of get that second breath of life where you’re like, ‘Okay, the Chase is starting so it’s a fresh start.’ And, then when we come out of the gates and had the issues that we had in the very first race, it’s like that year is just not meant to be for us. It doesn’t take long before you’re starting to count down how many weeks are left in the season to just get it over with. Let’s go through the motions, get to the track, do our job and get out of there. And, obviously it’s going to be hard to win races with that attitude. Now, we’ve got a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”

What have you done during the off-season to get your mind away from the race track? “I’ve been racing since I was eight years old — 23 straight years of living and breathing this sport every single day and every single week. Our schedule is not driver friendly with all of the obligations that we have on and off the race track, we’re doing so much during the week. We just don’t have that much time at home. For me, I had to get away from Charlotte, get away from the same people that I see all of the time, just to kind of relax and do my own grocery shopping, do my own laundry, cook my own food and just feel like I was on an island by myself. So, I feel like that has all been really good for me personally and it’s just gotten me super energized for a new season because I really do feel like I’ve had a break now.”

Why are you so confident going into this season? “I think we’re going to be going to the race track with completely different race cars. I can’t get a heck of a lot in depth with it, but just some of the things that we’re building in our race cars and things like that are just, gosh, things that I’ve wanted for a long time but it’s been hard to get past the departments here and there. We feel like we’re heading in a good direction, there’s no doubt about it. I feel like Toyota is getting stronger than what they were last year, all three teams are on the same engine program, we’ve got an alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing – there’s a lot of things that are stronger this time around. And, on top of that my confidence is way higher right now than it was to start 2011.”

Can you use the adversity that you’ve faced during your career will help you to the next level? “I think the adversity that I’ve had in my career and the ups and the downs is going to make it sweeter when I finally do win that championship.”

Do you need to improve on speed in your race cars for the 2012 season? “It’s just things weren’t as easy as what they were in 2010. In 2011, for us, I was sweating like a dog in practice to be 20th fastest. It’s just having to work too hard to get the speed out of the car and that tells us that we’ve got to improve on a couple of different areas. I think we’ve shifted our focus this year to those areas and I think that there’s no doubt that when we get to the race track that we’re going to be much more competitive.”

Do you think having Darian Grubb as a crew chief is what you need to win a championship? “I just think that he (Darian Grubb, crew chief) brings so much good information over to our race team. Just the way that he was doing things over at Stewart-Haas and Hendrick and the way we were doing things at Gibbs, there’s a lot of good things that both teams were doing that we’re going to mesh together and make for hopefully a team that performs. Really, for me, it’s just hearing the different voice of reason. That gets you fired up sometimes and obviously when you know a guy has been as successful as him, it’s hard not to have confidence when you’re behind the wheel. All of this stuff has worked out it seems like perfectly for my career. There’s a lot of things that’s been put into place for me to be successful and I feel like this year is my best opportunity to do that.”

Will adding fuel injection to the race cars level all of the teams out? “No, I don’t think that will change much. I think that what’s driving the back tires is still that engine, it’s not the fuel injection. Us having Toyota on our side as far as that’s concerned on all three teams this year will be a big benefit because we’ve obviously got a lot of technology that they’re going to bring from their street program to our race program — whether it be fuel mapping or things like that to try to help us with fuel mileage. Look how many races have been fuel mileage races here lately. It’s just you’ve got to have every aspect of your race team as good as possible.”

Do you think NASCAR’s current points system is the right formula? “I do and I think that the emphasis on winning is more than it’s ever been. That’s the mentality that you have to have. If you’re going to have to wreck a few race cars in the process to do it, then so be it because if you’re winning, you’re going to be in the Chase and that gets you a shot at the championship. I’m probably going to take a little bit more risk here and there to try and get those wins because we see how valuable it was last year.”

What did you do when you heard Darian Grubb was available? “When we heard about Darian (Grubb, crew chief) becoming available of course we were one of many teams that were after him pretty heavy. We knew he was going to have a tough decision. He’d had a relationship with Hendrick (Motorsports) for many, many years and when he got offered that position we thought we could possibly lose him to that because we know he is a loyal guy. But, it’s through sitting there and talking to him and I asked him about his motivation to win another championship. He says he feels like he wanted to crew chief until he was 40 years old and his son got to a certain age. His job now, he says, is to win another championship and show everyone that he can win with multiple drivers.”

How much does it increase your confidence to have Darian Grubb as your crew chief? “A lot. Everyone knows that the driver and crew chief relationship is very, very important. It’s as important as anything as far as being successful so we know it’s going to work. It’s going to take some time for him (Darian Grubb, crew chief) to understand what I need in my car and for me to tell him what he needs to hear. That part is going to be a little bit of a transition, but I think right now we have enough motivation and confidence that should carry us until that point happens.”

Will you use last year as motivation for this season? “I can’t even remember more than about five races last year in the sense of that we were really competitive, had a shot to win and those are the races that get me motivated. The rest of them, I feel like I was just there. I was one of those cars in the middle of the pack and that’s not me. I’m too competitive for that, I won’t stand for it and I’m not going to have the rest of my career go that way. We’re going to go back to the front where we belong.”

Hamlin Grubb Have A Lot To Improve Upon for 2012

2012-01-25T12:54:00.001-05:00

by Ed Hinton ESPN.com
CONCORD, N.C. -- Here you have a driver who feels he got his "ass kicked" last season, and a crew chief who says "It's weird to me to this day" that he got booted after leading the most remarkable onslaught to a championship in NASCAR history.

Add a resurgence in spirit at Joe Gibbs Racing, and "There's no doubt we'll have a successful year," Hamlin said Monday during the NASCAR preseason media tour.

From what Grubb has seen since he arrived at JGR on the rebound, "With the technology they have, I'm sitting there thinking, 'How did we beat these guys?'" he said.

Good point. Grubb walloped 'em through the Chase, atop the pit box for Tony Stewart, who won five of the 10 playoff races last season.

But it was already in the plan at Stewart-Haas Racing that Grubb would not return in 2012. Stewart stuck by the plan.

At JGR, "I think you need a season of getting your ass kicked," Hamlin said, "for people to wake up and realize that you know what? We're not as good as we maybe thought we were.

"At JGR we got our tails kicked. Kyle [Busch] won four races in a period [of the regular season, and Hamlin won one], but when the Chase started, we were off from the start. We were all terrible."

Stewart's No. 14 operation was just the opposite, sputtering through the regular season and deciding to replace Grubb as crew chief in '12 before the juggernaut broke loose in the Chase.

"It's still weird to me to this day to not know exactly what was going on and why the decision was made," Grubb said. "It wasn't any kind of mutual decision or anything like that. I was told I wasn't going to be back for the 2012 season, so at that point I just started going out there doing the best we could to try to move forward and win the championship."

Stewart said he still doesn't question himself for bringing in Steve Addington to replace the crew chief who batted .500 in the fall.

"We made that decision before the Chase even started and I think it took a lot of the pressure off," Stewart said Monday. "I think that was part of what led to the success at the end of the season."

In fact, Hamlin said, it was Stewart himself, a former teammate of Hamlin's at JGR, who encouraged this new pairing.

Neither Stewart nor Hamlin is the type to jet away on tropical vacations, and so in the immediate aftermath of Stewart's fourth title, "I saw him quite a few times out and around Charlotte," Hamlin said.

"I told him I was interested in working with Darian -- what did he think?

"He said, 'I was going to get in contract with you because I feel like the guy is perfect for you.'

“It's still weird to me to this day to not know exactly what was going on and why the decision was made. It wasn't any kind of mutual decision or anything like that. I was told I wasn't going to be back for the 2012 season, so at that point I just started going out there doing the best we could to try to move forward and win the championship.”-- Darian Grubb on his release from Stewart-Haas Racing

"He said, 'Y'all have the same personality, and if there's anything I can do to make it happen' -- he would.

"Tony knows me pretty well and obviously Tony and Darian had a lot of success. So for Tony to say, 'I think this is something that's gonna be really good,' that's great motivation for me."

With Grubb as a free agent after he and Stewart staged a multiple-comeback victory in the season finale at Homestead-Miami, "There's no doubt we had a full-court press on him [recruiting]," Hamlin said. "With his loyalty to Mr. [Rick] Hendrick [owner of Hendrick Motorsports] and everything they'd built over there over Darian's entire career, we were kind of worried we were going to lose him to Mr. Hendrick."

Grubb had been an engineer at HMS and, pressed into crew chief duty while Chad Knaus was serving a suspension for rules infractions, directed Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 victory in 2006.

Hendrick wanted him back on the engineering staff there.

"But he said he wanted to be a crew chief, he wanted to win more championships, and that he felt like I was the guy who could do it for him," Hamlin said.

"I'm glad to see that he landed in the position that he wanted at Gibbs, and it's going to be hard to race against him for sure," Stewart said, "because we started this whole thing [SHR] together three years ago."

But now, "I think they'll be a good pair," Stewart said. "Denny's a very technical guy. I'm the opposite of that. I just get in the thing and drive it. Denny will analyze everything that's going on with the car, and Darian's very good at that, so I think they'll be a better pair than I was with Darian.

"I think we were good together, but I think there's a lot of potential in Darian and Denny for sure.

"I think they'll hit it off right away, and I think they'll run really well together."

2012 NASCAR Media Week - Quotes # 11 Fed Ex Toyota

2012-01-25T12:47:00.000-05:00

DARIAN GRUBB, crew chief, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing:

How do you feel starting 2012 with a new team? “It feels really good to be a part of Joe Gibbs Racing. The professionalism that they have is pretty impressive. It’s good to be a part of that. Yeah, we had a lot of turmoil at the end of the year last year — still came out all positive. Won the championship and won five races. Came out of there with my head held high and then went on to my next endeavors. I’m really looking forward to getting a new chapter started at Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Do you look at this as a new challenge? “I definitely do. I feel like I’ve checked a lot of things off the bucket list and now it’s time to go out there and just race for fun and try to win races and win championships. It’s a whole new endeavor and a lot of new people and a lot of new faces to learn and learn how to deal with and how to talk to them. I’m really looking forward to that.”

How different are Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Hass Racing in their operations? “It’s very similar. The work that everybody does in the Cup Series is very even across the field. The competition level is so high. It’s hard for anybody to really be that far behind and these guys are definitely on top of their game when it comes to the technology side of things, the engineering, support they have from Toyota. I’m really looking forward to learning all those different people and the different aspects of the sport and try to make the 11 FedEx team stronger.”

How much confidence do you bring to the team coming off your 2011 championship? “It’s really exciting for me just because coming in talking to the guys in the shop you can tell there’s just the attitude there that they just felt like they were beat down because they had such a bad year in 2011 and now there’s just a breath of fresh air. They know that I was lucky enough to go out there and win that championship. They all want a piece of that. They know how close they were and everybody just realizes now it’s all about just having fun, working in one direction so we’re all going out there trying to win races and put ourselves in the Chase with a chance to go for that championship.”

What have you learned about Denny Hamlin? “He’s (Denny Hamlin) a really good character. He’s a fun guy. He likes to joke with the guys and carry on and that’s a big part of it. We want to have Denny included in the team and make sure he’s one of the guys that’s leading the team. He has to be a leader and make sure all those guys are following him. He’s the guy that everybody shows up to work for every morning and as long as he’s connected to us we’ll be working our hardest for him.”

Is your experience an advantage for you and your new team? “I definitely think so. Working with Chad Knaus (crew chief, No. 48) and the Hendrick Motorsports group was a great learning experience for me. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the greats all the way through even back to my first days in Cup with Dale Inman at Petty Enterprises — just went into the Hall of Fame — so there’s guys like that that I have learned a lot of lessons from. I hope to take all those things and put them to my best use.”

What are your thoughts on moving from Chevrolet to a Toyota team? “It’s definitely different. It’s a different mentality about the way they approach the race cars and the race track, the data and what they do with it. But then again, everything this year is different because of the EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) introduction for NASCAR. There’s a lot of new things. There’s a lot of new technology and we’re all kind of growing with that as well. I haven’t seen anything that’s a weak link. We’re looking forward to going out there and hitting the race track.”

How is the communication among your team and with Toyota? “They work together really well there at Joe Gibbs Racing with the Toyota development program and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) engines and all those things. The communication level probably needs to be picked up a little bit because there was a lot of things new. I think most of that just comes from the fact that fuel injection (EFI) and all those things are being introduced this year and we’ve got a lot of new people, new faces that we’re trying to get introduced and make sure everybody is doing the right thing at the race track, so we’re looking forward to that and getting those relationships built.”

Is it an advantage to have one full-time Toyota team to work with in Michael Waltrip Racing? “I think it’s a little easier because now we have the one team that we can go out there and lean on as far as technology. We know as long as we’re both going in one direction with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) that support is going to follow.”

Offical Press Release - NASCAR Media

Denny Hamlin Is Geared Up For Turnaround

2012-01-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

By Thomas Pope / The Fayetteville Observer, N.C. Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Why bother sugarcoating a sub-par performance? Denny Hamlin didn’t. Hamlin and Kyle Busch both qualified for NASCAR’s championship shootout, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano on the outside looking in.

But during the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs, "We all stunk," Hamlin said. "We were terrible."

The wake-up call was a tough one.

"I think you need a season of getting your (expletive) kicked for people to wake up and realize that maybe we’re not as good as what we thought we were," he said. "As a whole, we got our tails kicked."
That could have made for a long, miserable offseason, but internal changes and the addition of a top free agent has left Hamlin brimming with confidence a month from the start of the 2012 campaign.
Not one to hold his tongue, Hamlin lobbied long and hard inside the organization for upgrades to the team’s fleet and engine program. After meeting resistance for too long a period, he said, upper management had no choice but to admit that drastic changes had to be made.

And then there was a major move atop the pit box. The Gibbs team released Mike Ford as crew chief and snapped up Darian Grubb, who had been released despite leading Tony Stewart to the 2011 title. Now Hamlin’s frustration has evolved into anticipation, and he hopes his FedEx-sponsored team can resume its place among the title contenders.

That’s exactly where it was in 2010. Jimmie Johnson amassed 39 more points than Hamlin to win his fifth consecutive crown, but Hamlin snared more checkered flags. Hamlin swept a pair of races at both Martinsville and Fort Worth, and he reigned at Darlington, Pocono, Michigan and Richmond.

Last year, though, Hamlin contends that JGR fell behind the learning curve and had to fall on its face to get a reality check: Busch won four times, but none after mid-August; Hamlin went to Victory Lane just once -- at Michigan in June -- and wound up ninth overall; Logano had the worst season of his three-year Cup career (26th) with only four top-five showings.

The problems, Hamlin said, began with a tug-o-war inside JGR to institute change.

"I can’t get a heckuva of a lot in depth with it," he said, "but some of the things we’re building in our race cars are things that, gosh, man, I’ve been wondering about that for a long time, but it’s been hard to get past the departments here and there.

"But we feel like we’re heading in a good direction, there’s no doubt about it. Toyota’s getting stronger than what they were last year. All three of our teams are on the same engine program, and we’ve got an alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing. A lot of things there are stronger this time around."

That includes the addition of Grubb to the payroll. An engineer by trade, Grubb stepped in as crew chief for Jimmie Johnson in 2006 when Chad Knaus was suspended for a rules violation, and Johnson won the Daytona 500.

When Stewart left Gibbs after the 2008 season to buy the majority share of an existing-but-winless team, he hired Grubb away from Hendrick Motorsports to become his crew chief. In three years together, Stewart and Grubb won the Sprint All-Star race, 11 points-paying events and the 2011 championship with five wins in 10 Chase contests.

But by late summer, a winless Stewart had decided to let Grubb go, and he stuck with that call despite the charge in the Chase. Grubb had plenty of job offers, both as an engineer and as a crew chief, and he picked Gibbs so he could make the day-to-day decisions for Hamlin.

"We had a huge full-court press on him, just like every other team in the garage," Hamlin said.
He added, "It’s going to take some time for him to understand what I need in my car and for me to tell him what he needs to hear, so that part’s going to be a little bit of a transition. But I think that right now, we have enough motivation and confidence to carry us until that happens."

And that’s already a change from 2011.

2012 NASCAR Media Week - Joe Gibbs Racing

2012-01-25T12:17:00.000-05:00

Coach Joe Gibbs addresses the media while son, JD Gibbs, looks on

Denny Hamlin takes questions from the media

NASCAR Media Week at JGR

New Crew Chief for the #11 Fed Ex Toyota and Denny Hamlin, Darian Grubb, takes questions from the Media

2012 NASCAR Media Week at JGR

Denny Hamlin

JGR's stable Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin

JD Gibbs fields media questions while Dad, Joe Gibbs, looks on

NASCAR Preview 2012

2012-01-25T12:13:00.001-05:00

New Season New Faces New Outlook?

2012-01-16T09:13:00.000-05:00

After what felt like an eternity away from the track, NASCAR has returned to Daytona for Pre-Season testing. There were lots of new faces in the JGR #11 Fed Ex garage. Gone are former Crew Chief Mike Ford and former Spotter Curis Markham, all in an effort to elevate Denny Hamlin to the next level of his career. A move that has been a long time in the making, and is one that I truly believe will make not only the driver, but the entire team better.

So who are the new faces of the Fed Ex team? Well the Crew Chief will definitely look familiar to you. He's none other than Darian Grubb, former Sprint Cup winning Crew Chief for 2011 NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart. Stewart's loss is definitely our gain. He's a racing master mind and will be a fabulous asset to the team and to Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin's new spotter is Chris Lambert, former spotter for Brian Vickers. I'm not as familiar with Chris Lambert, but definitely feel the change in eyes and communication for Denny will be the most positive modification the team has made. The constant bickering and yelling on the radio had gotten old long ago and I'm ready for some good things for my driver.

Judging by the smiles on Denny's face during testing and Pre-Season Thunder fan meet and greet, things are definitely going in the right direction. I like Hamlin's positive outlook, his focus seems to be on racing and getting back to basics. I don't think moving to Scottsdale, AZ for a few months to clear his head and get away from the business of life has hurt him any. I for one really like the changes I'm seeing all over JGR and especially with Denny Hamlin. 2012 has so much potential. It has a clean slate with multiple possibilities. All that's waiting is for the Fed Ex team to write their history. And I can't wait to read the headlines.

Friday Testing Results

2012-01-13T19:48:00.000-05:00

Friday's afternoon test session is over after 240 scheduled minutes, the five fastest drivers :
#51-KuBusch 206.058
#78-Smith 206.053
#18-KyBusch 205.813
#24-Gordon 205.747
Testing Notes:
After the morning session, NASCAR met with the drivers to encourage them to draft in a large pack of cars at the start of the session to see how the cars react. All teams except the #48 participated.
#31-Burton made contact with the wall during the pack drafting when he cut down a tire. The team will repair the car.
28 drivers exceed 200mph.
Driver again tested in a large pack with an hour remaining in the session before returning to two car drafts.
Denny Hamlin's Testing Results:
AM Session:
24th fastest. Fastest Time: 43.903 Fastest Speed: 194.788

PM Session:
8th fastest. Fastest Time: 43.903 Fastest Speed: 204.997

More Changes In Store At Daytona Testing

2012-01-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

If NASCAR's objective was to eliminate tandem drafting at restrictor-plate racetracks, based on Thursday's first Preseason Thunder test session at Daytona International Speedway, it remains a work in progress. Accordingly, in a meeting with crew chiefs at approximately 5:30 p.m. Thursday, NASCAR announced additional modifications to a restrictor-plate competition package that already had undergone major changes in the offseason.

Even though Kyle Busch topped the speed chart in Thursday afternoon's Preseason Thunder test session at Daytona International Speedway at 202.402 mph-in a tandem draft with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano-NASCAR will make the cars faster, less stable and more prone to overheating on Friday. The sanctioning body increased the diameter of restrictor-plate openings 1/32nd of an inch to 15/16ths inches, adding an estimated 26 horsepower to the engines. In addition, NASCAR has lowered the pressure relief valve settings from 30 pounds per square inch to 25 psi and narrowed the grille openings of the cars, thereby decreasing airflow to the engine. Both measures are designed to decrease the number of laps one car can push another without overheating.

NASCAR announced more changes for Sprint Cup Series teams after the second day of testing at Daytona International Speedway on Friday. Teams will receive a smaller restrictor plate with an opening of 29/32nd of an inch, down from 15/16ths, to decrease the amount of air intake to the engine. The radiator opening was shrunk from 3.5-by-18 inches to 2-by-20 inches, or from 63 square inches to 40. And the pressure relief valve is now 21 pounds per square inch from the 25psi they used Friday.

The top speed in Friday's test session was set 90 minutes into the afternoon by Kurt Busch. He ran a 206.058-mph average lap working in tandem with his regular drafting partner, Regan Smith. Busch hit 210.9 mph down the backstretch, the fastest portion of the track.

2012-01-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

Thursday testing has completed at Daytona. Denny's testing times are:
Morning Test Session: 16th fastest Best Time 47.122   Best Speed 190.994
Afternoon Test Session: 7th fastest Best Time 44.965 Best Speed 200.156

Thursday afternoon test session:   The five fastest drivers:
#18-Busch 202.402
#20-Logano 202.388
#2-Keselowski 202.224
#22-Allmendinger 202.220
Testing Notes:
NASCAR permitted cars to draft together during the session, but only a handful of drivers did so.
#55-Martin got into the back of #15-Bowyer while drafting and spun Bowyer out. Bowyer was able to save the car and did not hit anything, but did suffer some sheetmetal damage when the car went down on the track apron.
Thursday morning test session:   The five fastest drivers:
#24-Gordon 192.773
#27-Menard 192.369
#51-Kurt Busch 192.361
#6-Stenhouse, Jr. 191.959
#42-Montoya 191.853

Testing Notes:
#14-Stewart arrived at the track around 10:30am/et. He was returning from the Chili Bowl in Tulsa.
#39-Newman also arrived late. He has been battling the flu.
Chad Knaus is on vacation and not at the track. Steve Letarte is helping oversee the #48 team's test session.

A look at Daytona Testing

2012-01-12T13:34:00.000-05:00

NASCAR is back in full gear as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams hit the pavement at Daytona International Speedway this week for three days of preseason testing. The main focus of the test is for teams to work on their final preparations for 2012 Speedweeks – in particular, the 54th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 26. “This is an opportunity we are providing to the competitors to implement and test the new Daytona rules package for 2012,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition. “It’s a chance for them to get comfortable with the cooling package, the smaller spoiler and to practice drafting for next month’s Daytona 500.” The new rules package is a result of information gathered during recent tests at Talladega last October and at Daytona last November. “While we have had other tests with these set-ups, this is the first opportunity for the entire field to test together and get more comfortable with this package as it relates to their cars,” Pemberton said.

The new rules package includes:- Smaller radiators
- Maximum of 2 gallon capacity
- Smaller overflow tank
- Maximum capacity of ½ gallon
- Radiator inlet is moved up closer into the front center bumper area
- Rate reduction in the springs – softer springs
- Smaller rear spoiler
- Base line restrictor plate of 29/32 inch (1/64 inch larger than plate size for the 2011 Daytona 500)

“This three-day test will allow the engine tuners for these teams to be able to work with their engine packages and see how they relate and react to the new cooling regulations,” Pemberton said. Next month’s Daytona 500 will be only the third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points event ran on the repaved Daytona International Speedway. This year’s Preseason Thunder will continue to be an opportunity for teams and drivers to test their skills on a relatively fresh surface in addition to the new rules.

Complementing the testing portion of this weekend’s festivities, the track is also offering fans an opportunity to be part of a special two-day Fan Fest event. Fan Fest sessions are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12 and Friday, Jan. 13 and include autograph sessions, driver question and answer sessions, show cars and displays, music and a photo opportunity with the 2012 Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 trophy. In addition, fans can ride the high banks under the lights by purchasing a Richard Petty Driving Experience ride along.

Tickets for Daytona Preseason Thunder Fan Fest are $20 and available by calling 1-800-PITSHOP or online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com. Children 12 and under will receive free admission.
Daytona International Speedway will also host special driver chat sessions on the speedway’s social media channels following the end of testing Thursday and Friday evenings. Fans can submit questions for Twitter chats by using #daytonatesting, with answers, updates and testing information coming from Daytona International Speedway’s Twitter feed @DISUpdates. Fans can also submit questions on Facebook for LiveStream chats with drivers on ww.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway. NASCAR’s official Twitter feed @NASCAR will also provide updates throughout the three-day session.

