Denny Hamlin has finished third past three Bristol night races

Denny Hamlin is 12/1 to win Saturday night at Bristol.

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Freight Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
Date/Time: Saturday, Aug. 18/7:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 500 Laps/266.5 Miles
Track Length: .533 mile
Track Shape: Oval
Banking: 24-28 degrees
2017 Winner: Kyle Busch

Express Notes:

Michigan Recap: Denny Hamlin finished eighth in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Series race at Michigan International Speedway, notching his 12th top-10 finish of the season. Hamlin started on the pole and led the race’s first 13 laps, ultimately finishing sixth in Stage 1. Varying strategies in Stage 2 pushed Hamlin outside the top-10, but quick work on pit road by the crew and timely adjustments by crew chief Mike Wheeler helped the team recover. Hamlin lined up ninth on the final restart with 57 laps to go, and he gained one spot during the long green flag run to end the event won by Kevin Harvick.

Bristol Preview: The Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s 500-lap event under the lights at the half-mile Tennessee bullring. Hamlin has captured three poles at “The Last Great Colosseum,” tied for a Series-best among active drivers. Earlier this season, Hamlin came back from three laps down to finish 14th in the event won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch.

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 2018 NASCAR championship. New for the 2018 season, the Denny Hamlin Foundation will also match the total donation to Safe Kids Worldwide.

After 23 regular season races, Hamlin has led 259 laps resulting in a $28,749 donation to Safe Kids Worldwide which will ultimately be matched by the Denny Hamlin Foundation. Fans can track the total amount donated to date from the Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares program on the homepage of.

Press Kit: Download the 2018 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Mike Wheeler and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Races: 25
Wins: 1
Poles: 3 (tied for Series-best)
Top-5: 7
Top-10: 12
Laps Led: 611
Avg. Start: 14.7
Avg. Finish: 15.3

Hamlin Conversation:

Following back-to-back poles and a top-10 finish at Michigan, what is the #11 FedEx Racing team’s goal heading into Bristol race weekend?

“This FedEx Racing team has worked really hard, and it’s been good to see that start to show in recent results. We still have some room for improvements to get us exactly where we want to be, but our ultimate goal is to lead more laps, win more Stages and more races so that we can be a team to contend with come Playoffs.”