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| Denny Hamlin is 7/1 to win Sunday at Phoenix |
Date/Time: March 2 at 1:00 p.m. MT
2013 winner: Carl Edwards
2013 polesitter: Mark Martin
Distance: 312 laps/312 miles
Track Length: 1 mile
Banking: 9/11 degrees
Track Shape: Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Successful SpeedWeeks: Denny Hamlin charged from sixth to second on the final lap of Sunday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 to score his best-career finish in the “Great American Race” in the #11 FedEx Express Toyota behind eventual winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin lined up sixth for a restart with three laps remaining, and used the momentum on the outside groove in the draft to push towards the front. Coming off Turn 2 on the final lap, Hamlin dove to the inside and reached the back bumper of Earnhardt Jr. entering Turn 3. Before he could make a move for the win, a wreck further back brought out the caution, securing a runner-up finish for the FedEx Racing Team. The race was delayed more than six hours due to rain after the initial 38 laps were run. When the race resumed under the lights, Hamlin and the team fought through radio communication issues, which prevented Hamlin from clearly hearing his spotter for the final three-quarters of the race. Hamlin started fourth and led three times for a total of 16 (of 200) laps on Sunday. He ran among the lead group throughout the event, and the runner-up finish capped an impressive SpeedWeeks for the #11 team, which included victories in the Sprint Unlimited and a Budweiser Duel qualifying race.
Phoenix Preview: The Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) for Sunday’s 312-lap event at the recently-reconfigured one-mile desert oval. Hamlin is making his 18th career Cup Series start at PIR this weekend, a place where the #11 FedEx machine has recorded eight top-five finishes in 17 previous events. Hamlin was victorious in the spring race at Phoenix in 2012, in his second race with crew chief Darian Grubb. Hamlin recorded his first-career Sprint Cup Series pole position at Phoenix in November 2005, in just his sixth-career start. In the event one year ago, Hamlin started eighth and finished third.
FedEx Office – Closest to Phoenix International Raceway: 1619 N. Dysart Rd., Ste 102, Avondale, AZ 85392, (623) 536-8077
Memphis Germantown Along for the Ride at Phoenix: The FedEx Office location in Memphis-Germantown is a leading store in the company’s President’s Club program and will be recognized with its “0512” store numbers on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota this weekend in Phoenix.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – PHOENIX:
How can you take the team’s success during SpeedWeeks to Phoenix and a more traditional race weekend?
“Our FedEx team obviously had a great start to the season with wins in the (Sprint) Unlimited and (Budweiser) Duel, and a second-place finish in the (Daytona) 500, but Phoenix will be a true gauge to see where our program is at. Daytona gives us a lift after running well, but it’s up to us to prove that our cars have the speed and handling needed to excel at a shorter track like Phoenix and as we get into the bulk of tracks on the schedule. I’m confident that we will have a good car again this weekend, and hopefully we can execute our plan to be there at the end competing for the win.”
- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing
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