Pre-Season Testing at Daytona

2012-01-12T13:32:00.000-05:00

Here is the schedule for NASCAR Pre-Season Thunder Testing at Daytona International Speedway.

Thursday, January 12th7:30 AM Garage Opens
9:00 AM 12:00 PM Practice
1:00 PM 5:00 PM Practice - Drafting
6:00 PM Garage Closes

Friday, January 13th7:30 AM Garage Opens
9:00 AM 12:00 PM NSCS PPractice - Drafting
1:00 PM 5:00 PM NSCS Practice - Drafting
6:00 PM Garage Closes

Saturday, January 14th

7:30 AM Garage Opens

9:00 AM 12:00 PM Practice - Drafting

1:00 PM 5:00 PM Practice - Drafting

6:00 PM Garage Closes

Sunday, January 15th Optional - Rain Date

Participating Teams:

1-Jamie McMurray
2-Brad Keselowski
5-Kasey Kahne
6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
9-Marcos Ambrose
10-Danica Patrick
11-Denny Hamlin
13-Casey Mears
14-Tony Stewart
15-Clint Bowyer
16-Greg Biffle
17-Matt Kenseth
18-Kyle Busch
20-Joey Logano
21-Trevor Bayne
22-A.J. Allmendinger
24-Jeff Gordon
27-Paul Menard
29-Kevin Harvick
31-Jeff Burton
36-Dave Blaney
39-Ryan Newman
42-Juan Pablo Montoya
43-Aric Almirola
48-Jimmie Johnson
51-Kurt Busch
55-Mark Martin
56-Martin Truex, Jr.
78-Regan Smith
87-Joe Nemechek
88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
99-Carl Edwards

HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY DENNY!

2011-11-14T15:32:00.001-05:00

HAPPY

31st

BIRTHDAY

DENNY!!!!

May your birthday be as special as you are. For all you do for your family, your friends and your fans...

Thank you! We love you.

NASCAR Notebook: Hamlin welcomes Busch back

2011-11-14T14:42:00.001-05:00

By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer

Even though they’ve quarreled as teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin wants Kyle Busch on his race team and at the track.

Busch was suspended from all racing last week at Texas as punishment from NASCAR for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr under caution in the Trucks Series race. His participation at Phoenix this weekend was in doubt until late Thursday because of sponsor wrangling, but Busch is present and will run Sunday in the Sprint Cup Series race.

Hamlin said Busch provides information that is “vital” to how Hamlin and third teammate Joey Logano run.
<“He’s vital to our race team and the feedback that he has is vital to the way I drive my car every single week. He’s one of the key elements that we need,” Hamlin said.
When Tony Stewart left JGR following the 2008 season, Hamlin joked he’s now the senior leader of the organization. With Busch now reeling because of another misstep, Hamlin has an opportunity to provide some guidance.

But Hamlin said he’ll leave it to team owner Joe Gibbs.

“I think he is going to have to rely a lot on Joe Gibbs, who has been in that situation with a lot of pro athletes that he’s been associated with during his career,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know that I’m that person. I feel like I haven’t been around that long and I’ve made enough mistakes myself.

“I just don’t know me being around for six years, it’s my place to really say what he should or shouldn’t do. I think that he should definitely rely on Joe Gibbs for that because we’ve got one of the best sports guys in the history of pro sports as our owner. He’s seen it all and been through it all.”

AAA Texas 500 - Texas RESULTS

2011-11-07T19:43:00.000-05:00

14 Tony Stewart
99 Carl Edwards
4 Kasey Kahne
17 Matt Kenseth
16 Greg Biffle
24 Jeff Gordon
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
56 Martin Truex Jr
33 Clint Bowyer
43 A J Allmendinger
9 Marcos Ambrose
6 David Ragan
29 Kevin Harvick
48 Jimmie Johnson
27 Paul Menard
39 Ryan Newman
21 Trevor Bayne
42 Juan Montoya
5 Mark Martin
11 Denny Hamlin
83 Brian Vickers
00 David Reutimann
78 Regan Smith
2 Brad Keselowski
13 Casey Mears
51 Landon Cassill -2
31 Jeff Burton -2
47 Bobby Labonte -2
71 Andy Lally -2
22 Kurt Busch -3
38 Travis Kvapil -3
34 David Gilliland -3
18 Michael McDowell -3
32 Mike Bliss -3
35 Dave Blaney -18
1 Jamie McMurray -39
20 Joey Logano Engine
36 Geoffrey Bodine Vibration
46 Scott Speed Rear Gear
66 Josh Wise Rear Gear
37 Mike Skinner Brakes
87 Joe Nemechek Cluth
55 J J Yeley Fuel Pressure
83 Brian Vickers

Drama and Disrespect

2011-11-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

As I sit here writing, I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. I've seen a lot of things in my years as a NASCAR fan. I was at Bristol when Dale Earnhardt dumped Terry Labonte on purpose. It happened right in front of me and I flipped the bird til my fingers hurt. I was in Martinsville when Tony Stewart threw down his gloves and heat shields and reached through the window at Kenny Irwin. Retaliation and flat out wrecking people on purpose is nothing new in this sport. And the sheer stupidity of it isn't either.

So you're driving along at 200 mph, in a car made of sheet metal mere inches off the bumper of 42 other cars. Someone decided making wise decision was out of their reach of copability and you get mad. They cut you off, didn't lift, bumped your fender, rode you to the wall, their spotter was caught sleeping at the wheel. And you are seeing red. Typical day at the races. Sometimes it's from the waving of the green flag, others it's a few more laps in and if you're into wishful thinking they save it for the last 10 laps or so. Not always the case however.

After about the third bump, you realize it's that guy that's been bumping you for the past 4 weeks, expecting you to just pull over when you see them in your rear view mirror and you have had it. The temperature in the car has hit a boiling point and it's because of your rising blood pressure. That's it! You've had enough. They are gonna get it. So what do you decide to do? You guessed it! RETALIATE!!! Best time to do it? UNDER CAUTION!!!!

WRONG! First of all the yellow flag has waved and the field has slowed because more often than not there are safety workers on the track to aid a driver who has crashedor collect debris and those safety workers are vulnerable to a race car and it's idiot driver. But you don't care, you're not thinking of anything but that guy in that car that's in your sights for pay backs and you're hell bent on taking them out. What were you thinking?

NASCAR said "Boys have at it" and I think it was a great idea. But NOT under caution. NEVER when others are at risk of being hurt. NOT on pit road, NOT when cars are on the track and NOT when an ambulance is waiting to take a possibly injured driver to the Infield Care Center for treatment.

So what did taking out Ron Hornaday under caution actually accomplish Kyle? Your truck was destroyed in the process, you were parked for not one, but three races. You face fines and points penalties and your sponsors are yet again disappointed in you and your behavior. If you really wanted to fix it why didn't you wait til you saw the guy in his yard trimming the hedges, jump out of your car and proceed to pound the crap out of him while screaming at him all his wrong doings??? Oh wait! That's how a MAN would handle it and you've proven you're a little boy in a man's world. You have no respect for yourself with your smug faces, your careless attitude and your blatant disregard for anyone and everyone else around you. You did the crime now do the time.

Does that mean Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick are blameless? Does that mean they have the right to gloat over someone else's punishment? NO! It means Harvick and Kyle Busch are EXACTLY alike which is why they butt heads so much. Ron Hornaday shouldn't have made threats, Harvick shouldn't have made threats and DeLana Harvick's nasty comments on Twitter were out of line. They took a situation where they could've risen above and come out smelling like a rose and blew it. They stooped to the same level as Kyle Busch and rolled around in the same crap he was playing in and came out looking worse than the guilty one.

To take to Twitter and call someone a P O S and threaten to kick their @$$, call names and harrass Kyle, his wife Samantha, Denny Hamlin, who wasn't even involved and has no responsibility for his teammate in the Cup series, or fans of JGR is classless. It shows the mentatlity of the people involved and does give some claim to Kyle's frustatrations but it's no excuse for his behavior.

Was it worth it? Is the time at home what you wanted out of the situation? Are you happy now? Is it all better? When you speak to your sponsors and assure them that it won't happen again, do you realize you've lost face with them and have proven you aren't a man of your word because you made that same promise the last time this happened with you. You went back on that word and did the one thing you assured the people who sign your paycheck you wouldn't do. On top of all that, your wallet is lighter, your Championship run is wasted, all the good things you did all season long have been marred by one foolish decision. If you don't respect your fellow competitors, could you atleast have respect for yourself?

Kyle issued this apology to the media:

“I've had a lot of time today to sit and reflect and try to put my thoughts into words as best I can.

“I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during Friday night's Truck Series race at Texas.

“I apologize to my fans, all my sponsors, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“After talking with my team, it's great to have their support and encouragement to assure me that there are better days ahead. Even though this took place while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, I am sorry for how difficult this has been for everyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams.

“I'd also like to apologize to Ron Hornaday Jr., and everyone associated with the No. 33 team in the Truck Series.

“I understand why I was taken out of the car for the rest of the weekend. NASCAR officials had to act, and I accept their punishment and take full responsibility for my actions.

“As a race-car driver, the hardest thing to do is to sit on the sidelines listening to cars on the track when you know you should be out there competing. For this, I have no one to blame but myself.
“Through a lot of support from the people around me, I feel like I've made a lot of strides this year, but this was certainly a step backward. Moving forward, I will do everything I possibly can to represent everyone involved in a positive manner. However, I know my long-term actions will have more of a bearing than anything I say right now.”

And his wife penned this to the fans via her website, www.samanthabusch.com:

To all the Fans

November 5, 2011

I wanted to write a quick note to all of you addressing the incident that happened during the truck race on Friday night. No, I was not going to comment on the situation Friday night in the midst of all the angry and harsh tweets, there was really no point. I understand that Kyle’s actions were wrong and NASCAR has dealt with the issue appropriately. I love my husband very much and will always be by his side through the good and the bad. Life is not always easy but you deal with each day as it comes and we will move on from this the best that we can.

I also want to thank all of the nice people out there, and let you all know that we really appreciate your support and love through this difficult time. I appreciate everything that you guys do as fans in this sport by coming out to the races, watching on TV and interacting with us via Facebook and Twitter. Along with our family and friends, it has been your kind words and support that make a difficult time better and I sincerely Thank You.
Samantha

Team owner Joe Gibbs has accepted full responsibility for Kyle and his actions and is showing the class act that he is. I have long admired Coach Joe, his son JD and the entire JGR organization. They have shown the racing world what true sportsmanship and class are. That doesn't mean their drivers aren't human and they don't make mistakes, it simply means they hold themselves to a higher standard, correct a problem as soon as it arises and don't make excuses for bad behavior. They admit their failures, apologize and do their best going forward to ensure it doesn't happen again. And if it does, then they go back to the drawing board for a different solution. That is why I will always be a fan of Joe Gibbs Racing.

I am a Denny Hamlin fan, plain and simple. I have taken a neutral stance about Kyle Busch because he's a teammate to my driver. He has some good points that I like about him and then there's this situation. This is the man who went out on a public road with his wife and drove a car at 120 mph without considering anyone but himself. His excuse was he's a professional driver and he had it under control. I'm sorry Kyle, but you can't control cars backing out of their driveway, kids riding bikes or farm equipment or tractors that may happen to enter the roadway. You don't have those obstacles on the racetrack. He didn't take responsibility for his actions then and it really ticked me off. He put his wife at risk and that goes against his vows to love, honor and cherish her.

He said in his apology that his future actions will speak louder than words. EXACTLY! I'm waiting and I'm watching. More of his attitude and facial expressions than anything. But regardless of what Kyle did or didn't do, fans have no right to attack him, his lovely wife Samantha, who is innocent and is far too sweet and kind to fans to deserve such disgusting behavior and especially to Denny Hamlin who wasn't involved in any way and by filling in for him on Saturday was simply following orders from his boss.

In a sport where the world is watching and following every move, word, action and deed...these men are held to a higher standard. The fans are merciless and if a driver gets a reputation for being wreckless, it's nearly impossible to overcome. I don't want Kyle to change his driving style, I just want him to consider the consequences for his actions before he does them. He's racing in all 3 series, two of which he isn't even points eligible for, and the things that happen in those races aren't important.

That brings up my argument for NASCAR not allowing drivers who have made it full time into the Cup series in the lesser series. Especially the trucks. If it's money they're after, then limit the number of NNS races. Those guys can't get a win and the series champion will be an also ran, winless, average 15th finish driver who is worth more than he's been able to show. But that's a whole different discussion.

AAA Texas 500 - Texas STARTING LINEUP

2011-11-04T20:11:00.001-04:00

16 Greg Biffle
6 David Ragan
17 Matt Kenseth
27 Paul Menard
14 Tony Stewart
00 David Reutimann
99 Carl Edwards
2 Brad Keselowski
4 Kasey Kahne
78 Regan Smith
48 Jimmie Johnson
9 Marcos Ambrose
21 Trevor Bayne
22 Kurt Busch
42 Juan Montoya
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
18 Kyle Busch
33 Clint Bowyer
56 Martin Truex Jr
83 Brian Vickers
29 Kevin Harvick
1 Jamie McMurray
24 Jeff Gordon
39 Ryan Newman
20 Joey Logano
43 A J Allmendinger
55 J J Yeley
11 Denny Hamlin
51 Landon Cassill
5 Mark Martin
31 Jeff Burton
47 Bobby Labonte
13 Casey Mears
34 David Gilliland
66 Michael McDowell
35 Dave Blaney
32 Mike Bliss
37 Mike Skinner
46 Scott Speed
87 Joe Nemechek
38 Travis Kvapil
36 Geoffrey Bodine
71 Andy Lally

DENNY'S DIARY: Winning car, 5th-place finish, still disappointed

2011-11-02T10:56:00.000-04:00

Written by Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin, former resident of Chesterfield County and a graduate of Manchester High School, is writing a weekly diary during NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Hamlin drives the No. 11 FedEx car for Joe Gibbs Racing.

It's always hard to be disappointed in a top-five finish, but every time this FedEx team goes to Martinsville, our objective is to win.

It's a shame not to have won Sunday in a car that was that good, but we just got stuck restarting on the outside after those last few cautions.

It seemed like only the 14 (Tony Stewart) could get his car to work in the outside groove on restarts, as you saw when he passed Jimmie (Johnson) for the lead to win the race.

Whenever you're on those small, flat tracks, starting on the inside is such an advantage. When you're on the outside, you just hope you can get clear of the guy behind you on the inside, and slide down there before he can get his right front (tire) to your quarter panel.

Overall, it was a good day for our team. It could've been a lot worse if the damage was bad on that early caution. We just got collected and spun from behind, and luckily nobody behind us hit our car when I was sitting sideways on the track.

The damage to the car wasn't bad, and it actually helped us stay out a couple cautions later and gain some track position. We led a few laps and ran up front most of the day, where this team should be. It was encouraging for us.

The 99 (Carl Edwards) team did exactly what it takes to win championships on Sunday: make the most of bad days. He was a lap down for a good part of the race, and somehow managed to get back up there and finish ninth. When you don't have a car you think can win the race, you just need to get the best finish possible, and that team did it.

Others weren't so lucky, getting caught up in all of the wrecks (18) you saw. I think guys are starting to get impatient now that the end of the season is so close, and they are taking chances they normally wouldn't. Sunday's race looked like what we have been seeing on road courses lately. There was definitely a lot of beating and banging.

This week is another busy one for us. We'll be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area early for an event with FedEx and the American Red Cross, building emergency kits with school children to prepare in case of a disaster. It's a cool program and fun to be able to meet with kids in the local race communities.
Texas was a great track for us in 2010, when we won both races. Our cars were so fast and we got those breaks that you sometimes need to win. It's fun and fast and the fans are very passionate about racing there. It'll be a good show.

Want to read more of Denny's Diary? Check it out at the Richmond Times - Dispatch:
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/sports/motor-sports/denny-hamlin/

There's Good Reason To Worry

2011-11-01T13:10:00.000-04:00

After hearing the news that Rick and Linda Hendrick had survived a scary crash landing, it got me to thinking. I worry about Denny when he's racing, I cry when he crashes and I pray the entire race to ask for safety for someone I truly care about. He has a dangerous occupation and the risks he takes are frightening.

Losing Dan Wheldon really hit home. It reminded me that at any moment Denny could be taken from this earth and I would be devastated. You never know when what seems so safe could become something that costs a precious life. I have nightmares and lose sleep worrying over what could happen during 500 miles of racing, especially at Talladega and Daytona.

But on track isn't the only place that I have to worry, the Hendrick incident makes that even more apparent. With the busy schedule NASCAR drivers maintain, it is impossible not to fly back and forth to keep up the lifestyle they are subject to. That racks up air miles and increases the chances of accidents. While they are a fact of life, they're still scary and make you appreciate the people you love and care about. Every day is a gift, every moment a blessing and every chance to say I love you should be taken full advantage of.

So I make no apologies for caring, worrying, crying or praying. Asking to know that someone who has changed my life is home safe and sound isn't asking too much. It's just a way of showing that friendship means something, letting your heart show in the little things you do is never something you should be ashamed of. You never know when the last time you say I love you, good night and talk to you soon could be your last goodbye. Thankfully, that isn't coming any time too soon.

Point Standings - As of: TUMS Fast Relief 500

2011-11-01T11:21:00.000-04:00

Carl Edwards 2273 Leader -----
Tony Stewart 2265 - 8 +2
Kevin Harvick 2252 -21 +2
Brad Keselowski 2246 -27 -1
Matt Kenseth 2237 -36 -3
Jimmie Johnson 2230 -43 +1
Kyle Busch 2216 -57 -1
Kurt Busch 2215 -58 -----
Dale Earnhardt Jr 2200 -73 -----
Jeff Gordon 2197 -76 -----
Denny Hamlin 2193 -80 -----
Ryan Newman 2184 -89 -----

TUMS Fast Relief 500 - Martinsville RESULTS

2011-11-01T11:12:00.000-04:00

14 Tony Stewart
48 Jimmie Johnson
24 Jeff Gordon
29 Kevin Harvick
11 Denny Hamlin
31 Jeff Burton
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
56 Martin Truex Jr
99 Carl Edwards
39 Ryan Newman
43 A J Allmendinger
13 Casey Mears
78 Regan Smith
22 Kurt Busch
16 Greg Biffle
38 Travis Kvapil
2 Brad Keselowski
20 Joey Logano
33 Clint Bowyer
00 David Reutimann
32 Ken Schrader
42 Juan Montoya -3
36 Dave Blaney -3
27 Paul Menard -3
4 Kasey Kahne -5
71 Hermie Sadler -7
18 Kyle Busch -7
5 Mark Martin -9
9 Marcos Ambrose -12
83 Brian Vickers Accident
17 Matt Kenseth -23
47 Bobby Labonte -36
6 David Ragan -56
34 David Gilliland Accident
1 Jamie McMurray Accident
7 Reed Sorenson Vibration
46 Scott Speed Rear Gear
30 David Stremme Brakes
66 Michael McDowell Brakes
55 J J Yeley Brakes
87 Joe Nemechek Rear Gear
51 Landon Cassill Brakes
37 Mike Skinner Accident

Martinsville Test Helps Continued EFI Development

2011-10-31T18:20:00.000-04:00

For the third time this month, Sprint Cup Series teams tested Electronic Fuel Injection on track, as 10 cars churned out laps around the .526-mile paper clip layout at Martinsville Speedway on Monday. Teams from Roush Fenway Racing, Penske Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, NEMCO Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing and two teams from Stewart-Haas Racing participated in the session.

Previously, teams had tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Plans call for the full implementation of EFI in the Sprint Cup Series beginning with the 2012 season.

Tony Stewart, winner of Sunday's TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, said today's test was all about helping his race team get better.

"This test is big for the engine guys and also for our overall organization," said Stewart, who is second in points. "It gives them the opportunity to read the fuel maps and get a feel for the ins and outs of the EFI system. We're confident that this system will be bullet proof when we go all in with it next season. Being out here today, running laps; you do this to make your race team better."

Stewart's crew chief, Darian Grubb, said that his team came out of Monday's test "very satisfied."

"We've received a lot of data from the earlier tests and this was a good indicator on how the system might perform on a short track," said Grubb. "We're all still in a bit of a learning process with the EFI and still doing some troubleshooting, but this is an exciting move we're making in the sport."

Grubb went on to say that Stewart provides the team with "excellent feedback" on how the car is handling on the track.

"Tony has experience racing with the EFI systems in the past and with his background in IndyCar and sprint cars, he is able to provide us with a lot of valuable and insightful feedback."

A J Allmendinger drove a car for Roush Fenway Racing at the test and said that today was his first experience behind the wheel of an EFI stock car.

"It was kind of cool making laps in the EFI car after going 500 laps yesterday at this track," said Allmendinger, who finished 11th in Sunday's race. "It was pretty amazing seeing the marks on the walls and divots in the track from the race. We were able to make a few minor adjustments with our car today and all in all, it was a productive test for us."

John Darby, Sprint Cup Series director, said today's test "was just one more step in the planning process for EFI."

"Since the time we first began testing EFI in July in Kentucky, I think the teams have been able to work through just about all the configurations of race tracks and the different extremes of weather that they will see in 2012," said Darby. "At Kentucky it was brutally hot and the teams were faced with the extreme heat and this morning it was 30 degrees here at Martinsville, so they've been able to test this system under a variety of conditions."

Darby said that the feedback he has received from the drivers has been "consistently positive."

"When they have the throttle wide open, they say the car might run even a little smoother," said Darby. "When they run it mid-throttle, they say it might feel even a little softer in handling. They all say the cars are handling very similar to what they are used to driving now."

Kroger 200 - Martinsville Camping World Truck Series Results

2011-10-29T20:31:00.000-04:00

18 Denny Hamlin
33 Ron Hornaday
3 Austin Dillon
13 Johnny Sauter
22 Joey Coulter
2 Kevin Harvick
21 Cale Gale
17 Timothy Peters
62 Brendan Gaughan
31 James Buescher
5 Todd Bodine
88 Matt Crafton
8 Nelson Piquet Jr
70 Jeff Agnew
23 Jason White
7 Miguel Paludo
6 Justin Lofton
9 Max Papis
24 Elliott Sadler
36 Grant Enfinger
29 Parker Kligerman
81 David Starr
39 Ryan Sieg
92 Clay Rogers -1
66 Max Gresham -2
09 Bryan Silas -2
60 Cole Whitt -3
51 Josh Richards -3
57 Norm Benning -3
65 Tyler Tanner -5
97 Matt Lofton -5
32 Blake Feese -18
20 Johanna Long -34
07 T J Duke -41
4 Ricky Carmichael Accident
93 Mike Garvey Brakes

Hamlin gets first Truck Series win at Martinsville

2011-10-29T20:14:00.000-04:00

By Sporting News Wire Service
October 29, 2011 5:53 PM, EDT
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Making excellent use of a fresh set of tires, Denny Hamlin drove through the field after a pit stop on Lap 134 and won Saturday's Kroger 200 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in his only start this year.

Ron Hornaday Jr. ran second to make a small dent in the advantage on series points leader Austin Dillon, who finished third. Johnny Sauter ran fourth, followed by rookie Joey Coulter and Kevin Harvick.

The victory was Hamlin's first in the series in 12 starts, adding the driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to the list of drivers, now 23 in number, who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR's top three series.

“

It's a big deal for me, more than what people probably think.

