California Dreaming

With the string of bad luck Denny Hamlin has been having, he was praying he made it out of Fontana without having more of the same that has been plaguing him. He qualified 21st for the Pepsi 500, not bad considering he wasn't the only Chase contender scattered throughout the field.

When the green flag waved, Hamlin quickly made his way through traffic to the front. During race commentary, the announcers mentioned that JD Gibbs had talked to Denny about showing emotion without criticizing the team. Then there was a replay of Denny's in-car audio following a pit stop. He praised the Fed Ex crew for their superior pit stop and promised that if they continued to give him pitstops like that...he would give them everything he had.

He held true to his promise, as always and Mike Ford and the Fed Ex team got everything their driver had in his arsenal. He drove his heart out and when he climbed out of the race car his smile was blinding. He seemed to float on air and was beyond happy with his team's performance. It's amazing how happy a driver can be when things go right.

The growth and maturity shown by D Ham and the team is evident. Not only in the interviews, in-car audio between driver and crew but also in their on-track performance. They are performing like a team that has gelled and that is on fire. Or, as I prefer, en fuego. There's no better way to describe the #11 team that En Fuego lately. Hamlin posted his second third place finish in a row at Auto Club Speedway. Serving notice to anyone watching that he's not going down without a fight. Oh..but he's not going down. He's on his way up!

Going into Richmond this weekend, this unstoppable hurricane will have to continue their determined fight to lock in a spot in the Chase for the third year in a row. Barring any unforseen fortune, the Fed Ex boys will be sitting in 6th place after the field is reset for the Chase showdown. While Hamlin may be a little too far back to beat teammate Kyle Busch at this point, the other guys had best look out. Something about going back home where friends and family give added support in stressful times, Hamlin will be hard to stop. Forget Hurricane Hanna. Try your luck to outrun Hurrican Hamlin.

FedEx Racing Express Facts - California

RACE INFO:

Event: Pepsi 500

Date/Time: Aug. 31, 2008/8 p.m. EST

Length: 2.0 miles

Shape: Oval

Banking: 14 Degrees

Distance: 250 laps/500 miles

2007 winner: Jimmie Johnson

2007 pole winner: Kurt Busch

EXPRESS NOTES:
Bristol in the Rear View: Denny Hamlin brought the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota home in third place on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, putting an end to a tumultuous week and, by virtue of a good run, edging ever closer to a spot in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bristol lived up to its reputation for hard racing but Hamlin and the team wouldn't be denied, fighting through the field after qualifying 21st. With a third place finish, his best since claiming the third spot at Indianapolis Motor Speedway five weeks ago, Hamlin climbs from 12th to 11th in NASCAR Sprint Cup points with just two races left before the Chase cutoff. He currently sits 45 points in front of Clint Bowyer who holds down the 12th and final Chase contender spot.

Hamlin, FedEx Delivering Hybrid Prius in Los Angeles: As part of the 2008 FedEx Racing "Deliver the Drive" program, Denny Hamlin and FedEx will visit the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank on Thursday, Aug. 28 to donate a Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle. The Foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization and is one of the largest food banks in the United States - supplying enough food for over 500,000 meals each week in Los Angeles County. Hamlin will join a team of Los Angeles-area FedEx employees for a shift in the volunteer kitchen prior to the presentation of the fuel-efficient vehicle. The donation marks the third of four Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles that FedEx is donating throughout the course of the 2008 season. Previous Prius donations have been made in Boston and Indianapolis. (For event information, please contact Jon Mason)

Hamlin at Auto Club Speedway: This weekend will mark Hamlin's sixth career Cup start at the two-mile track in Fontana. On his most recent visit, Hamlin was forced from the Monday-afternoon race early when he hit water seeping through the track on lap 15 of the event and was sent sailing into the turn two wall. Despite making considerable repairs, the damage was done and Hamlin was scored in 41st place. In the fall 2007 race a cut tire under caution late in the race spoiled what was otherwise a promising day for the FedEx team and led to a 19th-place finish. Last February, Hamlin had a very competitive car and ran as high as third place before handling issues caused him to fade late in the race and take the checkered in 11th. In two other starts, Hamlin has posted finishes of 6th and 12th.

Auto Club – JGR 222 & 196: The FedEx team will unload Chassis JGR 222 this weekend at California. This is a new car from the Joe Gibbs Racing stable and this weekend will mark its first start. JGR 196 will serve as the back up and has made four starts this season.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION - AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY:
A top-three finish in Bristol gets you pointed in the right direction again: "Well, the edge isn't off but it felt good to go out there and have a good race - especially at Bristol where we've had trouble finishing and on the heels of a tough race at Michigan. The other teams we are racing for the top-12 all fared well so it doesn't change our outlook at all - we need to go to California and put together another really strong race. California is another opportunity to gain points but we are prepared to go to Richmond with everything on the line. Hopefully we'll be in good shape by then but I can't think of a better track to go to knowing we have to put up a good performance. For this FedEx team, it seems like we run well one week, then struggle the next and that up and down has kept us right on the edge. We need to put some consistent finishes together because that up and down is a tough way through to go through a season - or in our case the second half of the season. The way we see it, the good runs reflect how good we are, and that makes the bad runs that much harder to take and increases our frustration even more. The Chase is so tight that there really isn't room for error anymore - but the Chase also rewards consistency and gives any team that gets on a roll the chance to make some noise. We feel like we can be that team if we get back to running as well as we know we can."

Joey Logano was named the driver of the #20 car this week, are you looking forward to having him as a teammate next season?: "Yes. I am happy for Joey and for everyone at Home Depot and JGR. We all know how talented he is and that he has a bright future ahead of him - I have been fortunate to race with him a couple of times but also talk to the test team at JGR and hear them talk about how good he is and how mature he is on the track. I think Kyle and I are both looking forward to working with him and making this JGR team as strong as possible."

Joe Gibbs Racing.com