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| Denny Hamlin is 18/1 to win at Somona. He was second in 2016. |
#11 FedEx Ground Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing
Race Info:
Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
Date/Time: June 25/3 PM ET
Distance: 110 Laps/218.9 Miles
Track Length: 1.99-mile
Track Shape: Road Course
Turns: 12
2016 Winner: Tony Stewart
Express Notes:
Michigan Recap: Denny Hamlin finished fourth in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, capturing his third top-five finish of the season in the #11 FedEx Office Toyota. Hamlin lined up second for the final restart alongside Kyle Larson with five laps remaining, but the non-preferred inside line proved menacing, as Hamlin slipped to third by Turn 2. He battled with Joey Logano for the remaining circuits and took the checkered flag in fourth. Hamlin started fifth and showed strong speed throughout the 200-lap race. He finished fourth in Stage 1, but a lengthy pit stop during the break moved him outside the top-10 for the start of Stage 2. He worked his way through traffic to finish that stage in seventh. The race’s final segment saw a lengthy green-flag run, with Hamlin methodically moving up in the running order. A flurry of late-race cautions bunched the field, with drivers in the outside groove on restarts having a decided advantage. Hamlin’s finish keeps the #11 team ninth in the current NASCAR standings following Michigan.
Sonoma Preview: The Series heads to Sonoma Raceway for the first road course event on the 2017 NASCAR schedule. In 11 starts at the California track, Hamlin has two top-five and three top-10 finishes. He has led 81 laps at the road course, notching 33 of those laps after a stellar performance during last year’s race at the 1.99-mile track; the same race where Hamlin went on to score a career-best second-place finish, narrowly missing the win after a thrilling last-lap battle with Tony Stewart.
Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares: This season, FedEx is tying the performance of the #11 FedEx Toyota on the track to its efforts to improve road safety through a new program, Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares, by donating $111 for each lap Hamlin leads and $11,000 for each race victory to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. FedEx will also contribute $111,000 to Safe Kids if the #11 team wins the 2017 NASCAR championship.
To date, FedEx has donated $16,761 to Safe Kids through the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program. Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of FedExRacing.com.
Press Kit: Download the 2017 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Mike Wheeler and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights, statistics and 2017 crew roster.
Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Sonoma Raceway
Races: 11
Wins: 0
Top-5: 2
Top-10: 3
Poles: 0
Average Start: 18.1
Average Finish: 20.8
Laps Led: 81
Hamlin Conversation – SONOMA:
You had great success at road courses in 2016. How are you feeling heading back to Sonoma this weekend?
“Obviously, I still think about that battle with Tony (Stewart) last year (at Sonoma). We came so close to the win that weekend, and it was pretty disappointing to come up just short. It definitely restored our confidence when we went to Watkins Glen later that year, and I got my first-career road course win. We’ll use that momentum to our advantage this weekend to hopefully repeat similar results.”
Great Plains District Team Along for the Ride at Sonoma: The FedEx Ground Great Plains District team will be recognized for their excellent customer service by having its “GPLS” code letters on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota at Sonoma Raceway.
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