”

-- DENNY HAMLIN

"It's a big deal for me, more than what people probably think," said Hamlin, who has run one Truck Series race each year since 2009. "When they think we go down to these different series -- Nationwide and Truck -- and we're just going down there to try to get wins, from my standpoint, it's very, very tough.
"The Truck Series is more competitive now than what it's ever been, and it means as lot to myself to win a Truck Series race, especially running just one a year, usually. This was just one of those weekends where everything worked out great for us."
Hamlin passed Hornaday and Dillon moments after a restart on Lap 187, as Dillon slid up the race track in Turn 1 but managed to maintain control.
"We gave it to him -- I did," said Dillon, who expanded his points lead to 11 over 10th-place finisher James Buescher. "Just couldn't make the first turn and ran into Ron. If I could have made it through the first turn, it would have been me [or] Ron in Victory Lane, I'm pretty sure. We had faster trucks."
Hornaday said he expected Dillon to slip in the corner and was prepared for it.
"The lap before the [next-to-last] restart, I cleaned my tires off pretty good, and I still shoved my nose pretty good," said Hornaday, who gained one point on Dillon and now is tied for third in the standings with Sauter, 15 points back. "When I saw Austin not weaving his truck as much as I did on the [last] restart, I knew he was coming up into me.
"I had to make sure his right front tire was at my door, and I could lean on him back a little bit, so we didn't get up in the marbles. It worked out for both of us, other than Denny Hamlin snuck through the middle of both of us and stole the win -- but we'll take it."
Dillon passed Harvick for the lead on Lap 141 shortly after a restart that followed the sixth caution of the race, caused by contact between Germain Racing teammates Todd Bodine and Max Papis, who battled until Papis spun off Bodine's front bumper.
After Papis spun again to bring out the seventh caution, Dillon led the field to the green flag for a restart on Lap 152 and held the top spot until Ryan Sieg's spin on Lap 172 caused caution No. 8. Moments before the yellow flew, Hornaday passed Harvick for second, setting up a battle between a four-time champion (Hornaday) and a driver seeking his first title (Dillon).
When the field restarted on Lap 179, Dillon and Hornaday held the top two spots, chased by Hamlin and Sauter, both on fresher tires. One caution later, Hamlin powered beneath both Hornaday and Dillon on a Lap 187 restart and pulled away for the win.

Kroger 200 - Martinsville Camping World Truck Series Starting Lineup

2011-10-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

88 Matt Crafton
33 Ron Hornaday
18 Denny Hamlin
13 Johnny Sauter
31 James Buescher
2 Kevin Harvick
5 Todd Bodine
6 Justin Lofton
17 Timothy Peters
3 Austin Dillon
7 Miguel Paludo
22 Joey Coulter
21 Cale Gale
24 Elliott Sadler
9 Max Papis
29 Parker Kligerman
39 Ryan Sieg
8 Nelson Piquet Jr
60 Cole WHitt
92 Clay Rogers
70 Jeff Agnew
8 David Starr
4 Ricky Carmichael
66 Max Grisham
51 Josh Richards
23 Jason White
97 Matt Lofton
62 Brendan Gaughan
36 Grant Enfinger
20 Johanna Long
65 Tyler Tanner
07 T J Duke
57 Norm Benning
32 Brian Feese
93 Mike Garvey
09 Bryan Silas

Missing the field after a spin on her first qualifying lap and having to turn around and start over is the #10 truck of Jennifer Jo Cobb and the #99 truck of Charles Vest.

Kroger 200 - Martinsville Camping World Truck Series Qualifying Order

2011-10-29T11:03:00.000-04:00

93 Mike Garvey
10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
99 Charles Vest
09 Bryan Silas
65 Tyler Tanner
20 Johanna Long
57 Norm Benning
36 Grant Enfinger
51 Josh Richards
97 Matt Logton
21 Cale Gale
07 T J Duke
32 Blake Feese
66 Max Gresham
81 David Starr
23 Jason White
70 Jeff Agnew
4 Ricky Carmichael
92 Clay Rogers
8 Nelson Piquet Jr
39 Ryan Sieg
7 Miguel Paludo
24 Elliott Sadler
3 Austin Dillon
9 Max Papis
22 Joey Coulter
6 Justin Lofton
17 Timothy Peters
31 James Buescher
62 Brendan Gaughan
29 Parker Klingerman
13 Johnny Sauter
60 Cole Whitt
5 Todd Bodine
88 Matt Crafton
2 Kevin Harvick
18 Denny Hamlin
33 Ron Hornaday

The field will be 36 trucks, with 2 trucks not making the field.

Tum's Fast Relief 500 - Martinsville Lineup

2011-10-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

99 Carl Edwards
17 Matt Kenseth
2 Brad Keselowski
14 Tony Stewart
29 Kevin Harvick
18 Kyle Busch
48 Jimmie Johnson
22 Kurt Busch
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
24 Jeff Gordon
11 Denny Hamlin
39 Ryan Newman
33 Clunt Bowyer
4 Kasey Kahne
16 Greg Biffle
43 A J Allmendinger
9 Marcos Ambrose
6 David Ragan
5 Mark Martin
42 Juan Montoya
27 Paul Menard
20 Joey Logano
31 Jeff Burton
56 Martin Truex Jr
83 Brian Vickers
78 Regan Smith
1 Jamie McMurray
00 David Reutimann
47 Bobby Labonte
51 Landon Cassill
34 David Gilliland
36 Dave Blaney
13 Casey Mears
32 Ken Schrader
38 Travis Kvapil
71 Hermie Sadler
7 Reed Sorenson
37 Mike Skinner
46 Scott Speed
66 Michael McDowell
87 Joe Nemechek
30 David Stremme
55 J J Yeley

Qualifying was rained out and starting positions were set based on point standings. There were two cars not making the field, they were the #92 of Dennis Setzer and #75 of Derrike Cope.

The Lost Season

2011-10-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

Hamlin has readjusted his expectations and goals for the final four races of 2011

By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
October 28, 2011 2:19 PM, EDT

Denny Hamlin expected so much more from his 2011 season. Instead, he returns to Martinsville Speedway this weekend hoping to "put a band-aid" over what has become a wound that won't heal.
One win. Four top-five finishes. Twelve top-10s. And even though he made the Chase field, he's been anything but an interested observer, sitting 11th in the standings with four races remaining.

“

We just got to manage our expectations from here on out. I've finished outside the top eight in points only once in my career, so that's something I'd like to keep going.

”

-- DENNY HAMLIN

Last fall, Hamlin led the final 30 laps en route to his third consecutive Martinsville triumph and fourth in sixth tries. That put him just six points behind Jimmie Johnson with four races remaining -- and he had the championship within his grasp two races later when a fuel mileage gamble bit him at Phoenix.
But he's 84 points behind Carl Edwards heading into Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500 -- and instead of talking about championships, the topic at hand is trying to regain some lost momentum and putting the No. 11 Toyota in a position to contend again in 2012.
"My goal is to win a race before the end of the season," Hamlin said. "I feel that would go a really long way with our team and myself and the confidence level, and I feel like we could do that. We have some awesome race tracks ahead of us that we've pretty much all won at."
With finishes of 31st at Chicagoland, 29th at New Hampshire and 18th at Dover, Hamlin's Chase had a nightmare start. Even though things have leveled out since, he realizes the rest of the season is mainly about moving up as much as he can in the points.
"We just got to manage our expectations from here on out," Hamlin said. "I've finished outside the top eight in points only once in my career, so that's something I'd like to keep going."
Having come so close to winning it all last season, Hamlin wishes now that he would have spent more time enjoying the experience rather than feeling the pressure.
"For me, I didn't have as much fun as I felt like I should have had," Hamlin said. "Just looking at the grand scheme of things and thinking about the position I was in, I was just too worried week in and week out about where I [was] going to finish.
"I was always worried about the outcome instead of just worrying about going out there and performing the best I can that particular lap over and over and over. When you worry too much about outcomes and things like that, you don't seem to perform as well because you start racing defensively. Last year, I was somewhat racing defensively at the end when we had a lead."
So what's the biggest issue facing the No. 11 team? Getting better at the intermediate ovals, Hamlin said.
"I feel like we can make up a little bit in some areas that I feel like we're a little bit behind," Hamlin said. "[A win] would help, but we still know the bulk of the race tracks that you have in the Chase and the bulk of them that you run in the course of the season -- those are the tracks that we have to get better at.
"For us, we're heading in the right direction, we know what direction to head -- it's just taking a long time to get there."
Some of that has to do with the way Hamlin's cars are constructed, in his opinion. And that's not something that's going to be repaired overnight.

Out of it

Hamlin's 2011 Chase results

Track	Start	Finish

Chicago	27	31
Loudon	28	29
Dover	11	18
Kansas	7	16
Charlotte	17	9
Talladega	31	8

"That's going to take a long time," Hamlin said. "And I'm not going to expect things to happen this week, next week. I'm not going to get discouraged if I go to Homestead and they say, 'This is half of what you want. This is three-quarters of what you want.'
"Because I know when we get to Daytona or the next mile-and-a-half next year -- we're going to have what I want in the cars and hopefully it's going to be the right thing."
That means making slow but steady gains on performance, something Hamlin feels is already taking place.
"We've performed better than what we had at the beginning of the Chase," Hamlin said. "[We're] still definitely not where we need to be. It's going to take time.
"The things we need to change are long-term things. They're not stuff that we can fix right now."
And given that he's been in this position before, who does Hamlin think has the best shot at winning the Cup? For him, it's hard to bet against the current points leader.
"I'm going to take the guy that's got a 14-point lead," Hamlin said. "I think Matt Kenseth has got a really good shot and obviously still does. He's really been on a roll here lately.
"It looks like his performance is really tops of everyone. I'd say Matt, but Carl's obviously got the edge because he's got a gap right now on [Kenseth]."

In Loving Memory Of My Mom

2011-10-27T18:23:00.000-04:00

My Mom, her business school friend Linda and me on the day of my sister's wedding

Today marks the 8th Anniversary of the death of my Mom. She was my best friend, my whole world and my protector. Where you saw one you saw the other, we were inseperable. Since she left, I feel like part of me is missing. It's funny that when she was here she thought no one would miss her and that she had no one who loved her. If she only knew the giant hole she's left in my life I'm sure she would be grateful and we would share a huge hug and some tears together.

This is harder than ever for me because I look at her grandson, who was born on her birthday and think of what he's missing out on. I went to the cemetary to place flowers on her grave and as I got out of the car, my water broke. My prayers were answered and my little man has the name of her Guardian Angel as his middle name. Aaron Timothy keeps me focused, grounded and every smile reflects her love and I hear her voice in every giggle. Now I understand how she could love me even at worst and why she was so proud of me.

Heaven is a better place today because she is part of it. I know she's watching me and is proud of what she's left behind. I made a promise to her on her death bed that I would meet her in Heaven. It's one I intend to keep. She left a beautiful, Christian legacy behind and I am so humbled and honored to be her daughter. I love you Mommy and I miss you more than you will ever know. Rest in Peace!

Rules Are Rules

2011-10-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

Going into the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega, the windshields from the cars of Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte were confiscated by NASCAR for illegal modifications. I know, I know, what exactly can you do to modify a windshield? It seems they were shaved thin at the top to reduce downforce at the meeting between the windshield and the roof of the car. It sounds minor and the fact that the windshields were never used in competition, because NASCAR took them before they made it onto the track. No harm no foul? Not according to NASCAR. And not according to this race fan either.

NASCAR has issued penalties to the #00, #47 and #56 teams that compete in the Sprint Cup Series as a result of rule infractions discovered during opening day inspection Oct. 21 at Talladega Superspeedway. All three cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-3.2.1A (unapproved modification to an approved windshield) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book.

Crew chiefs Rodney Childers (#00), Frank Kerr (#47) and Chad Johnston (#56) have each been fined $50,000 and have been suspended from the next four Sprint Cup Series championship events and suspended from NASCAR until Nov. 23. Car chiefs Steve Channing (#00), Raymond Fox (#47) and Anthony Lunders (#56) have likewise been suspended from the next four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events and suspended from NASCAR until Nov. 23. Additionally, Bobby Kennedy, director of competition for Michael Waltrip Racing, has been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Car owners Rob Kauffman (#00), Tad Geschickter (#47), and Michael Waltrip (#56) have each been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points. Drivers David Reutimann (#00), Bobby Labonte (#47), and Martin Truex Jr. (#56) have each been penalized with the loss of 25 championship driver points.

"We are very disappointed in this entire situation and we will not appeal NASCAR's ruling," JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said. "We look forward to racing at Martinsville Speedway this weekend and getting ready for next season." Team chief race engineer Brian Burns will assume the role as crew chief for the #47 Toyota Camry replacing Frank Kerr and Bob Bechstein has been named car chief replacing Raymond Fox following penalties assessed by NASCAR.

"Michael Waltrip Racing is ultra-sensitive and very serious about working within the guidelines of NASCAR policy. We do not condone this type of activity and as such we will take appropriate internal corrective action immediately. We thank NASCAR for providing a fair and equitable platform for all of its competitors and respect its decisions; therefore, we will not appeal." What is there to appeal? You did it, you got caught red handed, it was taken away and you pay the penalty.

The following team personnel moves will take effect until NASCAR reinstates the suspended crew members:
#56 Team: Veteran crew chief Pat Tryson will serve as interim crew chief in place of suspended crew chief Chad Johnston at Martinsville. Allen Mincey, #56 race mechanic, will serve as interim car chief in place of suspended car chief Tony Lunders
#00 Team: Bobby Kennedy, executive vice president of race operations, will serve as interim crew chief in place of Rodney Childers. Chris Hall, #00 race mechanic, will serve as interim car chief in place of suspended car chief Steve Channing.
Twitter is lit up with fans outraged at such a harsh penalty over a windshield. They feel it's too harsh and unjust. Do you recall the unapproved oil pans Joe Gibbs Racing was penalized for and the crucifixion the teams and drivers took for something else that was seemingly unimportant? Yes, I do too. The rules are the rules and like it or not they are in place for a reason. If you break the rules then you are subject to consequences and while you may not like the results, it's the name of the game. You've gotta pay to play. While I'm sorry for the teams involved, I'm thankful that NASCAR is being consisent and not letting things slide simply because they seem trivial to the outside world.

That also brings into question a conversation overheard between Chad Knaus and 5-Time himself, Jimmie Johnson. In case you haven't heard about it, let me enlighten you.

Chad Knaus told driver Jimmie Johnson to intentionally damage the back end of his race car if the #48 team won Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway, the crew chief acknowledged Wednesday. Knaus admitted giving the five-time NASCAR champion the pre-race instructions in order to "cover our bases" in case 500 miles of bump-drafting knocked the car beyond NASCAR's strict tolerances. Officials likely would have accepted the damage as an excuse if the # 48 car had not fit NASCAR's templates in post-race inspection. The conversation between Knaus and Johnson occurred when the crew chief leaned inside the #48 car before the race to give Johnson some final words of encouragement. Because Johnson's in-car camera was live on NASCAR.com's RaceBuddy application, the chat was broadcast to anyone watching the feed at the time.

"If we win this race, you have to crack the back of the car," Knaus could be heard telling Johnson on the recording. "Got it?"
"Really?" Johnson replied, sounding surprised.
"Yes," Knaus said. "Got it? You don't have to have to hit it hard, you don't have to destroy it. But you've gotta do a donut and you've gotta hit the back end, or somebody's gotta hit you in the ass-end or something. OK?"
After Johnson responds with apparent silence (he can't be heard saying anything else), Knaus added, "You'll be alright. Can't take any chances."
When asked Wednesday whether the conversation indicated Knaus was trying something fishy on the back of the car, the crew chief replied, "I don't think that's a fair assessment. To be honest with you, here's the deal - racing at Talladega is tough, and I think everybody understands that," Knaus said in a phone interview. "You run 500 miles at 200 miles per hour, and you're bump-drafting and you're beating on one another, and it's real easy for these cars to get outside of tolerance. It's a tight tolerance that we're held in. It doesn't take much to be a few thousands (of an inch) off and have NASCAR raise an eyebrow. Just being proactive, I just told Jimmie, 'Look, man - we've just got to make sure there's a tire mark or some type of visible damage.' Just because cars do move when you race them like that.

Where does the line blur between cheating and just being competitive and covering all the bases? You be the judge.

Jeff Gluck Interview: 12 Questions With Denny Hamlin

2011-10-26T10:53:00.000-04:00

Denny Hamlin Interview: 'I Feel Like I'm The Most Competitive Person Alive'

By Jeff Gluck - Motorsports Editor

The FedEx-sponsored driver says he doesn't get enough credit for all his success and reveals his new hobby in an honest 12 Questions interview.

Oct 26, 2011 - Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues this week with Denny Hamlin, who heads to Martinsville this weekend as one of the favorites to win at what might be his best track. Hamlin spoke with us recently at Charlotte.

SBN: Who is the most underrated driver in NASCAR?
DH: I'm the most underrated driver.

SBN: Why do you say that? People don't give you enough credit?
DH: I kind of had a tiff with Darrell Waltrip at the beginning of the year. All I ever heard about was the 11 car was a couple wins away from being the most winning car number. Given I'm in a very elite group when it comes to that – I look at the drivers who raced it before me, and Darrell definitely had his fair share of wins in it. But I never felt like Darrell gave me very much credit, you know?
Up until this year, when a lot of things were out of my control – the DNFs, things like that – you look beyond that, and my stats are as good as anyone in the first five years of their career. Up until this year, me and Kyle Busch were separated by two wins – he's been in the sport one year longer than me. But he's known as the guy that wins everything.
So I don't necessarily think we get the notoriety that we deserve. You look at our win percentage and things like that – and given, this year has been tough on that – and we've done pretty well for ourselves. Yet we're considered by many, I think, as a middle-of-the-road team.

SBN: What's a race in your career that you didn't win and it still bugs you because you lost?
DH: It would probably be Bristol, in the very first race with the COT (in 2007). I was leading with 10 to go, and there was a wreck. I checked up for the wreck and Kyle didn't – of course – and he passed me. And he went on to win the race.

SBN: So you just feel like you shouldn't have checked up?

DH: Yeah, I should have kept going. But, really, I just want to win at Bristol so bad.
SBN: If you could be on a four-car Sprint Cup Series team and pick your teammates – but not Kyle or Joey Logano – who would you pick?
DH: I'd say probably Carl (Edwards), Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff Gordon.

SBN: What's your reasoning?
DH: I feel like those are guys who all bring a lot to the table and are good at certain things. The 48 and the 99 have very similar driving styles, so I would kind of balance information off them to try to learn what they look for. And the 24, I think is exceptionally good on the shorter tracks – similar to what I am – and he's got a different approach, but he's still fast.
So I'd try to blend all those together to become the ultimate driver.

SBN: What driver did you want to model yourself after when you were growing up?
DH: I'd say probably Matt Kenseth. I think my style is very similar to his in the sense I'm a bit more passive on the racetrack, I guess you could say. He was a guy that, until last year, never won a ton of races but was just ultra-consistent. And that's what I was for the first four years of my career – I was the guy who was always just there and solid, every week. He never tore up a lot of equipment, so I was like, 'You know, that's a guy I would like to model myself after.'

SBN: What's a memorable post-race escape you've made from the track to the airport after a race?
DH: Hmm...we've had to run over cones and things like that before. Oh, Chicago...

SBN: What happened there?
DH: They have a thing when you go out of Chicago where they make you turn left or right – and we wanted to go dead straight. We went straight and the cop (stopped the car and) said, 'Pull your ass over and you sit here!' So we were sitting there and sitting there and he just would not release us because he was pissed that we did not go left or right and we disobeyed his orders.
Finally, we sweet-talked him and he finally let us go. But that was about the edgiest escape that we've had. I thought we could possibly have to go to jail.

SBN: Who is somebody famous who you'd like to meet that you have not met yet?
DH: I'd actually like to meet Jim Cramer (of CNBC's Mad Money). He's just an interesting guy, you know? He's obviously very, very smart as far as how the world runs and everything, but he's also a huge sports guy. So I find him very funny and interesting. He'd be a guy I'd want to sit down and talk to for 15 minutes.

SBN: Yeah. And get some stock tips.
DH: Absolutely. For sure, for sure.

SBN: So when did you get so interested in the stock market?
DH: Probably about two months ago when the market crashed. I said, 'Man, this would be a good time to learn.' To be honest with you, I've never read so much my entire life. I never liked reading books or reading anything – I'm a pictures guy. But I've read and read and read these last two months.
We're in these motorhomes so much, you can only watch so much sports. I needed a new hobby to mess around with during the weekends. So I just started reading to kind of catch up on what's going on in the world – because I really had no idea.
All I would do is meet with my financial advisors once every six months and be like, 'Well how come things did this?' or 'How come this six months was better?' I never knew what was actually going on in the world that affected stock markets or the way we pay taxes or things like that. So I kind of got more in tune with what's going on with our leadership.

SBN: Last year, there were two different types of seasons – Jamie McMurray won some huge races but missed the Chase; Jeff Gordon made the Chase but didn't win any races or the championship. If you had to choose for yourself, what would you want?
DH: I'd rather win the races. I think those crown jewel accomplishments will live on with you forever. Running mediocre for an entire season will be a completely forgotten season.

SBN: Where does your motivation to win come from? Why do you want to win so badly?
DH: I feel like I'm the most competitive driver in the motorhome lot. No matter what it is – whether we're racing, playing another sport or deciding who can run to that sign and back faster – I feel like I'm the most competitive person alive.
It gets the best of me sometimes, because it makes me very hard on myself when I don't achieve the goals I want to achieve. But I feel like that's what makes me as good as I am at times – I push myself to be better, constantly.

SBN: How much does your personality change from when you're sitting here talking to me and when you're inside the car racing?
DH: Probably completely different. Back when I was racing go-karts, I would be a complete jokester. I'd crack up with the guys around me, I just was horsing around with everyone. But as soon as we got our go-karts to the grid and I put on my helmet, my daddy always used tell me, 'You turn into a completely different person.'
I still do that today. I can spend the hour before the race here cracking up with all my friends and joking around, but as soon as I get around that race car, I completely change. The focus changes. The competitive juices get flowing.

SBN: If you could switch lives with another athlete from a different sport, who would you want to be?
DH: You wouldn't believe who I'm going to say – Floyyyyyd Mayweather!

SBN: No way. Come on!
DH: He works once or twice a year! Other than 10 weeks of training before a fight...

SBN: But boxers get their asses kicked!
DH: Hey, if I'm going to trade lives, I'm going to be him! So I'm not gonna be taking any punches, I'm gonna be giving 'em!
He's dominated his sport for 15 years. He'd be the guy I'd trade places with. The monetary compensation versus actual workload is a great ratio in his business.

SBN: Yeah, I would guess that ratio has got to be the best out of any sport.
DH (puts hands up as if to indicate he's won the argument): If I'm going to switch, that's who I'm going to switch with.

SBN: You actually inspired this next one in the 12 Questions we did last year, but I'll ask you anyway. If you could take a year away from NASCAR and go do whatever you wanted but come back knowing you had a ride guaranteed, would you ever want to do that?
DH: I would definitely take a year off, for sure. At this point in our sport and where it's at, it wouldn't happen. Three or four years ago, you could probably be like Mark Martin and kind of come and go as you wish. But yeah, there's plenty of things I want to do, other than racing.
I can assure you that most of the drivers in here have a lot of things they'd like to do, but racing keeps them from doing that. Any hobbies, traveling – we're so restricted because of our long season. We have a one-and-a-half-month period where we get to do what we want – that's shorter than any other sport. It makes it tough, for sure.

SBN: When you eventually quit racing someday, what do you want your retirement story to say about you?
DH: I always said when I was in Late Models, all I ever wanted was when I pull out on the racetrack, people feel like I'm the guy to beat. Last year, that was the case. It's an amazing confidence boost when you have that swagger of knowing when you pull on the racetrack, all eyes are on you because they know you're the best.
So as far as a career legacy, I just want to be known as the guy everyone had to watch for, constantly. Like, 'If you're going to beat 'em, that's the guy to beat.' There were some Late Model racers back in the day that we knew were going to be tough to beat when they showed up. That's the feeling I'd like to have.

SBN: This might be sensitive given what happened at Homestead last year, but let's say you're going to win the championship. Would you rather have it wrapped up after Phoenix or win it off Turn 4 of the last lap of the season at Homestead?
DH: I think off Turn 4 of the last lap would be better. I think in my position, it would especially be sweeter because we faltered at the end of last year. Winning it on the last lap would kind of redeem ourselves from that collapse. In my opinion, you want to win it in exciting fashion

Hamlin To Drive KBM Truck At Martinsville

2011-10-25T11:14:00.000-04:00

If you can't get enough Denny Hamlin, you're in luck this weekend at Martinsville. He will pilot the #18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota/Traxxas Toyota Tundra in the Kroger 200. You can watch him practice Friday, Oct. 28th at 2 PM on SPEED. Catch Qualifying Saturday, Oct. 29th at 10:30 AM on SPEED.

Don't miss the excitement of short track action live from Martinsville. The Kroger 200 will air @ 2 PM on SPEED. Don't miss a single lap and be sure to cheer for the Denny and his team owner, Kyle Busch. Busch has been dominant in the Truck Series and no doubt his fill-in will continue his success.

Are you a REAL Denny Hamlin fan? Well check out some great Facebook Fan Pages.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Denny-Hamlin-Supporters/113893705360015 for Denny Hamlin Supporters

AND http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Denny-Hamlins-Biggest-Fans/123416011012467 for Denny Hamlin's Biggest Fans.

Both are very interactive and fun. Let's support fellow Denny Hamlin fans and their love of NASCAR's greatest wheel man!

Point Standings - As of: Good Sam Club 500

2011-10-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

Carl Edwards 2237 Leader ------
Matt Kenseth 2223 -14 +1
Brad Keselowski 2219 -18 +3
Tony Stewart 2218 -19 +1
Kevin Harvick 2211 -26 -3
Kyle Busch 2197 -40 -2
Jimmie Johnson 2187 -50 +1
Kurt Busch 2185 -52 -1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 2163 -74 -----
Jeff Gordon 2155 -82 +1
Denny Hamlin 2153 -84 +1
Ryan Newman 2149 -88 -2

Good Sam Club 500 - Talladega Results

2011-10-25T10:49:00.000-04:00

33 Clint Bowyer
31 Jeff Burton
36 Dave Blaney
2 Brad Keselowski
83 Brian Vickers
4 Kasey Kahne
14 Tony Stewart
11 Denny Hamlin
15 Michael Waltrip
56 Martin Truex Jr
99 Carl Edwards
27 Paul Menard
00 David Reutimann
16 Greg Biffle
21 Trevor Bayne
51 Landon Cassill
13 Casey Mears
17 Matt Kenseth
9 Marcos Ambrose
5 Mark Martin
38 Travis Kvapil
34 David Gilliland
42 Juan Montoya
20 Joey Logano
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
48 Jimmie Johnson
24 Jeff Gordon
6 David Ragan
1 Jamie McMurray -4
78 Regan Smith Accident
43 AJ Allmendinger -9
29 Kevin Harvick -9
18 Kyle Busch -13
32 Terry Labonte -13
47 Bobby Labonte Accident
22 Kurt Busch Accident
7 Robby Gordon Rear Gear
39 Ryan Newman -16
71 Andy Lally Accident
66 Michael McDowell Clutch
87 Joe Nemechek Rear Gear
55 JJ Yeley Wheel Bearings
97 Kevin Conway Vibration

Like Being Stuck Without A Date To Prom

2011-10-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

Going into Sunday's Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega, I was absolutely terrified. After losing Dan Wheldon last Sunday in a horrific crash at Las Vegas during the IndyCar finale, I was more than a little unsettled at the idea of Denny Hamlin returning to the track. But it wasn't just any track, it was Talladega, the sight of a scary crash for Hamlin just a few years ago that still has me shaking in my boots and thanking God for keeping Denny safe. I cried as the cars began the pace laps, kept whispering prayers of protection for the FedEx wheelman and kept my eyes glued to the screen for every single lap. But what I saw still leaves me baffled. As the laps started to tick off, Hamlin found himself alone, without a drafting partner, even after Ryan Newman had promised to hook up with the #11 car. Newman had found his team owner, Tony Stewart, and had abandoned Hamlin for a chance at leading laps with the #14 car. This left Hamlin a lap down, searching for help anywhere he could find it.

Luckily, the caution came out, Hamlin was the Lucky Dog and he was back on the lead lap. But still dateless. He was searching for anyone who would help him, ticking off the likes of Earnhardt Jr, who used some pretty disgusting language to express his frustration. But Karma is a cruel mistress and the #39 car of Newman was involved in a crash that ended his chances of being competitive and he ended the day 16 laps down. Fellow JGR teammates, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano had been sambaing their way to the front of the field, only to have Logano involved in a crash and a flat tire destroyed his left front fender. Finally! A light at the end of the tunnel for Hamlin, who quickly paired up with Kyle Busch as Logano found his way to Tony Stewart and tucked his damaged fender behind the #14 to reduce the effects of his damage. But just like the old saying goes, what goes around comes back around and Kyle Busch also found himself in an accident and Hamlin was once again searching for someone to dance with.

It was the #15 car of Michael Waltrip who came to Hamlin's rescue time after time. He made sure Hamlin always had a partner and if he was needed, he found his way to the #11 and assisted however possible. Talk about your class acts! Thank you Michael Waltrip! You truly are a good friend to Denny and I can't tell you enough how much your support was appreciated.

By the end of the race, Hamlin must've felt like he'd been rode hard and put away wet. He saw more action than a gigolo on a Saturday night and no doubt needed a long hot shower with a good scrub brush to wash the effects of the day away. It was exhausting and heart breaking to witness and his 8th place finish was hard fought for. At least when he spun in the late stages of the race he escaped with no ill effects and my heart could resume beating normally.

It was a difficult day to say the least. The thoughts of Dan Wheldon's wife and her two sons is still heavy on my mind and my heart aches for her and his family and friends. The motorsports community is reeling from tragic loss and this fan is still experiencing some sleepless nights worrying about the driver she cares so deeply for. It is a dangerous sport made worse by drivers who outdrive their abilities and take stupid chances too early in the race. Thankfully the day is over, everyone is safe and sound and Martinsville is only a few days away.

If I were to sum it up, I think my words would fail me. So I'll quote Denny himself "The best I can describe it is we were stuck without a date to the prom, so I was just hitting on everyone's mom." Well said Denny, and on that note I say...on to Martinsville

What EXACTLY Are We Chasing?

2011-10-06T21:53:00.000-04:00

As we head into Kansas, Race 4 in the 10 race Chase for the Sprint Cup, Denny Hamlin is still holding fast to 12th in the point standings. He is all but forgotten as a major player or contender in this Championship run. Poor qualifying runs, running out of gas, late pit stops to fix lingering issues and mechanical failures have plagued this team from the first time they rolled onto the track clear back in February at Daytona.

Some are calling for Mike Ford's head on a platter, others have completely given up on him, while others refuse to waver in their undying devotion to the FedEx Toyota wheel man. What it all comes down to is chasing after 5-Time Champion Jimmie Johnson and trying to block his attempt at a sixth reign in NASCAR's pinnacle series. Simply making the Chase, from the top spot to the last, is an accomplishment in itself. What was supposed to be a positive thing in the sport has become a confusing disaster that puts the most irritating drivers in the running for a Championship that they're undeserving of. The points shake up has proven to be ridiculous and aggravating. Why do they insist on fixing what isn't broken?

Seems Mr. Hamlin is seeking the help of a Sports Psychologist, to help him focus on his racing and improve his performance. WHAT? Since when did he lost faith in himself? Since when did he doubt his own talent and forget who he is, where he came from and how hard he's fought to get this far? And WHEN did he give up??? Get out of your head and get back into your heart. You know, that place where you're at peace with the racecar and you push aside the whole rest of the world and all you care about is getting to the checkered flag first! You can do this! You are a Rock Star and not just to your Mama. To your fans and the people who will NEVER give up on you. Now go out there and do this. Did you forget?....ALL YOU DO IS WIN!!!!

It's Just Getting Interesting

2011-08-26T22:18:00.004-04:00

This time last season, Denny Hamlin was well on his way to an astounding 8 wins and seriously challenging Jimmie Johnson for the Championship. If anyone could dethrone the repeat series winner, it was the # 11 FedEx wheelman. He was sitting pretty, in a rhythm with his crew and shot caller Mike Ford was crew chief extraordinaire. It was champagne baths and steak dinners. Right up til the last lap it was possible to overtake the HMS dynasty team of Johnson and The Knaus. Then suddenly it all went way wrong and 5-Time was born.

Enter 2011- what many believed to be The Year of The 11, the season that Hamlin was to finally come into his own and prove that he was championship material. But somehow at race 24 of 36, with new twists in the Chase, many are scratching their heads asking what went wrong. Is it Hamlin? Maybe it's Ford? There's been speculation that the duo should be seperated and JGR should shake things up a bit.

Well it is my opinion that there needs to be shaking happening in the JGR camp. But it isn't with the driver and his crew chief, but with the engine department and the parts department. The majority of Hamlin's issues can be traced back to a mechanical issue. It's hard to win races when your engine decides that 4 or 500 laps is more than it wants to produce. So for the doubters and haters, I have just one thing to say. Never doubt a Virginia boy. Never doubt a fighter. Never turn your back on a hungry man looking to prove his public wrong when they say he has lost his fire. It's when you blink, lose interest and think all hope is lost that the smoke you thought was from a dying engine is actually a fire rekindling in the heart of a would-be Champion. Forget the fire department, this fire can't be quenched.

I have said over and over that I'm proud of Denny no matter where he finishes. That he makes me tremble with gratification whether he's first to the garage or finding his way to victory lane. Well that's all well and good and sounds sweet when you're trying to encourage someone who's struggling to find their way. Truth be told I HATE to lose. I get so disappointed when he is running so well and by no fault of his own he ends up 30th. To see his face and know that he's just as devastated as I am breaks my heart. He wants to make his fans proud of him. He feels they deserve it. He's right...we do.

But what about what Denny deserves? A car capable of winning every week, four tires that can carry him from lap 1 to lap 400. A pit crew that showed the world they are the best there ever will be and an engine that doesn't blow up before the race ever starts forcing him to the back of the field. There are so many more things I could mention....but you get the point.

I believe in Denny Hamlin. I know he is a man on a mission. I honestly feel that he is close to breaking through, finding his nitch in this sport and making teammate Kyle Busch's success look like just a drop in the bucket. There is no doubt in my mind that soon and very soon the man taking the trophy home to his beautiful NC residence will be none other than Mary Lou Hamlin's little boy.

The Waldorf Astoria will open its doors to celebrate the FedEx crew and the incredible Joe and JD Gibbs and there won't be any way to contain the excitement when Denny Hamlin is finally crowned NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. New York City will never be the same after it's painted Fed Ex purple and black! Hamlin will be announced as he strolls out to his seat on stage left surrounded by the people responsible for helping his dream come true. He will be toasted, roasted and celebrated as the man who got it done. Then he will stand up to make his acceptance speech. He will mention the people who sign his paycheck, who make his attempt at greatness possible. He will thank his Momma who has devoted countless hours to supporting her baby boy and the tears will flow down her beautiful face as she beams with pride.

But the moment I can't wait for...the moment I've waited far too long for is when he says "I want to thank the fans, because without you this wouldn't be possible. You are truly the greatest fans in the world and I couldn't do this without you. Thank you for supporting me and never giving up on me". I will sit there with tears filling my own eyes and know in my heart, whether he calls me out by name or not that he's talking to me. Then all the hours spent watching and screaming til I was hoarse, terrified he was hurt when he crashed and asking why when yet another equipment failure ended our afternoon will be worth it. I didn't give up, Hamlin fans around the world stood behind him unconditionally and we can finally celebrate what we've waited so long for and deserve more than anyone.

So what if he's 12th in points and only has one win. So the pressure's on and that's when Denny Hamlin works best. I may be a little nervous and perhaps I have a few sleepless nights wondering if he's going to make the Chase. Then it hits me, we're not talking about just anybody here. We're talking about Denny Hamlin. There's no reason to panic...it's just getting interesting!

Time for a change?

2011-06-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

Since the first time I heard the name Denny Hamlin, I knew there was something special about this guy. I've had the utmost respect for Joe Gibbs since the day he came into NASCAR. He produces champions, he's of NFL greatness, so of course he knows how to mold young men into the finest gold ever produced. Bobby Labonte exudes class and character and he will forever be the face of JGR to me. Then there's Tony Stewart. The firecracker who brought spark and charisma to the world of Motorsports. My personal feelings for Smoke aside, you can't deny his greatness after winning two championships and going out on his own to start a team that will sustain him after retirement, basing his organization on the model of none other than his boss and mentor, Joe Gibbs.

In my opinion, Joe Gibbs and his son JD know how to pick the best of the best and Denny Hamlin is no exception. His first win came after adversity that would've sidelined lesser competitors. But this rookie proved he had what it takes to be a champion. So this season's struggles don't concern me in the least, and I don't feel like any changes are necessary for his crew chief or his pitcrew.

Denny says Mike Ford's his guy and if Ford goes, he goes. He's stood up for his shot caller numerous times and the loyalty runs deep. Rumors of a crew chief swap have run rampant and Hamlin insists there will be no changes if the boss plans to keep him onboard. This is yet another quality that endears me to the FedEx driver. Last weekend's race at Pocono looked promising for the much needed, highly coveted win the entire # 11 team so desperately wants to get under their belt for the 2011 season and yet again the unthinkable happened. Only this time, the laps wound down quicker than Denny could rebound and he wound up 19th and dropped to 12th in point standings.

Denny Hamlin has said all along that 2011 is his season. He is determined to be the man to dethrone Five Time and as a staunch hater of Jimmie Johnson and all of Hendrick Motorsports, I'm all for that plan. So what's happened? Why does it seem all the wheels are falling off at once and the entire season may explode in Denny's face? I have but one explanation. Distractions and high self expectations have taken my heroes focus off of the task of claiming his first in many trophies and making his mark on the sport of auto racing. Girls, friends and outside interests have become drama with a life of its own that the driver can't quite seem to squash. The people closest to him try to protect him from the bullshit of life but there will always be people who don't respect him and have his best interest at heart. Shy of cleaning house and wiping out all the negativity the only hope is to shut out everything and everyone that doesn't lift him up and make him better.

I've said all along that Denny can be his own worst enemy, and unfortunately that is evident this year. He starts to doubt his own talents and takes his eye off the prize and he has the same result as Peter who took his eyes off of Jesus while he was walking on water to him. You can't always explain why things are going so well, but the last thing you need to is to start second guessing, questioning and doubting. Denny knows he's capable of it, he knows his crew chief is the one to get him there and he knows he's a rockstar. Now he just needs to start walking, talking, eating, sleeping...yeah some more of that may help too.... and breathing like a Champion. Your fans believe in you, I believe in you and now my amazing man, you need to start believing in you. Get back to basics, put the blinders on and focus on filling up your house with race trophies and making room for that coveted Championship trophy. The world is waiting on you to take it by storm...so what are you waiting for?

5-Hour Energy 500 Falls Short

2011-06-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

It is no secret that Denny Hamlin is a favorite each time NASCAR comes to Pocono and he wasted no time in establishing that his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota was still going to be the car to beat again this afternoon. Hamlin, who has won four times on the tricky 2.5-mile triangular track, quickly ascended from his fourth-place starting position into the top spot after just one lap of racing. He would dominate much of the first half of the race leading a race-high four different times for a total of 76 laps. Hamlin was running third when a caution flag came out with just 45 laps remaining in the race and he brought his FedEx Camry down pit road for fresh tires. Unfortunately as he made his way back on to the track it was discovered that his left rear tire had gone flat and he was forced to come back down pit road for a new tire. The bad left rear would completely blow as he made his way around the track to get back down pit road and the result would also cause damage to his rear brakes. Hamlin would restart the race with 41 laps remaining in the 21st position and amazingly despite all the challenges was able to manage a 19th-place effort.

FedEx Crew Defends Pit Crew Championship

2011-05-23T11:47:00.000-04:00

2010 wasn't just a fluke. The pit crew that services the #11 FedEx Toyota on pit road week after week showcased their talents against the best of the best on May 19th at the Time Warner Cable Arena for the 2011 Pit Crew Challenge. It was up to the defending champions to set the bar high and they did just that!

The No. 11 crew beat the No. 22 of Kurt Busch to set up a semifinal matchup against the crowd-favorite No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr., which had just beaten the No. 27 of Paul Menard. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on hand to support his crew, but it wasn't enough and Hamlin’s team prevailed in one of the closest races of the evening — 22.259 seconds to 23.325.

Setting up the semifinal, the No. 14 team of owner/driver Tony Stewart beat the No. 48 across the finish line, but drew 10 seconds of penalties for fueling issues. As a result, the No. 48 team advanced. Fueling problems with the new closed system mandated by NASCAR this year cost Stewart dearly in last Sunday’s race at Dover. Though the Pit Crew Challenge featured the fueling system in place last year, it nevertheless proved the downfall of the No. 14 Chevrolet team, which had performed flawlessly in advancing to the semifinals.

Do you think the agony of defeat was on the minds of the FedEx crew as they prepared to show the world just who ruled pit road? You bet your sweet ass it was and the No. 11 completed its stop — jacking the car, fueling and changing front and rear tires — and pushed its Toyota across the finish line in 22.298 seconds to 22.714 for the No. 48 Chevrolet.

The look of elation on the face of team owner Joe Gibbs says it all. His team is the first back-to-back champions of the pit crew challenge and truly are the greatest in the sport! And if you want to know how the driver, Denny Hamlin, feels about his guys...let's just say he knows they're all bigger than him and could totally kick his ass. Either way, the entire team kicks the competition's asphalt every week and they showcased their bad ass skills and prevailed as the baddest on the planet...in the place where it is a good thing to be bad.

The FedEx Toyota Crew of Champions is:

Scott Wood - Gas Man
Justin White - Second Gas Man
Nick Krizmanich - Front Tire Changer
Brandon Pegram - Front Tire Carrier
Mike Hicks - Rear Tire Changer
Heath Cherry - Rear Tire Carrier
Nate Bolling - Jack Man

Congratulations to the entire FedEx crew, Joe Gibbs racing and Denny Hamlin. We don't just support the driver every week, we cheer for you and are so thankful for the training, sacrifice and hard work you put into the greatest job and best driver on the planet. This was a well deserved victory...bask in the glory and soak up the elation. We look forward to seeing you shine at the Coca Cola 600.

Is It Time To Hit The Panic Button?

2011-05-19T15:44:00.000-04:00

2010 was the best season Denny Hamlin has ever had. He had more wins in that 36 race period than he'd had total up to that point. He had his highest point standings of his career and was just 15 points shy of winning a Championship and dethroning Jimmie Johnson. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Coming into 2011, revenge was not only on the minds of every fan of the #11 FedEx Toyota and its driver, it was also on the mind of Denny Hamlin and his entire crew. Hamlin has said repeatedly that this was his year.

Enter Daytona, its expectations and the clean slate that lay ahead of a team ready to redeem itself and show the haters and doubters that they were more than capable of knocking the 48 off its pedastal, but they could also do it in exceptional fashion.

The Budweiser Shootout was just for fun but starting 4th and finishing 12th was a sneek peak of what was to come. Hamlin's Gatorade Duel Race saw him starting 22nd and working his way up to an 8th place finish. Maybe this season was starting off exactly the way he'd hoped. Then came the Daytona 500. Trevor Bayne saw his lifelong dream come true and Hamlin finished a lap down in 21st. He was 19th in the point standings, 18 points behind leader Carl Edwards. Not exactly the way JGRs eldest driver wanted things to end up.

There have been ups and downs, gains and losses in the points and frustrations have lead to rumors of a crew chief swap. Denny Hamlin adamantly declares that Mike Ford is his guy and if there's no Ford, there's no Hamlin. The loyalty and trust between this duo is rock solid even if the performance isn't exactly guaranteeing visits to victory lane.

Is it time to hit the panic button? NO! Is it time to buckle down and focus on whatever it will take to deliver the victories this team is capable of? YES! If I had just one thing to say to the #11 team it would be "Get off your pity pot Nancy and deliver on your potential!" No more excuses, no more distractions! If there's a problem, spend every waking hour finding a way to fix it. If there is something or someone holding you back, eliminate it!

Those of us who believe in Denny Hamlin, Mike Ford and the #11 FedEx team support ALL of them no matter what. Is it easier to support them through victories and top 10s? Of course, but win or lose we are sporting our gear, screaming til we're hoarse and weathering the storms. Floods are devastating...unless they're champagne and Gatorade flowing out of Victory Lane.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2011-02-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog entry, but I've been away for good reason. His name is Aaron Timothy. He just turned 5 months old yesterday. That's right...I had a baby! He was born on my Mother's birthday, just like I had prayed for since the day I discovered I was expecting him.

He is the most precious, amazing little man I've ever known in my life. I had the honor of going into labor just as I got to the cemetery to put flowers on my Mom's grave. I informed my Doctor when I got to the hospital that he had 7 hours and 50 minutes to get my son here and even though he doubted it was possible, at 9:22 PM on September 17th, I had my precious angel. The name Aaron means "exalted" and the name Timothy means "to honor God". He was given a biblical name because my Mom had given that same gift to me. Timothy is the name of my Mom's Guardian Angel and I know she is watching over him, I see her in his smile and hear her in his laughter. I now know what true love is and all the little things I never quite understood before are all crystal clear now.

I realize how difficult it is to have your heart walking around on the outside of your body. He is my whole world and I am forever a changed and better woman because I am his Mom. But Daytona is lurking, there are lots of changes in store for 2011 and I have a lot to say....so let's go racing and Mama, put down that bottle it's time to get to blogging. May 2011 truly be the year of Denny Hamlin and may the greatest man and NASCAR driver on the planet be as blessed in his success as I am with my amazing, wonderful new life!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-02T10:42:00.001-05:00

As I counted down to 2010, I sat with people I love, who I've cried with, laughed with and just been flat out insane with....and started to ponder what 2009 really was all about. And it hit me, this world has sure changed since I was a little girl and not all of it for the better.

One of my must-sees every time I surf the web is FoxNews.com and as I was browsing headlines this morning, I read of affairs, bombings, people being attacked at home with axes, sports locker rooms turning into side shows with players pulling guns on each other, and people that I watched in movies that I still can't get enough of dying way too young.

We idolize Michael Jackson, who was the epitomy of odd and scary, and condemn people who are trying to show the world some hope through God and His life-changing grace. We put filandering cheaters like Tiger Woods, who had seemingly fooled us all, up on pedistals and thumb our noses at men and women who are simply trying to live pure lives by not airing their dirty laundry on TV and in the tabloids and remaining virgins until their wedding nights.

In the sport of NASCAR, that I live and breathe for, we think that winning 5 Championships is a big deal, when the team that's done it has been caught cheating so many times even their fans and some fellow competitors joke about it and give the driver and crew chief nicknames pertaining to their crafty endeavors. Quite frankly, I'm tired of the same old boring finish week in and week out. I feel like it's a racing version of 50 First Dates or Groundhog Day on Sunday afternoons.

On the rare occasion that someone other than an HMS driver or the elite from Roush Racing visit Victory Lane, we try to offer some excuse for how it could've possibly happened and diminish the hard work and perfect timing that helped that deserving driver finally get a break and a trip to victory lane.

Imagine spending every day since you were old enough to know what a car is fighting to get a victory in Sprint cup racing and then when you do....everyone brushes it off. What in the world is wrong with this picture? Every single one of those 43 guys that make those races every week are hungry to have success and they all have someone who is rooting for them. It may only be his mother and his own family, but they all deserve their moment to shine, to have their name mentioned for something other than a crash or when the list of the guys in the garage is read.

In 2010, I vow to not only blog about Denny Hamlin, but to find one driver from every race who did something note worthy and give him his moment in the spotlight. I may be the only one to read it, but atleast someone noticed. And all great things start from simple beginnings, no matter how humble they are.

When the clock struck midnight and the calendar officially changed to a new decade, I realized that the only person who could make my 2010 fabulous was me. The only way it will get messed up and go bad is if I allow that to happen. Trials and hard times are inevitable, they are what shape our character. It's how you face them, what you allow them to change within you, and the powerful lessons you learn from them that truly matters.

So to my precious Denny Hamlin....I offer this advice. YOU CAN! YOU WILL! The power to succeed and to have a great season lies solely in your hands. Make the most of it, fight hard for every moment and when it leads to checkered flags and champagne baths, listen for my voice. It will be the loudest and the longest and tears of joy will stream down my face. Make no mistake...I support you unconditionally and win or finish dead last I am proud of you.

Racing is only a few short days away....by the time I blink my eyes it will be time to roll into Daytona and 36 weeks of nail biting, temper flaring, on the edge of your seat excitement will take over living rooms and dens all over the world. I say bring it on. Winter is harsh and there's nothing like the heat of asphalt in the sun, the roar of the engines and the speed of the 43 fastest men in NASCAR to make you forget about the snow flying just outside your front door.

Happy New Year everyone....may it be the greatest year ever and the year that sees first time winners, rookie success and the end of the boring race and deja`vu finishes. Let's go racing boys!

Thank You!

2009-10-27T00:32:00.001-04:00

Mama would be so proud of you Denny....She knows how much I loved you! She'd be so proud to know you made me happy. Congratulations on your Martinsville win. You are my Champion!!!

