Denny Hamlin looking for a top-5 finish at Texas

Denny Hamlin is 12/1 to win at Texas

RACE INFO:
Event: AAA Texas 500
Date/Time: Nov. 2/2:00 p.m. CT
2013 winner: Jimmie Johnson
2013 polesitter: Carl Edwards
Distance: 334 laps/501 miles
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 24 degrees
Track Shape: Oval

EXPRESS NOTES:

Martinsville Recap: Denny Hamlin finished eighth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota, leading 68 laps in the first event of the Eliminator Round of the Chase en route to his 14th top-10 finish in 18 career starts at the half-mile track. Hamlin pitted for right-side tires under the race’s final caution with six laps remaining, but was forced to restart sixth in the outside groove, losing a pair of spots in the final laps. A four-time Martinsville winner, Hamlin again showed his prowess at the flat ‘paper clip,’ posting a race-best 4.9 average running position in the event won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. The finish placed Hamlin fifth in the Chase standings following Martinsville, just seven markers behind leader Jeff Gordon with two races remaining in the third playoff segment.

Texas Preview: The Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s 334-lap event at the fast 1.5-mile Fort Worth facility. Hamlin is a two-time Texas winner, sweeping a pair of races at the track in 2010. In 17 career races at Texas, Hamlin has posted eight top-10 finishes and has led 151 laps. Earlier this year, Hamlin started sixth and led 20 laps before a mid-race pit road speeding penalty and late-race miscue on pit road, where Hamlin slid through the box during the final stop, relegated the FedEx team to a 13th-place finish.

FedEx Office – Closest to Texas Motor Speedway: 8509 Davis Blvd., North Richland Hills, TX 76180, (817) 281-9014

Palmdale, Calif., Along for the Ride at Texas: The FedEx Office location in Palmdale, Calif., a leading store in the company’s President’s Club program, will be recognized with its “0351” code numbers on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – TEXAS:

What are your goals for the FedEx Team at Texas?
“Obviously, it would be great to get another win at Texas this weekend. Although it’s a fast, intermediate track that has been a weakness of our team this year, Texas has good tire fall off and really plays into the hands of drivers that have a good handling car over the course of long runs. Earlier this year, when I felt like we didn’t have the speed to compete with some of the top cars, we drove up and led laps at Texas, but didn’t get the finish to show for it. We need another solid day with no mistakes to put ourselves in position to advance to the final four. Certainly, our hope was to get a better result at Martinsville last Sunday, but we’re still in the thick of things. This segment of the Chase will require top-five finishes and hopefully we can achieve that this weekend.”

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 Parts 400	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	▲
Oct. 26	Goody’s 500	Martinsville	5	8	500/500	Running	$97,140	68	5th	▼
Averages/Totals			14.9	14.9	93.4%		$4,897,164	286

* Driver: Sam Hornish Jr.
** Penalized 75 points following post-race inspection

- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing