Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Denny Hamlin is 15/1 to win 2023 Food City Dirt Race

FedEx Racing Express Facts – Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt)

 

Denny Hamlin

#11 FedEx Ground Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

 

Sunday Race Info

Race: Food City Dirt Race

Date/Time: Sunday, April 9 / 7 p.m. ET

Distance: 250 laps / 125 miles

Track Length: 0.533 miles

 

Express Notes

Press Kit: Download the 2023 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedex.com/en-us/racing/press-kit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Richmond Recap: The No. 11 team finished 20th in last Sunday’s race at Richmond Raceway after an up-and-down afternoon at Hamlin’s home track. During an early competition caution, Hamlin was penalized for speeding on pit road and forced to restart 35th on lap 39. He made his way back up to 17th by the end of stage one. In stage two, he used a nifty pit strategy from crew chief Chris Gabehart to have fresher tires than the other leaders as he battled his way to his first stage victory of the season. He continued to lead early in the final segment until a miscue on a lap-293 pit stop dropped Hamlin from the lead to 11th before another caution on lap 306. Hamlin was scored 13th when a late-race caution brought everyone back to pit road on lap 375. While on pit road, he was penalized for speeding again and had to restart 23rd with 21 laps remaining. Hamlin ultimately ended the day with a 20th-place result.

Bristol Notes: Hamlin has seen mixed results in two starts on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. In the inaugural race, he ran solidly up front throughout the race before finishing third. Last season, he started 34th and finished 35th after suffering an engine failure because of an overheating issue early in the race. On Bristol’s traditional concrete layout, Hamlin is a two-time winner with nine top-five finishes, 16 top-10s, four pole awards, and 894 laps led.

Loop Data: According to Loop Data provided by NASCAR, Hamlin leads all drivers with 700 quality passes, 1,523 laps run inside the top 15 and 1,722 of 1,735 laps run on the lead lap so far this season. He also ranks in the top five in multiple categories, including average running position (third), green flag speed (fourth), laps led (fifth), driver rating (fifth), fastest laps run (fifth), and fastest drivers late in a run (fifth).

Hamlin Statistics

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt)

Races: 2

Wins: 0

Poles: 0

Top-5: 1

Top-10: 1

Laps Led: 1

Avg. Start: 18.0

Avg. Finish: 19.0

 

Hamlin Conversation – Bristol (Dirt)

What are your thoughts on the Bristol dirt race?

“I enjoy the dirt race, I really do. Last year was a bit of a disaster for us. We had overheating problems and eventually blew up because we had some issues with our cooling, but I am looking forward to this weekend. I thought last year’s race was super exciting with Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick battling for the lead, then Kyle Busch ended up getting the win. But man, once they just let it go and they’re done watering it, the track slicks off where it is multiple grooves and it’s a lot of fun.”

 

FedEx Ground Along for the Ride at Bristol Motor Speedway: For Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry TRD will feature DSRT on the b-post to recognize the FedEx Ground Desert district for leading the company in safety priority metrics.

 

FedEx Office – Closest to Bristol Motor Speedway2116 N. Roan Street, Suite 1A, Johnson City, TN 37601, 423-283-9503

 

2023 FedEx Racing Team Results

DATE

EVENT

LOCATION

START

FINISH

LAPS

STATUS

LED

PTS

TREND

Feb. 19

Daytona 500

Daytona

18th

17th

212/212

Running

6

19th

Feb. 26

Pala Casino 400

Fontana

13th

6th

200/200

Running

11

9th

March 5

Pennzoil 400

Las Vegas

12th

11th

271/271

Running

10

6th

March 12

United Rentals Work United 500

Phoenix

2nd

23rd

317/317

Running

0

12th

March 19

Ambetter Health 400

Atlanta

14th

6th

260/260

Running

14

9th

March 26

EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

Austin

21st

16th

75/75

Running

0

14th

April 2

Toyota Owners 400

Richmond

11th

20th

400/400

Running

71

12th

Averages/Totals

13.0

14.1

100%

 

112

 

 

 

 

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