In Loving Memory

2009-10-26T20:07:00.004-04:00

As I sit here writing this blog entry, I think of all the memories that make this so special to share with the world. You see, tomorrow, October 27th, marks the 6th Anniversary of the death of my Mom. She was my best friend, my shopping buddy, my mentor, my comfort and my strength. No one has ever made me laugh quite like she did. No one ever or will ever understand me the way she did. And nothing will EVER be able to fill the giant hole that has been left by her passing.

You see, my Mom hated racing. She despised that her little girl's world revolved around a car and the speed it went and the sound it made and the way it made her baby feel as it rumbled past. The adrenaline rush of watching NASCAR live and in full effect at Darlington made her sad that she had lost her daughter to a man's sport. But she still went along on my excursion to South Carolina once a year with my Dad. She rented a car and went shopping while I met drivers and bought souvenirs.

One year my friend and I went to race shops and met numerous drivers. When I showed her a picture of Rusty Wallace, her reply was, "He's good looking." "Yes Mom, and he smelled good too!", was my grinning response to her. Every time I mentioned his name I got the same reaction. "He's good looking." I must admit, Mama had taste.

She was also incredibly fond of Dale Jarrett. She thought he was handsome and made it clear that she liked him. Every time she saw the UPS truck she said "88, there's Dale Jarrett". It was so cute and I couldn't help but laugh. To this day, I still hear her say that when I hear the UPS truck race up my gravel road to the neighbors house.

I was never a birthday cake kinda girl. I wanted the candles and the icing but the cake itself was not my thing. So she frequently bought me a big chocolate chip cookie decorated especially for me on my special day. One year it was a race car, and on the door was the #12. I asked, "Mom, how did you know?" She informed me that she knew more than I thought and that I was no mystery to her. I asked my Dad if he had told her and I believed him when he told me that she figured it out on her own.

I still have the picture of that big cookie and I still stand in complete amazement that she knew I was a Jeremy Mayfield fan and the #12 belonged on my race car cookie. Somehow, she just knew. When I beamed because I'd met someone I idolized, she celebrated with me. When my driver won, she was happy in spite of her disdain.

I still can't believe that it's been another year since she left me. I feel like I lost her yesterday. Part of the reason I am able to make it through the grief and the pain of being without the center of my universe is because I have the support of someone who understands. Someone who has been there, who cares when I cry and grieve and someone who willingly drops EVERYTHING to be there to support me through my most difficult times.

I truly believe that this person was sent to me straight from heaven. I can just see my Mom up in Heaven, seeing my tears fall, knowing that somehow she has to see me through this tough journey without her. I can see her going to Jesus and saying, "Could you send someone to support my baby? Someone who will understand, who will never let her down and someone who will love her through this?" And Jesus graciously obliging her. I can see them walking across Heaven surveying the planet, searching for the perfect person to do this high priority task. I can see my Mom's face light up as she spots the perfect person and says "That one! I want you to send that one to my baby! They will be perfect for her and they will help her make it through".

I can see the smile spread across Jesus' face as he looks at my Mom and says "Well done Virginia! That's who I picked too. But not just because Rebecca needs someone to help her through. But because Rebecca can return the favor. They are perfect for each other and meant to be together." Truly a match made in heaven!

So while I mourn another year without my Mom, I also celebrate another year with the most amazing friend God could have ever blessed me with. I don't need to mention any names, because they already know who they are. If I did try to point out this angel to people, they would simply brush it off and deny that they ever did a thing. They don't need any recognition or thanks. They honestly don't think they ever made a difference in anyone's life, let alone mine.

So on October 27th, I celebrate the legacy of my Mom, Virginia, and the blessing of a friendship she created in her new heavenly home to make sure I know just how much she truly loves me. Because when I hear my angel say my name, make them laugh, and just spend time with them.... I know that I'm doing something right because I was loved and had a glimpse of the heart of two of the most beautiful and amazing people on the planet.

Rest In Peace Mommy - I love you!
Thank you my dear friend - you are my heart and I would be nothing without you! May God bless you beyond measure for putting up with me and always coming to my rescue and showing me that there is nothing we can't get through....TOGETHER! I love you!

So What? Who Cares??!??!??

2009-10-18T17:18:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of my Champion in the garage at Lowe's Motorspeedway after engine failure ruined what was promising to be a turn around moment in Denny Hamlin's fizzling Chase. It seems if it weren't for bad luck the # 11 Fed Ex Office team would have NO luck at all. Crashing out last week and equipment failure last night have really gotten my driver and his team down.

Oh yeah....here's where I say it again. SO WHAT? WHO CARES? I'd rather watch my driver struggle with ups and downs, fight hard, and win or lose fair and square than watch the Hendrick Motorsports show dominate NASCAR. You know there are 39 other teams out there just as worthy as your 4 drivers. Oh wait, that's right. There's only 39 teams when Brad Keselowski races in the # 25 car. Dale Earnhardt Jr just rides around. Okay I feel better.

You see there's something to be said for a driver who struggles and fails rather than one who always seems to come out smelling like a rose no matter how much bull manuer they roll around in. It just doesn't seem possible that the 48, 24 and 5 are ALWAYS able to come back from misfortune to dominate. I'm sorry but Mark Martin hasn't won that many races or poles per season in his career this far. It just proves there is something sinister going on and quite frankly I'm tired of it.

I don't understand how you can be THAT excited to win when you KNOW going in to the 500 miles that you're gonna come out with the checkered flag. It isn't even fun to watch anymore!

So, Mr. Hamlin, YES SIR I JUST WENT THERE!, You struggle. You fight. You lose. You sweat. You bleed. You crash. It's what I watch you for. It's why I am your # 1 fan and you're my hero. Go out there and put your heart into that race. It's why you make me scream!

So Where Have I Been?

2009-10-13T14:29:00.003-04:00

If you have wondered where I've been hiding for so long....thank you for caring. If you've been checking back to see if I've updated the blog only to find it's been months since I've written anything....there is a reason.

This may come as a surprise, but the man I write this blog for is more than just a driver to me. He is a friend of mine. One whom I totally adore. Lately things haven't been as good as I would like them to be. I have struggled with my own personal issues, hurts and hardships. I've also watched things in Denny's life not be as good as I would like them to be.

I came to the conclusion that my updating everything that happens for this driver that very few see outside of a fire suit was detramental to him instead of beneficial. For a man who clings tightly to his privacy and needs some sense of obscurity in his life....I was not a help. I was a hindrance.

By telling well-meaning fans where to find him at every appearance and posting his every move, from searching for a new house, buying new property, vehicles, and going on trips with friends, I have opened up his private book and exposed him to hurtful situations I never even dreamed of.

It took me a while to realize that while I have his best interests at heart...not everyone does. So, I have made the decision to take some time to rethink and restructure Becca's Denny Hamlin blog. I would never want to do anything to hurt someone who means the world to me. And I fear that without realizing it I may be guilty of just that.

Please understand this isn't easy. We all lose family members, go through hard times, and every driver at some point will have disagreements with other drivers and team issues. But while this may be a natural part of life, not everyone wants it plastered in the media.

I have a piece of my heart invested in the man who drives that # 11 Fed Ex Toyota and I fear that I'm too close to the situation so I'm backing off for a while.

I will be posting a birthday greeting for D Ham on November 18th so please be sure to stop by and show him how much you love him and wish him a happy growing older wish. HA HA Got ya bro....

Thank you all for understanding and for being such amazing followers. DH... This wasn't easy. I wiped tears from my eyes as I typed this post. But I have your best interest at heart and would do anything for you. Including shut down this blog tomorrow if I thought I ever said anything that upset you or made you have a second of hurt. I care about you deeply and hope you will always remember that. You're my hero...and I'm so incredibly proud of you! Keep fighting!!!! GO # 11!!!!

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin ends string of setbacks with third-place Michigan run

2009-06-15T20:18:00.001-04:00

Coming off two weeks of frustration, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin finally got the finish he felt he deserved in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup LifeLock 400.

Hamlin, who had seen strong runs the last two races derailed by a cut tire at Dover and a fuel-pump issue at Pocono last weekend, suffered no setbacks Sunday as he finished third at Michigan International Speedway.

“We got a new race car here,” Hamlin said after netting his third top-five and fifth top-10 of the season. “We were strong all day. We had a top-five car all day. So, it's good to finally finish where we belong. I'm proud of this whole team. We were definitely a car that could contend for a top-two or top-three spot all day.”

Hamlin trailed only Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle off pit road following the day’s final pit stops with 46 laps to go. But after failing to close in on Biffle and getting passed by eventual race winner Mark Martin and the race’s dominant driver, Jimmie Johnson, it appeared Hamlin might have to settle for a fifth-place finish.

Biffle and Johnson both ran out gas in the last two laps, however, and that allowed Hamlin to move up to third in the final running order.

While certainly satisfied with his finish, Hamlin didn’t enjoy having to be mindful of an uncertain fuel-mileage situation with almost all the frontrunners in the closing laps.

“I kicked myself for not running harder because I was rolling the [throttle] pretty big at the end," he said. "But, I think it was just a bait thing. I think [Biffle] baited [Johnson] to come get him, and they ended up both running out of fuel. We were all in the same boat there; it's just who wanted to risk winning the race versus finishing. I think that's what happened."

With his solid performance, Hamlin not only broke out of his recent mini-slump but also moved above the cutoff spot to make NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup.

After entering the day 12th in points, Hamlin is now 10th and has a little more breathing room with 11 races before the field is set.

"I hate running like that, but that's what you have to do to get to the end,” Hamlin said of the fuel-economy run. “I'm just proud of our whole team. We worked on fuel mileage a little bit during testing at other race tracks and it paid off here at Michigan.

“For the most part, it was a solid day. We had a top-four or top-five car all day, and it paid off at the end."

Denny Hamlin Donates To Help Kids

2009-06-15T20:15:00.001-04:00

When children enter the big red barn at the Children's Museum of Richmond on Friday, thanks will go to several donors to the new Little Farm exhibit.

Capital grants came from the Robins Foundation ($50,000), the Richard Gwathmey and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust ($25,000), the Marietta McNeill Morgan and Samuel Tate Morgan, Jr. Foundation ($25,000), the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation ($20,000), the Barbara J. Thalhimer & William B. Thalhimer, Jr. Family Fund of The Community Foundation ($5,000) and the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation ($2,000).

Demolition and construction services were donated by Graybeale Construction. The Virginia Farm Bureau's Save Our Food campaign will support the exhibit with a $100,000 sponsorship.
A second exhibit including a life-size fiberglass milkable cow has been provided by and sponsored by the Southeast United Dairy Industry Association Inc. for $15,000.
. . .
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is helping children in the race for rehabilitation with a $20,000 gift to build a gym at the new Children's Hospital therapy center in Midlothian.

The gift was presented at the main hospital this week as part of a send-off celebration for 14 long-term pediatric patients departing for the unit's annual "Beach Trip."

"Partnering with the Richmond Children's Hospital is a natural fit for us," said Jennifer Reuss, executive director of the Denny Hamlin Foundation. "Denny has always had a place in his heart for children who are disabled or ill, and his hope is to give them the means and the inspiration to win the battles they fight."

The Denny Hamlin Foundation gift will help build the main gym in the South Therapy Center's new location later this year to meet increasing demand for outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy for children in the community.

The day trip to the beach was for children who live at the hospital because of their medical conditions. All 14 use wheelchairs, and many also rely on ventilators and feeding tubes. For some, it was the first time they have been able to enjoy the simple pleasure of going to the beach.
. . .
Four neighborhood revitalization projects in Richmond are $10,000 ahead, thanks to the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate golf tournament.

Proceeds from the tournament were donated to Virginia Local Initiative Support Corp. (LISC), part of the nation's largest nonprofit intermediary in the community development and affordable housing arena.

In Richmond, LISC helps support the Beckstoffer development of up to 75 housing units in Church Hill, the Carrington Gardens/Northridge redevelopment of more than 200 units in Highland Park, the Hippodrome development of 32 units in Jackson Ward and the Six Points rehabilitation of six houses to create units for ex-offenders in Highland Park.

The charity golf tournament was held May 6 at Independence Golf Club. In previous years, the tournament has split the proceeds between two groups, but this year it chose only one, said president David Auman.

Greta Harris, Virginia LISC executive director, saw links between the two groups.
"In many ways we are players in the same market," Harris said. "However, Virginia LISC targets a specific customer: residents of underserved communities who need a leg up."
. . .
An anonymous donor has pledged half of the remaining $40,000 needed to build My Space, a universal design playground, at the James City/Williamsburg Community Center. Other donors must match the $20,000 donation before the end of the year.

Fundraising for the $133,000 playground began last November by members of the Leadership Historic Triangle class of 2009. As of May 26, the project still needed approximately $40,000 in donations before ground could be broken on the 5,100-square-foot playground.

Visit http://www.myplaceplayground.camp9.org for details.

Press Releases Following Lifelock 400 ~ Michigan

2009-06-15T20:07:00.004-04:00

Better luck for Hamlin

Denny Hamlin's third-place finish was his first in the top10 since April.
"We definitely need to get back on track," Hamlin said. "We need to start building. We've got to get back to solid finishes and make sure we solidify our place in the Chase and we don't have to race our way in going into Richmond."

Hamlin climbed two spots to 10th in the points with his performance.

DENNY HAMLIN
No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry ~ Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd

How was your run today? "I hate running like that, but that's what you have to do to get to the end. I'm just proud of our whole FedEx Express team. We worked on fuel mileage a little bit during testing at other race tracks and it paid off here at Michigan. For the most part, it was a solid day. We had a top-four or top-five car all day, and it paid off at the end."

How did you feel about it ending up a fuel-mileage race? "I don't know. I think we were pretty good. I kicked myself for not running harder because I was rolling the 'five-in' (throttle) pretty big at the end. But, I think it was just a bait thing. I think the 16 (Greg Biffle) baited the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) to come get him, and they ended up both running out of fuel. We were all in the same boat there, it's just who wanted to risk winning the race versus finishing. I think that's what happened."

What were you thinking at the end of the race? "I was just thinking how much I though I saved during the course of the run. I definitely feel like I probably could've pushed harder. I'm really curious to see how much we have left in the tank to see next time in that situation I could have ran a little bit harder."

Is it a good feeling to rebound strong after last week? "It is. We got a new race car here. We were strong all day. We had a top-five car all day. So, it's good to finally finish where we belong. I'm proud of this whole FedEx Express team. We were definitely a car that could contend for a top-two or top-three spot all day. It feels good to finally come out of here with a finish we deserve."

What did you think about the race finish? "It's tough as a driver to go out there and not run as hard as what you want to. When these races just seem to come down to fuel mileage a lot. We worked on it a little bit with our race team and I think I worked on it as a driver and got better. But, I was willing to 'five-in' (throttle) there at the end. I felt like I was running a little bit too hard. So, I let the 24 (Jeff Gordon) go and it turns out the front two (Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson) baited each other into running out of gas."

Michigan: 3rd finisher press conference
Racing series -- NASCAR-CUP
Date -- 2009-06-14
LifeLock 400 Post-Race Transcript

An interview with: DENNY HAMLIN - 3rd finisher

KERRY THARP: We'll roll right into our post race press conference at Michigan International Speedway. Our third place finisher in today's race is Denny Hamlin. He drives the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Denny is now 10th in championship points standings.

Denny, talk about how you ran out there today and how things unfolded there towards the end.

DENNY HAMLIN: Well, we had a good car all day. We fought a little track position for the most part. But we were a top five car all day. We felt like a third to fourth place car for the most part. We knew the last run, I think we were about two laps shy. I worked on some things, some road course testing, what not, to try to save fuel. I felt pretty confident that we could save those two laps.

I felt like as a driver I was really conservative. I'd be interested to see what we have left in the tank because I know I was really rolling down that 5 there about 10 to go. I just thought, man, it's kind of not worth it. If the 48 and the 16 don't run out, what's the point of trying to catch this 5? Little do you know it's for the race win.

But I think it's just the 16 and 48 kind of baited each other into running hard, and that's what happened.

KERRY THARP: Questions for Denny Hamlin.

Q: Denny, is it kind of disappointing to go back to back fuel mileage races as a driver? Is that tough when you get out there and they come on and say you have to start saving?

DENNY HAMLIN: Yeah, it is. But, I mean, it does put the driver in it, for sure. I mean, when we're all short, and I'm pretty sure that everyone was short, without having to save gas on the racetrack, it puts it in the drivers' hands in the sense of how hard do you want to push it versus how much do you want to save.

You know, it is still a driver's race, even though it is a fuel mileage race.

Q: Can you talk about this finish as far as your season. It's been not remarkable. This is a big boost for you guys.

DENNY HAMLIN: It is. You know, we definitely had a hard couple of weeks, for sure. But we definitely need to get back on track. We need to start building. If we're not 13th, I don't know with Mark winning, but we got to get back to solid finishes and make sure we solidify our place in the Chase and we don't have to race our way in going into Richmond.

You know, we had to finish pretty well at Richmond last year to make sure we got in the Chase. And that's just a gut wrenching feeling you don't want to have to go through.

We feel like our performance is pretty good. We feel like we're a little bit behind the Hendrick cars. Obviously, I mean, if Kyle is not up front, then our stuff is not the best. And it's definitely not the best right now. We're a little bit behind. But, you know, we feel like in due time we got some things that we're working on to try to be better than those guys. Right now it's just catch up mode.

KERRY THARP: Denny, thank you very much.
-credit: nascar

Think You're Denny Hamlin's Biggest Fan?

2009-06-12T13:45:00.001-04:00
Hey Denny Hamlin fans,
Think you are Denny Hamlin’s # 1 fan? Prove it! Show your support for your favorite driver and take a pic of yourself doing it. Make a sign, rock your best driver apparel, be creative and have fun with it and show your loyalty to the driver of the # 11 Fed Ex Toyota. The most creative will make Denny’s top friends on his Racing MySpace profile. Other prizes may be awarded at the end of the contest.

So get out your cameras and get busy. You have until the Coke Zero 400 on July 4th in Daytona to get your entries in to http://www.myspace.com/dennyhamlinfoundation.

Not friends with Denny? It’s easy..just send him a request before sending him your pics. One entry per person so take your best shot.

You're Kidding Right?

2009-06-12T12:12:00.004-04:00
I just read on Jayski that Brendan Gaughan's crew chief, name not worthy of being mentioned, was suspended indefinitely for racial slurs he made to Marc Davis. Now, I am not one to jump on bandwagons and fight for causes that don't concern Denny Hamlin, but this merits a response.

Marc Davis was a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is a former teammate of Denny's and a fine young man. He has faced so much to be able to live his dream and to have to deal with more of this hatred is just unacceptable. Accidents happen, things go wrong. It's inevitable at such high speeds, sometimes it is on purpose but for the most part is is unintentional.

To stoop to the level to call names with such vile hatred infuriates me. Can ya tell? I'm using the big words... Becca's angry! I read about an incident that happened at Hickory Speedway with Marc when he tangled with a white driver. It's been said that the incident with this low class crew chief was much worse and ugly. Not only that, it was witnessed by two sponsorship reps. Thank you for the great impression you've made on these people. Our sport will no doubt prosper for your stupidity.

Marc declined to comment through his father and said "Dad, let's just go" when the incident was reported to the elder Davis. Honestly, it breaks my heart. This young man is a true champion, class act and a fighter. He has me on his side and no doubt many other fans who support him and think that NASCAR was right for suspending this crew chief. I for one hope they never allow him back in the sport. Let him go to another arena that isn't fighting so hard to make everyone feel accepted. Perhaps he should speak to a 300 pound lineman who hasn't eaten in a while the way he did Marc Davis. Maybe that would put an end to his bigotous disgusting actions.

Relay For Life

2009-06-12T11:06:00.003-04:00
Tonight I am going to participate in the Relay for Life. My Mom, who is my hero, fought breast cancer and bone cancer that spread to her brain and ultimately lost her life to this horrible disease. Watching the woman I hope to some day be just like fight so bravely as this killer ravaged her body not once, but twice keeps me fighting when I just can't seem to go on any longer.

I haven't blogged in quite a while because I'm dealing with some personal issues and tonight I am facing one of them head on and honoring the memory of someone who deserves nothing but praise.

I started this blog to honor my racing hero Denny Hamlin. When I need someone to listen and support me through my grief at the loss of my Mom...well I turn to Denny Hamlin. He has been amazing and I just have to thank him for everything he does to be a friend and a hero to me.

I hope that anyone who has been touched by cancer in even the smallest way will think of me tonight as I walk for 12 hours for survivors, those brave men and women who lost their fight and for those who may face this terrifying fight in the future.

No doubt there will be tears, laughter and cheers. I can't wait to watch the survivors walk! I will be cheering for them because they truly are amazing people. I also can't wait to see the lighting of the luminaria. The bags that have the names of honorees that survived and those who are never forgotten. My Mom's name will be on one of those bags and I know I will be deeply moved by that moment. Her shining light will guide me to the finish and I know she will be with me in spirit.

I will share my pictures and my experiences when I get back. Keep an eye on Denny for me during qualifying and practice because I won't be able to watch myself. No doubt he will do amazing so I have nothing to worry about! See y'all when I get home. I walk from 6 pm Friday night to 6 am Saturday morning. Then I roll out to work an 8 hour shift 9-5 Saturday to earn some cash to pay the bills. Gonna be exhausted but it will be a good tired. Knowing I did something for a worthy cause and to honor my Mom.

Thanks again to everyone who has inquired about me and for your concern. Talk to you all soon. Love you....and GO DENNY!

Every Candle Has A Name…
There’s a name
Of the ones who are still here.
There’s a name
Of those gone we still hold dear.
There’s a name
Each one shining in the flames
And we know,
That every candle has a name.
~John W. Storey

Season In Review

2009-06-12T10:48:00.002-04:00
So..it's been WAY too long since I've posted anything about Denny and I thought it was about time I get to work. So I decided to do a little season in review. What a season it has been so far. Seems to have flown by. I swear just yesterday we were in Daytona and now we're headed to Michigan. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Granted, DNF's and blown tires are no fun, but racing 200 mph mere inches from a concrete wall with your best friends and a few guys you hate with a passion sure beats the hell outta anything else you could think to do.

Denny hasn't been smashing guitars at Nashville or winning his first race as a team owner, but he is holding his own and impressing his number one fan. So here goes... Denny Hamlin's 2009 NASCAR Season in Review...as of Pocono.

Budweiser Shootout -- Daytona ~ Started 5th Finished 13th
Gatorade Duel Race 2 -- Daytona ~ Started 13th Finished 5th
Daytona 500 -- Daytona ~ Started 10th Finished 26th
Auto Club 500 -- Fontana ~ Started 23rd Finished 6th
Shelby 427 -- Las Vegas ~ Started 34th Finished 22nd - 1 lap
Kobalt Tools 500 -- Atlanta ~ Stared 6th Finished 13th
Food City 500 -- Bristol ~ Stared 24th Finished 2nd
Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 -- Martinsville ~ Started 8th Finished 2nd
Samsung 500 -- Texas ~ Started 22nd Finished 12th
Subway Fresh Fit 500 -- Phoenix ~ Started 12th Finished 6th
Aaron's 499 -- Talladega ~ Started 18th Finished 22nd
Russ Friedman 400 -- Richmond ~ Started 3rd Finished 14th
Southern 500 -- Darlington ~ Started 23rd Finished 13th
All Star Race -- Lowe's ~ Started 18th Finished 4th
Coca Cola 600 -- Lowe's ~ Started 18th Finished 11th
Autism Speaks 400 -- Dover ~ Started 16th Finished 36th Accident
Pocono 500 -- Pocono ~ Started 7th Finished 38th -22 laps

Miss Me?

2009-05-16T18:40:00.002-04:00
Hey Hamlin fans.... been missing your Denny Hamlin blogger? Well, she has certainly missed you. Things have been crazy and I have been super busy. While I still keep track of our favorite Fed Ex driver...I haven't been able to keep up with posts the way I want to.

Fear not, I will be back shortly and have all the updates you've missed.

Denny has a great new contest on his racing MySpace page that I can't wait to tell you about...so if you haven't sent him a fan request yet, be sure to get it in so that he will accept you on Monday.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails asking where I am and making sure I am okay. Emotionally I am drained and exhausted but physically I am doing great.

And with the finishes our Denny has had lately there is nothing to be complaining about.

Post soon... thanks again!

