Denny Hamlin looking for fifth Martinsville grandfather clock and Championship ticket

Denny Hamlin is 8/1 to win Sunday at Martinsville

Event: Goody’s 500
Date/Time: Oct. 26/1:30 p.m. ET
2013 winner: Jeff Gordon
2013 polesitter: Denny Hamlin
Distance: 500 laps/263 miles
Track Length: 0.526-mile
Banking: 12 degrees
Track Shape: Oval

EXPRESS NOTES:

Talladega Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 18th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway to advance to the Eliminator Round of the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in the #11 FedEx One Rate/”Deliverminator” Toyota. Hamlin came into the race needing a 15th-place finish to ensure a spot among the final eight drivers vying for this year’s title, and along with other teams in similar situations, elected to hang in the back of the draft pack throughout most of the 188-lap event won by Brad Keselowski. Hamlin started 38th but quickly moved forward on the high-banked superspeedway. He earned a valuable bonus point by leading Lap 39, and then fell back to avoid a pair of multi-car incidents during the race. Hamlin lined up 20th for the final restart and moved up two spots at the checkered flag. The Chase standings reset following the race, and Hamlin is now tied for the points lead with four races remaining in the season. The Eliminator Round consists of three events — Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix — where Hamlin has a combined seven victories in his career.

Martinsville Preview: The Series heads to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for Sunday’s 500-lap event on the flat, half-mile paper clip. Hamlin is a four-time winner at the Virginia facility and is arguably his best track on the circuit. The 33-year-old Chesterfield, Va., native won his first race at Martinsville in the spring of 2008, and then won three-straight at the track in 2009 and 2010, including back-to-back Chase races. In total, Hamlin has recorded three poles and 13 top-10 finishes in 17 career Martinsville starts, leading 1,153 laps. Hamlin is second among remaining Chase drivers in average running position, average finishing position and driver rating at Martinsville, all to four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

FedEx Office – Closest to Martinsville Speedway: 3731 Battleground Ave., Greensboro, NC 27410, (336) 282-5650

Louisville Along for the Ride at Martinsville: The FedEx Freight service center in Louisville will be recognized for outstanding performance with its “LOU” code letters on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – MARTINSVILLE:

How do you think the Eliminator Round sets up for the FedEx Racing Team?
I have said all year that if we made it to the final eight, to this Eliminator Round, that we suddenly had a good shot at this championship. This round has three tracks that our FedEx team has had a lot of success at over the years, obviously starting with Martinsville. We didn’t have a great race there in the spring, but we have made some gains on our short track program, and I’m confident we can go there and compete for the win this weekend. Winning on Sunday is our ultimate goal and would be great to put ourselves in position to battle for the championship at Homestead.”

2014 FEDEX RACING TEAM – SEASON RESULTS
DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	START	FINISH	LAPS	STATUS	WINNINGS	LED	PTS	TREND
Feb. 23	Daytona 500	Daytona	4	2	200/200	Running	$1,148,451	16	2nd	▬
March 2	The Profit on CNBC 500	Phoenix	12	19	312/312	Running	$87,480	8th	▼
March 9	Kobalt Tools 400	Las Vegas	27	12	267/267	Running	$121,410	1	8th	▬
March 16	Food City 500	Bristol	1	6	500/500	Running	$116,865	4	7th	▲
March 23	Auto Club 500	Fontana*	13	17	202/202	Running	$107,410	11th	▼
March 30	STP 500	Martinsville	2	19	500/500	Running	$94,475	12th	▼
April 7	Duck Commander 500	Texas	6	13	340/340	Running	$137,770	20	13th	▼
April 12	Bojangles’ Southern 500	Darlington	10	19	374/374	Running	$101,905	3	15th	▼
April 26	Toyota Owners 400	Richmond	28	22	400/400	Running	$88.890	14th	▲
May 4	Aaron’s 499	Talladega	35	1	188/188	Running	$303,315	12	12th	▲
May 10	5-Hour Energy 400	Kansas	30	18	266/267	Running	$94,765	12th	▬
May 25	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte	6	22	398/400	Running	$112,985	14th	▼
June 1	FedEx 400	Dover	7	5	400/400	Running	$136,880	9th	▲
June 8	Pocono 400	Pocono	1	4	160/160	Running	$137,500	4	8th	▲
June 15	Quicken Loans 400	Michigan	29	29	198/200	Running	$92,640		12th	▼
June 22	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma	16	26	110/110	Running	$97,035		13th	▼
June 28	Quaker State 400	Kentucky	4	42	27/267	Accident	$71,580		17th	▼
July 6	Coke Zero 400	Daytona	37	6	112/112	Running	$135,370		14th	▲
July 13	Camping World RV Sales 301	Loudon	3	8	305/305	Running	$109,565	20	12th	▲
July 27	The John Wayne Walding 400	Indianapolis	27	3	160/160	Running	$307,890	18	21st**	▼
Aug. 3	GoBowling.com 400	Pocono	13	9	160/160	Running	$96,965		21st	▬
Aug. 10	Cheez-It 355	Watkins Glen	17	24	90/90	Running	$84,015		20th	▲
Aug. 17	Pure Michigan 400	Michigan	21	7	200/200	Running	$108,940		20th	▬
Aug. 23	Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol	13	40	160/500	Accident	$96,565	28	20th	▬
Aug. 31	Oral-B USA 500	Atlanta	17	3	335/335	Running	$182,705	37	19th	▲
Sept. 6	Federated Auto Parts400	Richmond	11	21	398/400	Running	$89,615		9th	▲
2014 CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP
Sept. 14	MyAFibstory.com 400	Chicagoland	24	6	267/267	Running	$131,045		6th	▲
Sept. 21	Sylvania 300	New Hampshire	4	37	265/303	Running	$87,217	32	13th	▼
Sept. 28	AAA 400	Dover	3	12	400/400	Running	$96,540		T-1st	▲
Oct. 5	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas	25	7	267/267	Running	$126,470		5th	▲
Oct. 11	Bank of America 500	Charlotte	3	9	334/334	Running	$106,640	22	7th	▼
Oct. 19	GEICO 500	Talladega	38	18	194/194	Running	$96,536	1	T-1st	▲
Averages/Totals			15.3	15.1	93.0%		$4,800,024	218

* Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.

** Penalized 75 points following post-race inspection

- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing