Ricmond II

Denny Hamlin entered the night in the second of two wild card positions to make the Chase thanks to a victory earlier in the season and his current position in the point standings. The No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota started from the 28th position and was racing for track position early when an accident in front of him on lap 9 caused many in the field to bunch up and collected Hamlin. Hamlin would have significant damage to the right front of his Camry, but the setback didn’t deter the FedEx team as they went to work to make repairs and was able to do so while only losing one lap to the field on the short track of RIR. Over the next several cautions crew chief Mike Ford and the FedEx team continued to make adjustments to the car and soon Hamlin would gain his spot back on the lead lap.  From there Hamlin would patiently begin to make his way back up through the field and on lap 240 he would enter the top ten for the first time of the race. The FedEx Express Camry would remain inside the top ten and earned an impressive ninth-place finish despite all the early struggles following the accident. Hamlin will be the second of two wild card positions in the Chase, although he also finished 12th in the overall point standings, which would have earned him the spot under the previous scoring system as well.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Chicago next Sunday for the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.  Coverage of the race will start on Sunday, September 18 at 1 PM ET on ESPN (race starts at 2 PM ET). The race will also be carried on Sirius Radio NASCAR channel 90 and MRN Radio.