~~Your Denny Hamlin Blogger

Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix - Starting Lineup

2009-04-17T21:57:00.002-04:00
The Official Starting Lineup for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix
~Race 8 of 36~

5 Mark Martin
18 Kyle Busch
2 Kurt Busch
24 Jeff Gordon
83 Brian Vickers
14 Tony Stewart
98 Paul Menard
00 David Reutimann
78 Regan Smith
48 Jimmie Johnson
99 Carl Edwards
11 Denny Hamlin
16 Greg Biffle
6 David Ragan
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
31 Jeff Burton
17 Matt Kenseth
82 Scott Speed
12 David Stremme
42 Juan Montoya
9 Kasey Kahne
87 Joe Nemechek
7 Robby Gordon
33 Clint Bowyer
44 AJ Allmendinger
1 Martin Truex Jr
71 David Gilliland
26 Jamie McMurray
47 Marcos Ambrose
39 Ryan Newman
20 Joey Logano
55 Michael Waltrip
29 Kevin Harvick
66 Dave Blaney
77 Sam Hornish Jr
43 Reed Sorenson
36 Scott Riggs
07 Casey Mears
09 Sterling Marlin
19 Elliott Sadler
34 John Andretti
96 Bobby Labonte
73 Tony Raines
64 Todd Bodine - DNQ
41 Jeremy Mayfield - DNQ
51 Dexter Bean - DNQ
102 Brandon Ash - DNQ
106 Trevor Boys - DNQ

Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix - Qualifying Order

2009-04-17T20:25:00.003-04:00
The Qualifying Order for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix
~Race 8 of 36~

47 Marcos Ambrose
9 Kasey Kahne
07 Casey Mears
29 Kevin Harvick
26 Jamie McMurray
55 Michael Waltrip
20 Joey Logano
16 Greg Biffle
5 Mark Martin
98 Paul Menard
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
83 Brian Vickers
17 Matt Kenseth
11 Denny Hamlin
31 Jeff Burton
33 Clint Bowyer
34 John Andretti
19 Elliott Sadler
48 Jimmie Johnson
77 Sam Hornish Jr
99 Carl Edwards
2 Kyle Busch
44 AJ Allmendinger
14 Tony Stewart
12 David Stremme
39 Ryan Newman
43 Reed Sorenson
7 Robby Gordon
24 Jeff Gordon
1 Martin Truex Jr
6 David Ragan
96 Bobby Labonte
00 David Reutimann
42 Juan Montoya
18 Kyle Busch
71 David Gilliland
06 Trevor Boys
82 Scott Speed
78 Regan Smith
02 Brandon Ash
64 Todd Bodine
36 Scott Riggs
73 Tony Raines
87 Joe Nemechek
09 Sterling Marlin
41 Jeremy Mayfield
51 Dexter Bean
66 Dave Blaney

Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix - Entry List

2009-04-17T20:11:00.002-04:00
The Entry List for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Phoenix
~Race 8 of 36~

00 David Reutimann - Aaron's Dream Machine - Toyota
1 Martin Truex Jr - Bass Pro Shops/Tracker - Chevrolet
2 Kurt Busch - Miller Lite - Dodge
5 Mark Martin - Carquest/Kellogg's - Chevrolet
6 David Ragan - UPS - Ford
7 Robby Gordon - Mapei/Menards
07 Casey Mears - Jack Daniel's - Chevrolet
9 Kasey Kahne - Budweiser - Dodge
11 Denny Hamlin - Fed Ex Office ~ March for Babies - Toyota
12 David Stremme - Penske Racing - Dodge
14 Tony Stewart - Office Depot/ Old Spice - Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle - 3M - Ford
17 Matt Kenseth - DeWalt - Ford
18 Kyle Busch - M&M's - Toyota
19 Elliott Sadler - Stanley Tools - Dodge
20 Joey Logano - The Home Depot - Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon - DuPont - Chevrolet
26 Jamie McMurray - Crown Royal - Ford
29 Kevin Harvick - Shell/Pennzoil - Chevrolet
31 Jeff Burton - Caterpillar - Chevrolet
33 Clint Bowyer - Cheerios/Hamburger Helper - Chevrolet
34 John Andretti - Taco Bell - Chevrolet
36 Scott Riggs - Tommy Baldwin Racing - Toyota
39 Ryan Newman - Haas Automation
41 Jeremy Mayfield - Big Red - Toyota
42 Juan Montoya - Target - Chevrolet
43 Reed Sorenson - Auto Value - Dodge
44 AJ Allmendinger - Charter Communications - Chevrolet
47 Marcos Ambrose - Clorox - Toyota
48 Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's Chevrolet
51 Dexter Bean - LiveWire Energy - Dodge
55 Michael Waltrip - NAPA Auto Parts - Toyota
64 Todd Bodine - Gunselman Motorsports - Toyota
66 Dave Blaney - Prism Motorsports - Toyota
73 Tony Raines- Quality Concrete - Dodge
77 Sam Hornish Jr - Mobil 1 - Dodge
78 Regan Smith - Furniture Row Companies - Chevrolet
82 Scott Speed - Red Bull - Toyota
83 Brian Vickers - Red Bull - Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr - National Guard/Amp Energy - Chevrolet
96 Bobby Labonte - Ask.com - Ford
98 Paul Menard - Peak/Menards - Ford
99 Carl Edwards - Subway - Ford
102 Brandon Ash - Sprinter Trucks, Inc - Dodge
106 Trevor Boys - Boys Will Be Boys - Dodge
171 David Gilliland - TRG Motorsports - Chevrolet
187 Joe Nemechek - NEMCO Motorsports - Toyota

Is It Wrong To Pray For Someone's Demise?

2009-03-30T18:31:00.004-04:00
Every Sunday in my Sunday School class, one of the men in class is teased about a statement he made a few months ago. When asked how we know we've forgiven someone who has wronged us, my friend Tom proudly proclaimed "I realize I stopped praying for their demise".

It is a statement that brought forth riotous laughter from everyone but his embarrassed wife. And it is something that he has yet to live down. His honesty was priceless and if the rest of us followed his example, we would have to admit we all do the exact same thing. All be it silently, or not quite as proudly, we all wish for the demise of people who did us wrong.

This weekend, Jimmie Johnson is on my list of people whose demise I am not so secretly praying for. How he raced Denny Hamlin in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 Sunday was low class, dirty and typical for the cheater.

My Mom taught me that if I have nothing nice to say, I should say nothing at all. Sorry Mom, but I'd never be allowed to speak again if I followed that advice at this point. I am irate and it's time I speak my mind.

It's been 6 weeks and I have yet to give my opinion of a single race on the blog that I dedicated to doing just that. I have been chill and solemn, just watching and waiting. Picking my battles carefully and plotting my message diligently. Take cover...here it comes.

Have you heard the song "Gives You Hell" by the All American Rejects? It is my new all-time favorite song at this point and my current anthem. "When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell. When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell." Well Jimmie Johnson...those words are for you. When you see your friend Denny Hamlin's face...I hope it gives you hell!

If you can't pass a guy cleanly, if you have to get him way up the race track in order to stay ahead of him in order to win, you aren't better. You're just plain dirty. Oh wait! I already knew that about the defending champion and his entire team.

While I struggle to hold my tongue and lay the hot-mess that is Jimmie Johnson out for the world to see, Denny Hamlin handled the situation with class. His interview following the incident still leaves me in awe. WOW! D Ham has matured and I am impressed. Welcome to NASCAR Mr. Hamlin...we've been waiting for you.

Anyone who knows Denny Hamlin at all knows how special Martinsville is to the Virginia native. And for him to have another victory slip through his fingers but shine like a rock star over the situation just takes my breath away.

Hamlin has nothing to complain about. That is two second place finishes in a row, he has moved up to fifth in the point standings and his chemistry with his crew chief and the entire Fed Ex crew is phenomenal. It's just a matter of time for this hungry veteran team to get that much deserved win. And once the first one comes, more will surely follow.

While my blood is still boiling and I admittedly want to high five a bearded face from the Hendrick team, I have reason to smile. My hero, none other than Denny Hamlin, has settled into his leadership role at JGR quite nicely. He's coming into his own on the race track and he is setting an example, not only for his young team mates, but for this blogger and every Denny Hamlin fan. What a difference a year makes.

Hamlin Frustrated, But Keeps Focus

2009-03-30T18:27:00.002-04:00

This is the perfect example of the new "big picture" Denny Hamlin.

Instead of seething in anger over becoming a victim of Jimmie Johnson's late-race bump-and-run and denied his first Sprint Cup Series of the season in Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin realized there were other concerns.

"We still got a solid finish. Sure, it's disappointing," Hamlin said after the Goody's 500. "We're not going to win the championship this weekend. We're going to win the championship later this season.

"We know we have a great package. This is a Chase race (in the fall), so I'm happy about that. But we have to make sure we're in position first - in the top 12."

There is good and bad to be found in Hamlin's performance the last two weeks.
He's run good enough to win and come up short, but his consecutive second-place finishes have entrenched him in the top 12. He moved up three spots Sunday and sits fifth in points, 148 behind leader Jeff Gordon.

"To come to two straight short tracks and be in contention to win both races, it's uplifting," Hamlin said. "We didn't win, but you can't help that things don't always fall your way."

Hamlin's day could have been much worse.

His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, both experienced tire problems brought on by excessive brake heat. Busch finished 24th and Logano 32nd.

And in previous seasons, Hamlin may have become irate after a move like Johnson's late in the race and not remained as focused.

"Today we could have easily ended up 25th. Denny didn't let that happen," said his crew chief, Mike Ford. "In hindsight, that's experience, and that's experience that Denny's gaining and wisdom along with that."

Ford said Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota didn't have any of the brake heating issues his teammates fought through on Sunday.

"It goes back to last year. They both had the same thing and worked really hard to keep the temperature out of the (tire) bead," he said. "But you saw that a lot today.
"Denny is very easy on brakes. This is not even close to our hardest braking track. We were aware of the problem, but it didn't come into play for us."

Hamlin, FedEx Racing Nosed Out in Martinsville, Finish Second

2009-03-30T18:25:00.001-04:00

Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team did everything a defending race champion should do in an effort to defend a crown – leading a race-high 296 laps and putting in a near perfect race on Sunday afternoon at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Hamlin regained the lead on a lap 456 restart, ducking underneath Jimmie Johnson and then holding the point through two field-tightening cautions. With Johnson on his bumper, it came as no surprise to Hamlin when he received a lap-485 nudge from the #48 that sent the #11 FedEx Freight Camry up the slight banking and allowed Johnson to sneak underneath. Despite gathering the car up, the remaining laps didn’t provide Hamlin the opportunity to repay the favor and he brought the #11 FedEx Freight Camry home in second place for the second-consecutive weekend.
For Hamlin, the second-place finish was bittersweet but the Virginia native knew that if the tables had been turned he would have approached his competition in a very similar way.
“I’m honored to be on the race track with guys like Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff (Gordon) and Tony (Stewart),” said Hamlin. “Those are the guys who are the best in the business. We came up short. That was short-track racing. I would’ve done the same thing to him, and if it comes back around, I will do the same. It’s just the way it is. In Martinsville, you have to battle for every inch, and I was trying to protect a spot, and he was trying to get it at the end of the race. That’s the way it goes.”
Johnson claimed his sixth win at Martinsville while Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer filled out the top five. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished 24th and 32nd respectively.
Hamlin’s second place finish sees him jump from eighth to fifth in the Sprint Cup standings on the heels of two strong weeks for the short track expert. Jeff Gordon maintains his lead at the top of the chart.
“We’re not going to win the championship this weekend. We’re going to have to win the championship later on in the season. We know we have a great package now. This is a ‘Chase’ race, so I’m happy about that. We have to make sure we’re in position first. We have to make sure we’re in the top-12 and our whole FedEx team is doing all it can to provide me good cars. To come to our first two short tracks and to be in contention to win both races – it’s uplifting. Things don’t always fall our way, and today, they didn’t. I was in a vulnerable spot. I let him get too close, and when he did get close, he took the first opportunity he could to get to us, and I would’ve done the same exact thing.”
Armed with a good car, but stuck four rows deep for the start after Friday’s qualifying session was lost to rain, Hamlin wasted little time charging forward – knowing it was very important to clear as much traffic as possible. Despite starting on the outside and having to wait patiently for his chance to pull down, Hamlin had gained the seventh spot by the time the first caution flew on lap 19. Immediately following the restart he passed David Ruetimann and then Clint Bowyer to claim a spot in the top five before NASCAR called a competition caution on lap 40.
Crew Chief Mike Ford called for four tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment and the #11 crew obliged, getting Hamlin out quickly to restart sixth on lap 46. As the leaders cleared two lapped cars, Hamlin caught Johnson on lap 48 and held the spot behind Gordon and Kurt Busch until the caution flew again on lap 69.Hamlin held the third spot through a caution on lap 70 and then moved past Kurt Busch for second place on lap 99. He then went about cutting into Gordon’s 1.5-second lead, shaving it to one second by lap 129 and then pulling up to the bumper of the #24 Chevrolet by lap 133.
A caution on lap 139 brought the leaders to pit road and Ford again called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment in hopes of giving Hamlin more grip on exit. Hamlin restarted second on lap 144 and slid inside of the #24 on 156 to take the lead for the first time. As Hamlin held the point, a handful of cars – including his JGR teammates found the outside wall in turn two – but the race stayed green and Hamlin opened up a nearly two-second lead over Gordon with Edwards, Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart rounding out the top five. Hamlin pitted from the lead under caution and the FedEx crew worked quick to send him out in first on lap 263.
The ensuing green-flag run featured some of the best racing of the afternoon as Gordon caught Hamlin on lap 340 and moved past the #11 to claim the lead on lap 343. The two raced side by side for six laps before Hamlin reclaimed the point just before the caution flew on lap 352.
Ford called Hamlin in for tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and the team again had Hamlin out to lead the field to the green flag on lap 359. Gordon mounted another charge, catching Hamlin on lap 400 but the reigning race winner again held his own and kept the #11 up front until the caution flew on lap 427. On pit road again, a blazing-fast stop by the #48 team proved to be the difference as Johnson was the first car off of pit road with Hamlin in second. Hamlin would hold that spot through another caution, then provide his home-state fans with the move of the race, diving inside of Johnson on the restart to claim the lead on lap 456.
With the opportunity to pull away and win a second grandfather clock seemingly in his grasp, Hamlin was twice stung by cautions that brought Johnson back within striking distance.
Following the last restart on lap 477, Johnson moved the #48 into position and made just enough contact to grab the lead and the win.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues next weekend when the teams head back to the big tracks and the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin's Calm Post-Race Attitude Shows Maturation

2009-03-30T18:13:00.003-04:00

Watch Denny Hamlin's post-race interview following his second place finish in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 ~ Martinsville.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/nascar/video/cup/2009/03/29/cup.mar.presspass.hamlin.145x93.jpg

When the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 ended Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, there was still plenty of daylight left.

But that didn't mean some post-race fireworks weren't expected. Reporters and television cameramen rushed to the side of Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota as it pulled onto pit road after finishing second -- again -- to race winner Jimmie Johnson, figuring Hamlin had to be hot over how Johnson had moved him out of the way to take the lead for good on Lap 485, just 15 circuits from the finish at the demanding .526-mile short track.

Hamlin climbed from the car, accepted a cold drink and a towel, wiped his face ... and actually smiled. Then he individually thanked each crew member in sight, exchanged a few calm words with crew chief Mike Ford, and turned to face the media.

He was, all in all, surprisingly calm and composed for a man who just led a race-high 296 laps and for the second consecutive week fell just short of being the guy celebrating wildly in Victory Lane.

"I'm honored to be on the race track with guys like Jimmie and Jeff [Gordon] and Tony [Stewart]," Hamlin said. "Those are the guys who are the best in the business.

"We came up short. That was short-track racing. I would've done the same thing to [Johnson] -- and if it comes back around, I will do the same. You can count on that. That's just the way it is. In Martinsville, you have to battle for every inch. I was trying to protect a spot, and he was trying to get it at the end of the race. That's just the way it goes."

“I had to nudge a lot of guys to get around them at points during the race. So it's hard for me to fault [Johnson] for what he did.” DENNY HAMLIN

Consistency rules
Hamlin has -- for better or worse -- become accustomed to running up front but rarely winning races. Last year he finished third a remarkable eight times. His only win came precisely one year ago Sunday in the 2008 spring race at Martinsville, and was the fourth of a Cup career that is only now beginning to emerge from its infancy in his fourth full season.

Hamlin admitted that he hungered for the victory Sunday, especially after coming close again a week earlier while finishing second to teammate Kyle Busch at Bristol. But it was, alas, apparently not meant to be.

Ford, Hamlin's veteran crew chief, said he had no problem with the way Johnson nudged his driver out of the way during his latest trip to Victory Lane [it was Johnson's fifth win in the last six races at Martinsville].

"It's short-track racing. If you look at our car, the nose is beat off it just as bad as the back bumper. What goes around comes around," Ford said. "It came down to that was Jimmie's last shot. It got narrow down there on the bottom of the race track, and it just worked out that way. I'm sure if the roles were reversed, it would be the same story in reverse.

"We did what we had to do. We put a good race car out there, and Denny drove a good race. We had a shot to win, it just didn't pan out."

What Ford does have a problem with is all the questions about his No. 11 team falling just short of getting to Victory Lane. He particularly bristles at comparisons to the No. 18 team at Joe Gibbs Racing, a car driven by Busch that had a tough day Sunday at Martinsville, finishing 24th, but had won two of the previous three Sprint Cup Series races and has piled up 10 Cup wins over the last two seasons.

What will it take, he was asked, for Hamlin to start racking up victories with frequency akin to that of Busch?

"I'm about tired of fielding that question," Ford said. "If you look at it, it seems like people think we've had bad years or something. We haven't. We've made the Chase the last three years. Only a handful of guys can say that. Tony Stewart can't say it; Dale Earnhardt Jr can't say that. There are a lot of guys who can't say they've been as consistent as we've been the last three years.

"Guys win championships without winning races. It can be done. The thing about this team is that we're consistent. There aren't many race tracks that we go to where we aren't competitive. We're a little bit stronger on the short tracks, but the intermediates are coming around.

Everyone's package is a little bit different. A lot of guys can go out and win a bunch of races, but they fall on their faces about as much as they win. We're a little bit more even-keeled. We may not have the race wins under our belt, but the last two weeks I think we've shown that we're even close to doing that."

A new Denny?
Hamlin's calm demeanor after what happened Sunday actually bodes well for the future, in Ford's opinion. It is, it seems, a new and better Denny -- more mature and better able to handle setbacks while keeping his focus solidly in the positive lane and on the future.

"I think if you look back at the last couple of Chases, we start off and we get into a couple of accidents. You look back to last year and a day like [Sunday], and we very easily could have ended up 25th," Ford said. "I think you look at that and you have to say that that's experience that Denny has picked up, and maybe a little wisdom along with it."

So the folks from the No. 11 team chose to look at the silver lining in the gathering gray skies late Sunday afternoon at Martinsville. And there were no post-race fireworks from Hamlin, who certainly has been volatile and vocal in the past when races did not go his way toward the end.

Those who expected him to be furious with Johnson for the contact that was made on Johnson's final pass were left more disappointed than Hamlin was. Well, not quite. But almost.

"It was a great race," Hamlin said of Sunday's event. "I battled with the 24 [Gordon] the same way earlier in the day. I had to nudge a lot of guys to get around them at points during the race. So it's hard for me to fault [Johnson] for what he did.

"With 20 to go, that's part of racing. It really is. It's short-track racing at its best."

The end result, and Hamlin's reaction to it, left one thinking that Hamlin's best is still in front of him. After all, he's only 28 years old, and he seems to be building toward a day when he won't be left behind so often on pit road explaining why he was good, but not quite good enough to get to Victory Lane.

"Everyone's formula is a little bit different," Ford said. "Everybody's strategy is a little bit different. And everyone's results at the end of the day are a little bit different. This is our package. We're working to get better at it. We don't want to get in a situation where we win every once in a while. We want to get to a situation where we're winning consistently."

It could happen. Hamlin is getting closer, not just on the track but in his own head. Once the mind is right, the victories shouldn't be too far behind.

Sprint Cup Point Standings - As of Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville

2009-03-30T10:44:00.003-04:00
The Unofficial Point Standings as of Martinsville

~Race 6 of 36~

(--) Jeff Gordon 959 Leader
(+1) Clint Bowyer 870 -89
(-1) Kurt Busch 827 -132
(+5) Jimmie Johnson 817 -142
(+3) Denny Hamlin 811 -148
(-2) Kyle Busch 800 -159
(--) Tony Stewart 798 -161
(-3) Carl Edwards 750 -209
(-3) Kasey Kahne 745 -214
(+2) Kevin Harvick 714 -245
(--) David Reutimann 710 -249
(-2) Matt Kenseth 704 -255
(--) Jeff Burton 697 -262
(+1) Juan Montoya 673 -286
(+1) AJ Allmendinger 670 -289
(+3) Dale Earnhardt Jr 660 -299
(+4) Michael Waltrip 630 -329
(+9) Ryan Newman 625 -334
(+4) Bobby Labonte 620 -339
(-6) Brian Vickers 617 -342
(+3) Marcos Ambrose 616 -343
(+6) Jamie McMurray 609 -350
(-5) Greg Biffle 605 -354
(-7) Elliott Sadler 600 -359
(-3) David Stremme 599 -360
(-1) Casey Mears 588 -371
(+4) Mark Martin 587 -372
(-8) Martin Truex Jr 584 -375
(-3) David Ragan 569 -390
(-1) Reed Sorenson 569 -390
(--) Robby Gordon 485 -474
(--Sam Hornish Jr 459 -500
(--) John Andretti 455 -504
(--) Joey Logano 427 -522
(+3) Paul Menard 414 -545
(--) Aric Almirola 387 -572
(--) David Gilliland 386 -573
(-3) Scott Speed 386 -573
(--) Travis Kvapil 295 -667
(+3) Scott Riggs 216 -743
(-1) Regan Smith 206 -753
(-1) Joe Nemechek 205 -754
(+2) Jeremy Mayfield 158 -801
(--) Dave Blaney 153 -801
(-3) Bill Elliott 149 -810
(+1) Todd Bodine 123 -836
(+1) Terry Labonte 91 -868
(--) Max Papis 55 -904
(--) Brad Keselowski 49 -910
(--) Sterling Marlin 43 -916
(--) Mike Bliss 34 -925

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - Results

2009-03-30T10:19:00.003-04:00
The Unofficial Results of the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville
~Race 6 of 36~

48 Jimmie Johnson
11 Denny Hamlin
14 Tony Stewart
24 Jeff Gordon
33 Clint Bowyer
39 Ryan Newman
5 Mark Martin
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
44 AJ Allmendinger
26 Jamie McMurray
29 Kevin Harvick
42 Juan Montoya
55 Michael Waltrip
47 Marcos Ambrose
31 Jeff Burton
96 Bobby Labonte
43 Reed Sorenson
2 Kurt Busch
9 Kasey Kahne
00 David Reutimann - 1
07 Casey Mears - 1
12 David Stremme - 1
17 Matt Kenseth - 1
18 Kyle Busch - 2
98 Paul Menard - 2
99 Carl Edwards - 2
6 David Ragan - 2
16 Greg Biffle - 2
1 Martin Truex - 2
36 Scott Riggs - 3
19 Elliott Sadler - 3
20 Joey Logano - 4
83 Brian Vickers - 4
77 Sam Hornish Jr - 4
34 John Andretti - 4
71 David Gilliland - 8
8 Aric Almirola - 10
41 Jeremy Mayfield - 59
82 Scott Speed - 76
7 Robby Gordon Engine
87 Joe Nemechek Brakes
66 Dave Blaney Rear End
64 Todd Bodine Engine

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - Lineup

2009-03-29T21:58:00.002-04:00
Qualifying for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - was rained out and the field was set according to Sprint Cup Points.

