Kansas 11

Denny Hamlin led Joe Gibbs Racing with a third-place finish today in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Hamlin started the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota in the 15th position and spent the early going of the race just outside the top 10 as he battled a car that was difficult to get to turn into the corners. Crew chief Mike Ford and the FedEx crew must have made the appropriate changes during pit stops under the caution because Hamlin vaulted in the top ten and took over fifth by lap 88. Under the day’s second caution a good stop would gain another couple spots on the leaders for Hamlin and shortly after the restart he would pass his teammate Kyle Busch for his first lead of the day on lap 117. Hamlin would lead three times on the day for a total of 34 laps. He was racing in the top five on lap 160 when he and Tony Stewart would make contact causing some damage to the rear of the No. 11 FedEx Camry. Hamlin would come down pit road just a few laps later for repairs and ironically the result proved to play a key role in the finish. With Hamlin off the pit cycle of the rest of the leaders and a final green flag run of over 100 laps to conclude the race, he would come down for one final fill up with about 50 laps to go, which allowed him to have plenty of gas to make it to the end. Many of the leaders however would have to come down pit road a final time with about 10 laps remaining. Unfortunately for Hamlin the handle on his FedEx machine was not nearly what it had been toward the middle of the race and he wasn’t able to contend for the victory, but was able to bring home a solid third-place finish.