24 Jeff Gordon
2 Kurt Busch
33 Clint Bowyer
18 Kyle Busch
99 Carl Edwards
9 Kasey Kahne
14 Tony Stewart
11 Denny Hamlin
48 Jimmie Johnson
17 Matt Kenseth
00 David Reutimann
29 Kevin Harvick
31 Jeff Burton
83 Brian Vickers
42 Juan Montoya
44 AJ Allmendinger
19 Elliott Sadler
16 Greg Biffle
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
1 Martin Truex Jr
55 Michael Waltrip
12 David Stremme
96 Bobby Labonte
47 Marcos Ambrose
07 Casey Mears
6 David Ragan
39 Ryan Newman
26 Jamie McMurray
43 Reed Sorenson
7 Robby Gordon
5 Mark Martin
77 Sam Hornish Jr
34 John Andretti
20 Joey Logano
71 David Gilliland
82 Scott Speed
8 Aric Almirola
98 Paul Menard
66 Dave Blaney
36 Scott Riggs
87 Joe Nemechek
41 Jeremy Mayfield
64 Todd Bodine
Did Not Qualify
09 Sterling Marlin
37 Tony Raines
46 Dennis Setzer
75 Derrike Cope

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - Qualifying Order

2009-03-28T20:11:00.004-04:00
Qualifying order for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville

~Race 6 of 36~

55 Michael Waltrip
34 John Andretti
07 Casey Mears
18 Kyle Busch
6 David Ragan
16 Greg Biffle
43 Reed Sorenson
5 Mark Martin
26 Jamie McMurray
29 Kevin Harvick
83 Brian Vickers
47 Marcos Ambrose
24 Jeff Gordon
42 Juan Montoya
44 AJ Allmendinger
17 Matt Kenseth
99 Carl Edwards
00 David Reutimann
11 Denny Hamlin
77 Sam Hornish Jr
1 Martin Truex Jr
12 David Stremme
9 Kasey Kahne
48 Jimmie Johnson
31 Jeff Burton
7 Robby Gordon
33 Clint Bowyer
96 Bobby Labonte
19 Elliott Sadler
20 Joey Logano
71 David Gilliland
14 Tony Stewart
39 Ryan Newman
2 Kurt Busch
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
36 Scott Riggs
37 Tony Raines
98 Paul Menard
41 Jeremy Mayfield
09 Sterling Marlin
64 Todd Bodine
87 Joe Nemechek
82 Scott Speed
75 Derrike Cope
46 Dennis Setzer
8 Aric Almirola
66 Dave Blaney

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - Tune In Schedule

2009-03-26T22:11:00.003-04:00

Sprint Cup Practice - Friday March 27 ~ NOON SPEED

Sprint Cup Qualifying - Friday March 27 ~ 3:30 PM SPEED

Sprint Cup Practice - Saturday March 28 ~ 10:30 AM & 11:50 AM SPEED

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville, VA ~ 1:30 PM FOX

Gibbs Teams Hope Changes Avert Another Chase Crash

2009-03-26T22:04:00.002-04:00

It was one of those days that reminded everyone just how good Joe Gibbs Racing can be. Kyle Busch led 378 of 500 laps Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, storming to his 10th race win in the past 38 Sprint Cup events. Denny Hamlin finished second, charging up from his 24th-place starting spot and improving six positions in points. Although rookie teammate Joey Logano blew an engine, it was still an afternoon where two championship contenders from the same organization stood out among everyone else.

“The beginning and the middle part of the year, sometimes those wins were just too easy. ... And then the Chase started, and it's gone.”
KYLE BUSCH
Of course, the Gibbs team has been here before. The outfit placed three drivers in last year's championship Chase, led by Busch, who entered the playoff having won a series-best eight races and led the points for 17 consecutive weeks. But once there, he never had a chance. Neither did Hamlin or Tony Stewart, Logano's predecessor. Parts failures, crashes, cut tires, missed setups, speeding penalties -- they all combined to make for a miserable final 10 weeks for members of the Gibbs trio, none of whom finished any higher than eighth.
For a team with three championships, it was an unacceptable result. So in early December, the team began a series of organization-wide meetings that reviewed everything from people to processes to equipment. The reliability of car parts, the fuel efficiency of engines, the structure of how the engineering department supports the race teams -- nothing was overlooked. People were moved, policies were altered, focus was sharpened. The goal was to ensure that if Gibbs drivers make this year's Chase, they'll have the means to finish the job and claim the team's first title since 2005.
"You put a plan in place, until you see that plan come to fruition and work, you don't know," said Jimmy Makar, the team's vice president of racing operations. "But I think we're going to be able to certainly answer questions faster and take care of problems quicker."
Anything would be an improvement from last year. Busch entered the Chase as the clear favorite to win the title, but was derailed by a broken suspension piece, a blown engine and a fuel-pressure problem in the first three races. Hamlin entered in seventh, and was doomed by a drive shaft failure at Dover, a blown tire at Talladega, and a missed setup at Texas. Stewart entered 10th, and suffered a tire problem at Martinsville and crashes at Kansas, Texas and Phoenix. The Gibbs drivers wound up as the final three to qualify for places at the season-ending banquet in New York, a fact Hamlin even noted in his speech. "Yeah, eighth, ninth, 10th -- that's about the way our year's gone," he said on stage
Much of what happened to the Gibbs drivers last year -- tire problems and crashes, most notably -- wasn't necessarily anyone's fault. But then there were the equipment problems. And a few pit-road speeding penalties. And other issues that rapidly turned the Chase into a morass that swallowed the team's championship hopes.
"Some of that is beyond your control. That's life," team president J.D. Gibbs said. "Some of it is, how do you do a better job being prepared? We had a few issues during the year, and the fact that they all hit at the end was discouraging. Part of that was just chance, and part of that was I think that we just weren't prepared properly. You go back, and I think we did as good a job as anybody preparing our cars and our guys for the race. but there are a few things you can learn. I think we learned a few things -- hey, cross your t's and dot your i's a little better next time."
The meetings to address the root of Gibbs' Chase crash began shortly after last year's awards banquet, and those who were there say they weren't for the meek. "I think it was a lot of people who had to swallow their pride, you could say," Hamlin said. The disappointment was heightened by the knowledge that Busch had been the class of the field for two-thirds of the season, only to wind up 10th through no real fault of his own. Many opinions were voiced. Busch provided insight as to how some things were done at Hendrick Motorsports, his employer the previous season and winner of the past three championships. There clearly was an urgency, Makar said, to get things figured out.
"We all want to be better," said crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who worked with Stewart last year and now oversees Logano's program. "Whether you're willing to make the effort, speak your mind, maybe put yourself out there by yourself because other people may not agree with you or whatever, that's the important part. I think us as crew chiefs did that, I think our engineering group did that, I think our owners kind of held us accountable for how we ran in the Chase and wanted to know what we needed to do differently to be better. If we are in that situation again, we want to be able to capitalize on it, or at last feel we had more of a shot at it. We just didn't do a good job."
Team owner Joe Gibbs said five specific areas were addressed. Although he wouldn't name the areas, reliability was clearly at the top of the list. Nothing hampered the 2008 Gibbs Chase effort more than parts failures, specifically the three consecutive weeks of mechanical trouble that turned Busch from championship favorite into also-ran.
"Our No. 1 focus this year is more reliability than it is speed," Hamlin said. "If we were to be just average, we'd have been better off. This past year was the worst average finish I've had in my career. But yet, we ran the best during the [Chase] races. That's backward. Just backward. We've got to get back to the reliability we had two years ago."
J.D. Gibbs said the parts problems the team suffered during last year's Chase were all in-house issues. This year the organization is operating under revised standards as to how far a piece of equipment can be pushed.
"Obviously it's something we haven't had a lot of problems with traditionally, but for whatever reason, we got snake-bit toward the end of the season," Makar said. "And even during the season, there were some oddball things that happened to us. We were pushing parts and pieces a little harder than we ever had in the past technology-wise and in the way we use them or abuse them. I think it made everybody realize that we had to stay aware of where we were when we were on that threshold of pushing parts farther than they needed to be pushed. I think they felt good that we addressed it and had a plan put together to go forward."

“This past year was the worst average finish I've had in my career. But yet, we ran the best during the [Chase] races. That's backward. Just backward.”
DENNY HAMLIN

Another issue was fuel mileage. Series runner-up Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing was often able to stretch his fuel runs to his advantage, and the Gibbs team simply couldn't keep up. One reason why, Makar surmised, is that Gibbs was in its first season with Toyota, and still probing the limits of what the manufacturer's engine could do. Still, he said engineers tackled the problem in-depth during the winter.
"We've been in positions where we're very good with that stuff, but obviously going with Toyota [last] year, we didn't have the experience that we had with our GM stuff," Makar said. "It's a whole new learning curve, and we found some issues we needed to work on. It's not an excuse, it's new. We had to figure out how to make that better."
There also was some reorganization of personnel, specifically to assemble what Makar calls a "competition group" that aids the race team on location during event weekends. At the request of crew chiefs, some engineers were moved from the shop to the road in order to provide the race programs with dedicated help. The result is better information on which to make decisions. "The race teams felt like they needed a little more direct support for what their needs were, so we organized some stuff inside engineering, took some people out of the shop, and structured that to what we felt was best for us," Makar said.
Although Busch appears to have picked up right where he left off this past September, and Hamlin has shown flashes of title-contender strength, the true impact of the changes the Gibbs team has implemented won't be evident until the organization returns to the Chase. Even so, Busch said, sometimes a 5-cent part breaks no matter how much preparation and research goes into it. There's no defense against bad luck.
"The last 10 races weren't fun at all," Busch said, referring to his 2008 campaign. "The beginning and the middle part of the year, sometimes those wins were just too easy. It was like wow, that wasn't as hard as it should have been. You look at it, and you look at why, and it's because a lot of things fell your way. The luck was there. Then you start running out of luck a little bit, and you're like, we're losing it here. It's going away. And then the Chase started, and it's gone. We had none. There is a certain amount of luck you have to have in this game, and no matter what you do to try to change it, you can't just all of the sudden get it back."
But the Gibbs team is trying to control what it can, attempting to squeeze better reliability out of its parts, better fuel-efficiency out of its engines, and better use out of its people. The lessons of the past fall were humbling ones for an organization that was once the best in NASCAR. No one has forgotten them.
"I think sometimes when you get knocked around at the end of the year, it kind of sets your jaw," Joe Gibbs said. "Nobody here is confident or cocky."

A Short Track That's Not Big On Surprises

2009-03-26T21:56:00.004-04:00

~Fantasy Report~

The foothills of Southern Virginia provide the backdrop for this week's Sprint Cup Series race. Martinsville Speedway is a continuation of the short-track racing on which NASCAR was built. The relatively flat oval produces lots of contact and single-groove racing that is the trademark of bullring racing.

Typically, the cars and drivers both take a pounding for the 500-lap event and it's often a battle of attrition that crowns the winner of this race. Those drivers that succeed at Martinsville have a penchant for this style of racing and every season we expect to see these same drivers at the front of the pack.

We'll take a close look at all the factors for Martinsville in order to give you a select list of drivers for this punishing short track. The following is our weekly power ranking for the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (1:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX).

Top Fantasy Racing Drivers for Martinsville

1. Jimmie Johnson: While Johnson typically struggles at the short track of Bristol, Martinsville is a completely different story for the three-time champion. He's won four of the past six races there and has finished in the top five in each of those starts. Only teammate Jeff Gordon qualifies better at Martinsville, so you could say Johnson is the complete package at this facility.

2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon hasn't visited Victory Lane recently at Martinsville, but he has been incredibly consistent. He has two poles and six consecutive top-fives at the short track since his last victory there in 2005. Gordon is making a push to get back to Victory Lane at Martinsville and this could be the weekend where it all falls into place.

3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin climbs our list to No. 3 this week with his stellar record at Martinsville. He's a one-time pole winner and one-time race winner there. The No. 11 team has finished outside the top 10 only once in Hamlin's seven career starts at the small oval.

4. Tony Stewart: Smoke is another driver who's climbing the list this week. His brilliant start to this season combined with his strong history at Martinsville makes him a dependable fantasy racing play on Sunday. Stewart owns three career poles and two wins at Martinsville, and he finished fifth in this event one year ago for his former boss, Joe Gibbs.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr: The short track part of the schedule is a good time for the inconsistent No. 88 team to get things together. Earnhardt has been looking for anything positive from which to build, and his top-15 run at Bristol last week could go a long way toward a good finish this week at Martinsville, as well. He has led more than 300 laps in his past four visits to the Virginia short track and he's collected top-10s in three of those appearances.

6. Kevin Harvick: While Harvick is probably better at Bristol, he's still pretty good at the tight confines of Martinsville, as well. He has qualified in the top 10 in three of the past four races at the facility and he finishes in the top 10, too. Harvick has four top 10s in his past six Martinsville races. While he's not likely to win, he does make a wise fantasy racing play on Sunday.

7. Kyle Busch: Busch slides down our list to the seventh spot for this week's race. The Joe Gibbs Racing phenom is dangerous at any track, but Martinsville has been anything but lucky for the young driver. Busch had a pair of disastrous races at Martinsville last season and that snapped a streak of four top-10s in his prior five starts at the short track. We expect him to rebound this weekend, but use caution in deploying Busch at Martinsville.

8. Clint Bowyer: Steady and unspectacular are two good ways to describe Bowyer's skills at Martinsville. He's never led a lap there, but he's managed to build a three-race top-10 streak there entering this weekend's event. Bowyer's name always comes to mind when we come to the short tracks, and this weekend is no exception.

9. Carl Edwards: Edwards has only just begun to figure out Martinsville. The Roush Fenway Racing ace started his career with no top-10s in his first seven races at the speedway. However, 2008 was a much different story for Edwards at the small oval. He collected a pair of top-10 finishes and a career-best, third-place finish there this past October. We expect more improvement this weekend.

10. Juan Montoya: Montoya is the sneaky safe play this Sunday. Amazingly, the IRL convert has really taken to the short track of Martinsville during his brief stock-car racing career. Montoya brings a streak of three consecutive top-15s at Martinsville into this weekend's race. He also will likely be driving his best race car ever at the facility with his new Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY HANNAH LYNN

2009-03-25T21:13:00.003-04:00

My precious baby niece Hannah Lynn celebrates her very first birthday March 26th. She is the most beautiful little girl and I love her with all my heart! I'm sorry I can't be there to spoil you the way you deserve Banana, but Aunt Becca adores you and wishes you the greatest birthday EVER!

Live it up little angel ~ I love you!

Aunt Becca

NASCAR Power Rankings

2009-03-25T17:07:00.005-04:00

NASCAR Power Rankings - MARTINSVILLE

Kyle Busch: Kyle wins at Las Vegas. Kurt wins at Atlanta. Kyle wins at Bristol. Why don't we just rename the thing the Busch series.

Jeff Gordon: The Boy Scouts of America presented Jeff with the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award on Tuesday night in Charlotte Tuesday night. But he's still bummed that there's no Motorsports merit badge.

Jimmie Johnson: Since 2002, Jimmie has five wins at Martinsville to Jeff Gordon's four and thirteen consecutive top-10s to Jeff's 12. Now I know why he walks around Hendrick, singing, "Anything you can do I can do better. I can do anything better than you."

Kurt Busch: After that early race incident with Kevin Harvick, you could forgive Kurt for being a little Shell-shocked.

Clint Bowyer: I realize it's just a TV commerical, but does anybody else wonder how a disembodied hand holding a napkin can reach through Clint's window while the race is on? That's breaking several laws of physical reality, not to mention the potential aerodynamic drag.

Denny Hamlin: I went to the "Denny's Seats" entry page and the first three security passwords presented to me were female, butter and smile. I wasn't sure whether I was trying to win race tickets or ordering breakfast at Waffle House.

Carl Edwards : Martinsville is the only oval track on the Cup circuit at which Carl has not led a lap.

Kasey Kahne: Anheuser-Busch reportedly remains committed to sponsoring Kasey for the foreseeable future. That means he's their kind of Bud.

Jeff Burton: Jeff on this weekend's race: "I seem to have a love-hate relationship with Martinsville." And that's just the hot dogs.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin had a great time at Bristol on Saturday. On Sunday, he just had a time.

Matt Kenseth: "We just missed it by about four miles all day." Not only does that work for Matt's mediocre day, but it also describes the intoxicated fans who couldn't remember where they parked.

David Reutimann: Martinsville may be the true test to see if David's early-season success is sustainable. He's never finished better than 17th in four Cup starts there.

Tony Stewart: There's a nice story this week about Tony's charity donating money to pay for surgery on a stray Shih Tzu that suffered a broken back. Now, that's a true "lucky dog."

Brian Vickers: Brian lists one of his non-racing heroes as Albert Einstein. Does that mean Red Bull Racing is now hiring quantum mechanics?

AJ Allmendinger: Getting locked into the top 35 took away all that pressure of having to qualify on speed every Friday. Now A.J. can feel comfortable knowing he can sit around and shoot the bull.

Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville - Entry List

2009-03-25T16:34:00.002-04:00
The official entry list for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville
~Race 6 of 36~

00 David Reutimann - Aaron's Dream Machine - Toyota
1 Martin Truex Jr - Bass Pro Shops / Tracker - Chevrolet
2 Kurt Busch - Miller Lite - Dodge
5 Mark Martin - Carquest / Kelloggs - Chevrolet
6 David Ragan - UPS - Ford
7 Robby Gordon - Robby Gordon Motorsports - Toyota
8 Aric Almirola - Guitar Hero - Chevrolet
9 Kasey Kahne - Budweiser - Dodge
11 Denny Hamlin - Fed Ex Freight - Toyota
12 David Stremme - Penske Racing - Dodge
14 Tony Stewart - Old Spice / Office Depot - Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle - 3m - Ford
17 Matt Kenseth - DeWalt - Ford
18 Kyle Busch - M & Ms - Toyota
19 Elliott Sadler - Stanley Tools - Dodge
24 Jeff Gordon - DuPont - Chevrolet
26 Jamie McMurray - Irwin Industrial Tools - Ford
29 Kevin Harvick - Shell / Pennzoil - Chevrolet
31 Jeff Burton - Caterpillar - Chevrolet
33 Clint Bowyer - BB&T - Chevrolet
34 John Andretti - Taco Bell - Chevrolet
36 Scott Riggs - Tommy Baldwin Racing - Toyota
37 Tony Raines - Long John Silver's - Chevrolet
39 Ryan Newman - US Army - Chevrolet
41 Jeremy Mayfield - All Sport - Toyota
42 Juan Montoya - Target - Chevrolet
43 Reed Sorenson - Charter Communications - Chevrolet
44 AJ Allmendinger - Charter Communications - Chevrolet
47 Marcos Ambrose - Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox
48 Jimmie Johnson - Lowes - Chevrolet
55 Michael Waltrip - NAPA - Toyota
64 Todd Bodine - Larry Gunselman Motorsports - Toyota
66 Dave Blaney - Prism Motorsports - Toyota
73 Mike Garvey - Quality Concrete / Jani-King - Dodge
77 Sam Hornish Jr - Mobil 1 - Dodge
82 Scott Speed - Red Bull - Toyota
83 Brian Vickers - Red Bull - Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr - National Guard / Amp Energy - Chevrolet
96 Bobby Labonte - Ask.com - Ford
98 Paul Menard - Energizer / Menards - Ford
99 Carl Edwards - Aflac - Ford
146 Dennis Setzer - Romeo Guest Construction - Dodge
171 David Gilliland - TRG Motorsports - Chevrolet
175 Derrike Cope - FW1 Top Secret Wax/ Blu Frog Energy Drink - Dodge
187 Joe Nemechek - NEMCO Motorsports - Toyota

Fed Ex Racing Express Facts - Martinsville

2009-03-25T16:07:00.003-04:00
RACE INFO:
Event: Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500
Date/Time: March 29, 2009/2 p.m.
2008 winner: Denny Hamlin
2008 pole winner: Jeff Gordon
Distance: 500 laps/263miles
Track Length: .526 miles
Banking: 12 degrees
Track Shape: Oval

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin, FedEx Racing Team Storm to Second at Bristol: Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team turned in a great performance last weekend at Bristol, charging forward from a starting position of 24th to battle for the lead and ultimately claim second place on the day.

Hamlin took the lead on lap 317 and held the point for seven laps before surrendering the lead under caution. Despite restarting second for the green-white-checkered finish, he couldn’t reach the bumper of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and eventual winner, Kyle Busch. The result continued Hamlin’s string of good runs at Bristol as well as giving the #11 team their best result of the still-young 2009 season. Hamlin climbs from 14th to eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings through six races.

Hamlin at Martinsville:
This weekend will mark Hamlin’s eighth career Sprint Cup start at Martinsville Speedway.

Hamlin returns to Martinsville as the defending champion of the spring race at the famous paperclip. In March of 2008 Hamlin led 82 laps and held off a furious charge from Jeff Gordon to claim his sole win of the season and the fourth win of his Cup career. In the fall of 2008, Hamlin and the #11 team fought handling issues but managed an impressive fifth-place finish. In 2007, Hamlin sat on the pole for the spring race and led 125 laps before taking third place and then posted a sixth place finish in the 2007 Chase race. Hamlin has only finished out of the top-10 once at Martinsville – a 41st place finish in the spring event in 2006 – which supports the fact that Hamlin’s short track performance has been a point of consistency in his Sprint Cup career.

That is especially true at Martinsville, a place where Hamlin has raced Late Models as recently as 2003.

Charlotte FedEx Freight Service Center “Along for the Ride” in Martinsville :The #11 FedEx Freight Camry will feature “CLT” on the wing caps this weekend at Martinsville Speedway to recognize the Charlotte Service Center as the winners of the 2008 Diversity Week Grand Prize. The prize rewards participation, creativity and cooperation among employees.

MARTINSVILLE CHASSIS – JGR 238 & 214: JGR 238 will carry the FedEx Freight paint this weekend at Martinsville. This is the first ever race for this chassis. JGR 214 will serve as the backup this weekend. This car has made four previous Cup starts, posting top-ten finishes in 2008 (New Hampshire and Martinsville)

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – MARTINSVILLE:
Talk about returning to Martinsville: “Martinsville is special for me for a lot of reasons. The experience of winning a Cup race here, at a Virginia track where I raced Late Models a few years ago, and in front of great racing fans and my family, was something I will never forget. And to have a Martinsville clock sitting in my home that I see everyday – it reminds me of that day and also how much went into getting to that point. I remember racing here in Late Models, in the big fall events, and thinking then what a big deal it was to be here at a famous track, getting to do what I loved which was race cars. So to go there in a Cup car, win a pole a few years back and then get a win there last Spring was something that was hard to imagine even just a few years. Don’t get me wrong, it was what I always wanted and was working for but you can’t expect things to work out like they did. This is a great track – one of my favorites - with a ton of history and a special style of racing. I think it’s where I am at my best and I know the entire #11 FedEx team circles the Martinsville races on the calendar.”

It’s been one year since you’ve won in the Cup series – does that frustrate or motivate you? – “I think it’s a little of both. We almost had a win last weekend at Bristol so we feel like we are edging closer to where we want to be but to go a year without a win isn’t where we want to be. It would be one thing if we weren’t close but there have been several times in the past year where I know we had the car capable of winning and for whatever reason it just didn’t happen. So, while that gives you confidence in yourself and in the equipment, those missed opportunities start to wear on you and on the entire team. Everyone on this FedEx team puts a lot of time and effort into winning races and nothing is better than when it all works out. I am hoping that this is the weekend where we get our next win and that we can put together a good string of races – challenge for wins throughout the season - and move closer to the goal of challenging for a championship.”

May All-Star Event Comes With A Certain Amount Of Flair

2009-03-25T13:02:00.005-04:00
From Ric Flair to interactive participation in the burnout competition, fans will have plenty of incentive to come out for the 25th running of the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Speedway officials announced that one lucky fan will become a passenger during the second annual Pennzoil Victory Challenge in advance of the All-Star Race. The Pennzoil Victory Challenge pits drivers against one another to see who can deliver the best tire-smoking burnout.

"We're taking fan participation to the next level," said Marcus Smith, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "With the help of Pennzoil, we're taking an event that was already a crowd-pleaser, making a few tweaks and placing an emphasis on creativity this year.

For one lucky fan, it's going to be a memorable experience that will last a lifetime. They'll never be able to get any closer to the action than this!"

The inaugural Victory Challenge was an instant hit with fans and this year's version promises to be even more exciting, with one fan in attendance to be randomly selected to ride "shotgun" with a Cup Series driver.

The new format will allow drivers a longer freestyle demonstration and a panel of judges will score each driver's creativity. The driver with the highest score from the panel will be declared the winner, with $10,000 awarded to their designated charity and a reserved spot in the 2010 Victory Challenge. Each driver will compete in stock cars identically prepared by the Richard Petty Driving Experience. More participants will be announced at a later date.

The driver lineup has been expanded from five drivers to seven, and the first official entry is Kevin Harvick, who finished fourth in the event last year. A separate Pennzoil consumer competition available through the Web site www.pennzoilracefan.com will give fans the opportunity to ride shotgun with Harvick during the burnout competition. Sign-ups for the online promotion run through May 1.

In his duties as honorary race director, Flair will serve on the panel of judges for the Victory Challenge, which will be televised live during SPEED's pre-race coverage on May 16. The complete panel of judges will be announced at a later date.

Flair also will attend the drivers' meeting and assist SPEED personalities with driver introductions.

"I'm honored to be a part of the 25th running of the Sprint All-Star Race," Flair said. "I'm a longtime Charlotte resident and Lowe's Motor Speedway is an integral part of our city. It's one of the things that makes Charlotte a great place to live. There's nothing like NASCAR and the Nature Boy to get you pumped up! WoooOOOooo!"

Known for his flamboyant ring presence, Flair has enjoyed a 36-year professional wrestling career, winning 16 world heavyweight championships and in 2008 he became the first active wrestler ever inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.

"We've had some great personalities serve as dignitaries at the speedway over the years, but I have to admit, none have been stylin' and profilin' like the Nature Boy will be at the 25th NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race," Smith said. "Growing up in this area and watching Ric perform through the years, it's going to be a treat for me and all of the fans at the speedway. I can't think of a better fit for NASCAR's All-Star Slugfest."

In addition to Flair's role on race day, he will be voicing the speedway's radio and television advertising campaign for the All-Star Race that will begin airing within the next 10 days.

The pre-race lineup for NASCAR's All-Star spectacular also will include a one-hour concert performed by country music award-winning duo Montgomery Gentry, and the Sprint Showdown.

Though no changes to the All-Star Race format were announced, Smith says some tweaks will be coming.

"We're talking about some different things that we'll be able to announce in a few weeks," Smith said. "I think, again, it's all about making it even more exciting for the fans.

"The All-Star Race has a tradition of having changes. If you remember back to the days of The Winston, we'd come out each year with a new format change. We've had great conversations and experience with the folks from Sprint and SPEED [which will televise the race live for the third consecutive year] and NASCAR to make the event better every year."

Tickets to the All-Star Race -- which start at $25 -- as well as all of the other great events in May, including the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24, can be obtained online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.

Convenient payment plan options and multi-day ticket packages are available.

The main events

To allay any notion that the connection between the All-Star Race and professional wrestling might be peripheral or coincidental -- at least in terms of the promotion of the event -- Flair unveiled a gigantic poster formatted like a wrestling card, with the heads of Cup drivers melded with the bodies of pro wrestlers.

The poster invites fans to attend the "All-Star Slugfest: A Night of Fractured Fenders and Shattered Dreams." One of the featured events, according to the poster, will be a "Transmission Submission" match between Dale "The People's Champ" Earnhardt Jr. and Tony "Smoke" Stewart.

It was Stewart, you'll recall, who drew NASCAR's ire two years ago for drawing parallels between the sanctioning body's calling of debris cautions and the staging of a professional wrestling match. In the case of the All-Star Race hype, however, Smith sees the association as beneficial.

"We're all about having fun, and I think wrestling is a fun thing to watch," Smith said. "It's enjoyable, and they're all about the drama and the entertainment and the show. We've got the best of both worlds.

"With the Sprint All-Star Race, you've got competition that is going to be second to none. All the drivers are going to be on the track going for the win that night. It's as much about glory as it is the purse. You don't have to worry about any points that will go against you, if you take and extra chance or two on the track."

The Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.

Denny Hamlin on Fox and Friends

2009-03-25T11:37:00.002-04:00
Denny Hamlin was a visitor on Fox News' morning show Fox and Friends this morning. He was there promoting his special March of Dimes March for Babies paint scheme that he will be running at Phoenix on April 18th.

Denny and the Denny Hamlin Foundation are big supporters of the March of Dimes and his team sponsor, Fed Ex, has been a supporter for over a decade. It is a great cause and if you can't march yourself, support someone who is able to participate.

Missed the show? Want to see Denny's segment? Check out the video at the top of the page. It's a fabulous spot and Denny looks great as always!

Note that the interviewer calls him Dennis repeatedly. Too cute.

Hamlin Growing With Joe Gibbs Racing

2009-03-24T14:51:00.007-04:00

Denny Hamlin is so hungry for a victory that, if given the chance at Bristol Motor Speedway, he most certainly would have moved teammate Kyle Busch out of his way.

"For sure," Hamlin said. "He's won too much."

He wasn't kidding, either.

Alas, he never had the opportunity to use Bristol's legendary "bump-and-run" on Busch because Hamlin couldn't get close enough to catch his teammate. He had to settle for a second-place finish Sunday that stretched his winless streak to 35 races.

So Busch left Bristol with his second win in three races, 10th overall since joining Joe Gibbs Racing last season. Hamlin, meanwhile, has won just once over the same span and can't help but wonder why his No. 11 team can't contend with Busch's bunch.

"Those guys are solid. They qualify well and as a result get a good pit stall," Hamlin said. "Their pit crew is always consistent, and they work really hard at it. And on the short runs, Kyle has a way of taking off really, really good. He's got that car. He's got that raw speed that I just don't have for 20 laps. And it pays big dividends to that race team.

"Luckily, we're in the same stable, so we know everything he has. If there's anything we need to work on, it's me."

That admission is proof just how far Hamlin has come after three full seasons with JGR. In the past, the problem would have been anyone's fault but Hamlin's, and he would have publicly placed the blame on his team.

But Hamlin came into this season determined to do things differently. Tired of being known as a driver with a ton of potential, Hamlin wants to finally start living up to his lofty expectations.

Although he's got four career victories, 61 top-10 finishes and a coveted spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in all three of his seasons, he's yet to consistently contend for the title.

He was a career-best third in the final 2006 standings but dropped off to 12th and eighth the next two seasons.

He spoke often during the offseason about his desire to become a champion, a goal that would require much more maturity from the 28-year-old former Chesterfield resident. His awakening coincided with two-time champion Tony Stewart's departure from JGR, leaving the organization in need of a team leader.

Hamlin wants to step up, and team owner Joe Gibbs has noticed the shift in attitude, the renewed commitment to his race team and the better communication with crew chief Mike Ford.

"Denny did really set his jaw. He's been on it. He's been after it hard," Gibbs said. "As much as anything, it's your attitude. We talked quite a bit before the year. I think he spent a lot of time with Mike. I think you can tell the way he reacts when something does happen to the race team, he's very strong about it.

"They're not going to leave anything unturned around our place to try and keep from getting everything we can for the 11 car."

It didn't work out Sunday, though, when Hamlin needed a flawless final pit stop to get him out first ahead of Busch. Although he did gain one spot on pit road, Busch beat him out and Hamlin was stuck in second the rest of the way. Any chance he had of chasing down his teammate was lost when Jimmie Johnson moved onto Hamlin's bumper, and Hamlin had to fight to hold onto his season-best second-place finish.

"I knew unless we got out ahead of him on that last pit stop, it was going to be tough," he said. "We were able to stay within two or three car lengths, but that's as close as we'd been all day on the short runs. Our car takes so long to get going. If we get out in pit road in front of him, he was going to have a time getting around me, I can assure you of that."

In the past, Hamlin's disappointment would have been overwhelming. Remember, he once publicly blasted his pit crew after they botched a late stop at Darlington, and it triggered a team shakeup the next week.

Then last August in Michigan, after his motor failed with six laps to go to put his berth in the Chase field in jeopardy, he openly criticized JGR's engine department and crew.

This time, he was able to see the positives. It was his second top-10 finish of the season, and it moved him up six spots in the standings to eighth. It also gave him some momentum heading into Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin won his only race last season in a breakthrough victory in his home state.

"You take [it]," he said. "It puts us in the Chase right now. So that's a good day for us."
Jenna Fryer - The Associated Press

Hamlin, Fed Ex Racing Storm To Second At Bristol

2009-03-24T14:46:00.003-04:00

Once again – and for the third time in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway - Denny Hamlin drove the #11 FedEx Toyota forward from a mid-pack start into a battle for the win before ultimately finishing a Bristol career-best of second in Sunday’s Food City 500.

The second-place finish keeps a string of great runs at Bristol alive. One year ago, Hamlin held the lead before fuel pickup problems left him in sixth place, and last fall Hamlin and the FedEx team put together a solid race to finish third.

“We had a long-run car today - we didn’t have that short run car when we needed it at the end,” explained Hamlin after the event. “There were about 300,000 FedEx employees that were hoping that we were going to get a win today, I'm just trying to get a win for them but we came up a little bit short.

Congratulations to Kyle (Busch). It’s great to get a one-two finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and just can’t thank this whole team enough. A good job on pit road today, very solid. We feel like we deserve to be in victory lane and hopefully we’ll get that done next week,”

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch took the checkered flag after a long battle with Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson to make it a one-two JGR finish. The third JGR car, driven by Joey Logano, experienced engine problems late in the race and was scored in 38th place.

The second-place finish marks Hamlin’s best results of the still-young 2009 season and sees him jump from 14th to eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings through six races. The series now heads to Martinsville Speedway, a favorite track of Hamlin and the site of his most-recent Cup Sseries win.

From the drop of the green flag, Hamlin charged forward and quickly erased the memory of qualifying 24th from his mind. As he was putting most of the competition in his rear view mirror, the only problem the team encountered was a rising water temperature – a problem that was exacerbated when the yellow came out and the field was slowed.

By lap 55 Hamlin had cracked the top 20 and ran in 16th place but things were about to even get better for the #11FedEx Express team. On lap 64, with the team scored in 15th place, Crew Chief Mike Ford called Hamlin onto pit road and opted for a two tire change in effort to gain track position. The decision paid off for the FedEx team as Hamlin gained five sports and lined up to restart tenth.

Hamlin continued to carve his way through the field, claiming sixth place on lap 100, fifth on lap 110, and fourth place on lap 111 – all while turning the quickest laps of any car on the track.
When the caution flew on lap 123 Hamlin was running fourth and was very happy with the way his car felt. The crew made no chassis adjustments and a very quick stop by the FedEx team had Hamlin out to restart third behind leader Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson in second place.On lap 130 Hamlin claimed second from Johnson after a fierce, multi-lap duel with the three-time Sprint Cup Champion.

On lap 191, Hamlin made his fourth pit stop of the afternoon; this time Ford calling for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to in hopes of chasing down Busch and Johnson – the main rivals all afternoon. A long green-flag run ensued with Hamlin chasing Johnson for the second spot. On lap 300 Hamlin took over the runner-up spot from Johnson and set his sights on Busch and on lap 317 Hamlin moved to the point, dicing through lapped traffic to take the lead from his JGR teammate.

Hamlin’s lead would be short-lived, however, as the yellow came out on lap 319 and he pitted from the lead on lap 321 for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. Jimmie Johnson beat Hamlin out of the pits to retake the lead with Hamlin lined up in second.

Hamlin continued to run second to Johnson until lap 359 when JGR teammate Kyle Busch assumed the second spot. With 100 laps remaining in the Food City 500 Hamlin was in third place, 1.8 seconds behind then-leader Jimmie Johnson.

The FedEx Express team rose to the occasion on the final pit stop of the afternoon as Hamlin pulled onto pit road on lap 444. Hamlin came in third and pulled out in second –right behind teammate Kyle Busch – and it was a position he would hold for the remainder of the race.

On lap 495 a small window of opportunity opened for Hamlin to make one last charge for the win when Joey Logano experienced engine problems and brought out the final yellow of the day to set up a green-white-checkered finish. However Busch was very strong on the restart and Hamlin was forced to hold off a charging Jimmie Johnson to take second.

Sprint Cup Point Standings - As of Food City 500 - Bristol

2009-03-22T21:02:00.003-04:00
The Official Point Standings following the Food City 500 - Bristol
~Race 5 of 36~

(--) Jeff Gordon 794 Leader
(+1) Kurt Busch 718 -76
(-1) Clint Bowyer 715 -79
(+3) Kyle Busch 709 -85
(-1) Carl Edwards 665 -129
(+3) Kasey Kahne 639 -155
(-1) Tony Stewart 633 -161
(+6) Denny Hamlin 631 -163
(+4) Jimmie Johnson 627 -167
(-5) Matt Kenseth 610 -184
(+1) David Reutimann 607 -187
(-4) Kevin Harvick 584 -210
(+2) Jeff Burton 579 -215
(-3) Brian Vickers 553 -241
(+6) Juan Montoya 546 -248
(+4) A J Allmendinger 532 -262
(--) Elliott Sadler 530 -264
(-8) Greg Biffle 526 -268
(+5) Dale Earnhardt Jr 518 -276
(-1) Martin Truex Jr 508 -286
(-5) Michael Waltrip 506 -288
(+4) David Stremme 502 -292
(--) Bobby Labonte 500 -294
(+4) Marcos Ambrose 500 -294
(--) Casey Mears 488 -306
(-4) David Ragan 487 -307
(+5) Ryan Newman 475 -319
(-10) Jamie McMurray 475 -319
(-2) Reed Sorenson 457 -337
(-1) Robby Gordon 442 -352
(+3) Mark Martin 441 -353
(-1) Sam Hornish Jr 398 -396
(-3) John Andretti 397 -397
(-1) Joey Logano 370 -424
(--) Aric Almirola 335 -459
(+8) Scott Speed 335 -459
(-1) David Gilliland 331 -463
(--) Paul Menard 326 -468
(+1) Travis Kvapil 292 -502
(-1) Regan Smith 206 -588
(+2) Joe Nemechek 165 -629
(-1) Bill Elliott 149 -645
(-1) Scott Riggs 143 -651
(+2) Dave Blaney 111 -683
(-1) Jeremy Mayfield 104 -690
(-1) Terry Labonte 91 -703
(+1) Todd Bodine 89 -705
(-1) Max Papis 55 -739
(--) Brad Keselowski 49 -745
(+7) Sterling Marlin 43 -751
(-1) Mike Bliss 34 -760

Food City 500 - Bristol - Results

2009-03-22T20:55:00.004-04:00
The Offical results of the Food City 500 - Bristol
~ Race 5 of 36 ~

18 Kyle Busch
11 Denny Hamlin
48 Jimmie Johnson
24 Jeff Gordon
9 Kasey Kahne
5 Mark Martin
39 Ryan Newman
31 Jeff Burton
42 Juan Montoya
47 Marcos Ambrose
2 Kurt Busch
00 David Reutimann
33 Clint Bowyer
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
99 Carl Edwards
44 A J Allmendinger
14 Tony Stewart - 1
28 Travis Kvapil - 1
12 David Stremme -1
19 Elliott Sadler - 1
7 Robby Gordon - 2
96 Bobby Labonte - 2
43 Reed Sorenson - 2
07 Casey Mears - 2
98 Paul Menard - 2
1 Martin Truex Jr - 2
6 David Ragan - 3
82 Scott Speed - 3
83 Brian Vickers - 4
29 Kevin Harvick - 4
77 Sam Hornish Jr - 4
55 Michael Waltrip - 6
17 Matt Kenseth - 6
34 John Andretti - 8
8 Aric Almirola - 9
71 David Gilliland - 10
26 Jamie McMurray - 12
20 Joey Logano - Engine
16 Greg Biffle - Engine
09 Sterling Marlin - Engine
87 Joe Nemechek - Rear End
64 Todd Bodine - Accident
66 Dave Blaney - Steering

Denny Hamlin - Bristol - Post Race Interview

2009-03-22T19:56:00.001-04:00
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/nascar/video/cup/2009/03/22/cup.bri.presspass.hamlin.145x93.jpg

Racing in Richmond - Hamlin, Stewart, Busch and Logano Set to Trade Paint for Charity

2009-03-21T14:35:00.002-04:00
Denny Hamlin Foundation Announces Second Annual Benefit Race at Southside Speedway

Denny Hamlin, Chesterfield, Va. native and driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, is once again racing for charity at Southside Speedway this spring – and he’s bringing his friends.

On April 30, 2009 Hamlin will host the second annual “Short Track Showdown” at Southside Speedway in Richmond (Va.) to benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation, and this season Hamlin is being joined by some of NASCAR’s biggest stars. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart will join Hamlin’s current Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, and race day spotter Curtis Markham, in a race against some of the South’s best short-track talent in a 175-lap Limited Late Model race.

Last year, Hamlin presented a check in the amount of $50,000 - an amount raised almost entirely from the proceeds of the race - to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“I was thrilled with what we were able to do last year – it was a great event for a great cause and this year it is our hope to double that donation,” said Hamlin. “It means a lot that Tony, Kyle, Joey and Curtis are committed to helping me raise money for my foundation and I know we all want to put on a great show for the fans.”

The Denny Hamlin Foundation was created in 2008 to aid in raising awareness and funding for Cystic Fibrosis research and treatment, as well support other not for profit corporations that focus on aiding children with debilitating illnesses.

Online ticket sales begin Tuesday, March 17, 2009 exclusively at www.dennyhamlinfoundation.org .

All proceeds from ticket sales, the silent auction and raffles will benefit the Denny Hamlin Foundation.

For more information on the event, please log onto www.dennyhamlinfoundation.org .

The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report

2009-03-21T14:31:00.002-04:00
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Food City 500

Date: March 20, 2009
Event: Food City 500
(Race 5 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-Mile Oval)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin of Hendrick Motorsports (15.256 seconds at 125.773 mph)

JGR Lineup:
Kyle Busch, No. 18 Snickers Toyota (Starts 19th – 15.521 seconds at 123.626 mph)
Joey Logano, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota (Starts 23rd – 15.534 seconds at 123.523 mph)
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota (Starts 24th – 15.538 seconds at 123.491 mph)

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Snickers Toyota will lead Joe Gibbs Racing’s three-car contingent in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN.
Busch qualified 19th with a lap of 15.521 seconds.

"The Snickers Toyota was just too tight,” said Busch. “The guys worked on freeing the car up during practice, but it still just plowed through the corners. We did about four race runs in practice and the car was really good in race trim. We'll tool on the race setup some more tomorrow and get ready for Sunday."

Joey Logano will start the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota in his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol from the 23rd position after qualifying with a lap of 15.534 seconds.

"I wish I picked up a little bit more than that,” said Logano. “I've got room to improve that's for sure. We looked at some things and I'm going to take that for now. We'll work on the car tomorrow in race trim and hopefully get up there tomorrow. I think that's respectable for where we're at.”

Meanwhile Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota will start 24th after posting a lap of 15.538 seconds.

“We improved all morning in practice then didn't back it up on our qualifying run,” said Hamlin. “The FedEx team always races well here. On race day we'll have plenty of time to get to the front of the field. Tomorrow we'll work on race set-up and on Sunday we'll race and run well."

Mark Martin of Hendrick Motorsports captured the pole with a time of 15.256.

The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN begins Sunday at 2 PM ET with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 PM.

The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.

Food City 500 - Bristol - Starting Lineup

2009-03-20T17:41:00.004-04:00
The starting lineup for the Food City 500 ~ Bristol, TN
~Race 5 of 36~

5 Mark Martin
39 Ryan Newman
48 Jimmie Johnson
16 Greg Biffle
9 Kasey Kahne
00 David Reutimann
43 Reed Sorenson
66 Dave Blaney
26 Jamie McMurray
24 Jeff Gordon
82 Scott Speed
42 Juan Montoya
47 Marcos Ambrose
71 David Gilliland
14 Tony Stewart
64 Todd Bodine
28 Travis Kvapil
8 Aric Almirola
18 Kyle Busch
1 Martin Truex Jr
55 Michael Waltrip
19 Elliott Sadler
20 Joey Logano
11 Denny Hamlin
77 Sam Hornish Jr
44 AJ Allmendinger
83 Brian Vickers
87 Joe Nemechek
12 David Stremme
29 Kevin Harvick
33 Clint Bowyer
2 Kurt Busch
17 Matt Kenseth
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
7 Robby Gordon
96 Bobby Labonte
07 Casey Mears
99 Carl Edwards
34 John Andretti
31 Jeff Burton
6 David Ragan
98 Paul Menard
09 Sterling Marlin

Food City 500 - Bristol ~ Qualifying Order

2009-03-20T14:39:00.001-04:00
The Qualifying Order for the Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway
~Race 5 of 36~

17 Matt Kenseth
31 Jeff Burton
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr
98 Paul Menard
2 Kurt Busch
55 Michael Waltrip
96 Bobby Labonte
42 Juan Montoya
07 Casey Mears
83 Brian Vickers
33 Clint Bowyer
1 Martin Truex Jr
82 Scott Speed
34 John Andretti
19 Elliott Sadler
24 Jeff Gordon
5 Mark Martin
77 Sam Hornish Jr
6 David Ragan
29 Kevin Harvick
26 Jamie McMurray
8 Aric Almirola
7 Robby Gordon
00 David Reutimann
16 Greg Biffle
39 Ryan Newman
99 Carl Edwards
12 David Stremme
43 Reed Sorenson
11 Denny Hamlin
20 Joey Logano
9 Kasey Kahne
18 Kyle Busch
47 Marcos Ambrose
48 Jimmie Johnson
66 Dave Blaney
44 AJ Allmendinger
28 Travis Kvapil
71 David Gilliland
41 Jeremy Mayfield
14 Tony Stewart
36 Scott Riggs
87 Joe Nemechek
09 Sterling Marlin
64 Todd Bodine

Food City 500 ~ Bristol ~ TV Schedule

2009-03-20T00:47:00.004-04:00
Sprint Cup Qualifying Draw - Friday, March 20 ~ 11 AM

Sprint Cup Practice - Friday, March 20 ~ Noon SPEED

Sprint Cup Qualifying - Friday, March 20 ~ 3:30 PM SPEED

Sprint Cup Practice - Saturday, March 21 ~ 11 AM & 12: 20 PM
(TV @ 1 PM) SPEED

Food City 500 - Bristol, TN ~Race 5 of 36~
Sunday, March 22 ~ 1:30 PM FOX

Food City 500 - Bristol ~ Entry List

2009-03-19T13:04:00.003-04:00
The Entry List for the Food City 500 ~ Bristol Motor Speedway
~Race 5 of 36~

00 David Reutimann - Aaron's Dream Machine - Toyota
1 Martin Truex Jr - Bass Pro Shops / Tracker - Chevrolet
2 Kurt Busch - Miller Lite - Dodge
5 Mark Martin - Carquest / Kelloggs - Chevrolet
6 David Ragan - UPS - Ford
7 Robby Gordon - SPOT - Toyota
8 Aric Almirola - Champion - Chevrolet
9 Kasey Kahne - Budweiser - Dodge
11 Denny Hamlin - Fed Ex Express - Toyota
12 David Stremme - Penske Racing - Dodge
14 Tony Stewart - Office Depot / Old Spice - Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle - 3 M - Ford
17 Matt Kenseth - DeWalt - Ford
18 Kyle Busch - Snickers - Toyota
19 Elliott Sadler - Best Buy - Dodge
20 Joey Logano - The Home Depot - Toyota
24 Jeff Gordon - Dupont - Chevrolet
26 Jamie McMurray - Crown Royal - Ford
29 Kevin Harvick - Shell / Pennzoil - Chevrolet
31 Jeff Burton - Caterpillar - Chevrolet
33 Clint Bowyer - BB&T - Chevrolet
34 John Andretti - WindowWorld.com - Chevrolet
36 Scott Riggs - Arral Lighting / Nexxus Lighting - Toyota
39 Ryan Newman - US Army - Chevrolet
41 Jeremy Mayfield - AllSport - Toyota
42 Juan Montoya - Target - Chevrolet
43 Reed Sorenson - Paralyzed Veterans of America - Dodge
44 AJ Allmendinger - Charter Communication - Dodge
47 Marcos Ambrose - Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox - Toyota
48 Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's - Chevrolet
55 Michael Waltrip - NAPA - Toyota
64 Todd Bodine - Gunselman Motorsports - Toyota
66 Dave Blaney - Hyde Park Storage Suites - Toyota
77 Sam Hornish Jr - Mobil 1 - Dodge
82 Scott Speed - Red Bull - Toyota
83 Brian Vickers - Red Bull - Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr - National Guard / AMP Energy - Chevrolet
96 Bobby Labonte - Academy Sports + Outdoors - Ford
98 Paul Menard - Johns Manville / Menards - Ford
99 Carl Edwards - Aflac - Ford
171 David Gilliland - Capital Windows - Chevrolet
187 Joe Nemecheck - NEMCO Motorsports - Toyota