RACE INFO:
Event: Lifelock.com 400
Date/Time: July 10, 2010/7:30 p.m. EST
2009 winner: Mark Martin
2009 polesitter: Brian Vickers
Distance: 267 laps/400.5 miles
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Banking: 19 degrees
Track Shape: Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Daytona Review: Despite starting in the back and pushing all the way to the front, Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 ended in frustration for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team. With each passing lap the intensity of the racing increased at Daytona, and the race literally erupted in the closing stages with several multi-car incidents and maddening 24th-place finish for Hamlin and team on the high-banked superspeedway. Hamlin led four laps early in the race but was ultimately shuffled to the back in a car that was lacking grip throughout. Once in the back he found himself at the mercy of the other cars and he was twice collected in multicar incidents that left the #11 FedEx Toyota badly damaged. The result sees Hamlin drop from fourth to fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings heading to Chicagoland. He now sits 39 points behind Kurt Busch in fourth place and 284 points behind Harvick in first.
Hamlin, FedEx Racing to Prepare in Chicago: Denny Hamlin and FedEx are teaming up with the Greater Chicago Red Cross to host a preparedness event for local campers – teaching them it’s never too early to learn how to prepare for emergencies. Denny will welcome a group of school-aged kids to Sherwood Park in Chicago on Thursday, July 8 from 10 – 11:30 a.m. for the event where they will assemble their own disaster preparedness kit. In addition, as part of the company’s commitment to supporting disaster preparedness and relief efforts around the world, and in celebration of the existing relationship with the American Red Cross, FedEx will be making a $10,000 donation to the Greater Chicago Red Cross chapter. For event info, please contact Jon Mason.
Hamlin at Chicagoland Speedway: This weekend will mark Hamlin's fifth Cup start at Chicagoland and 169th career Cup start since making his debut in 2005. A year ago Hamlin and the team put together an excellent race, taking advantage of great pit stops and strong restarts to continue a mid-season surge that included four top five finishes in five races. In 2008, Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team suffered through an entirely forgettable evening at Chicagoland Speedway last season when electrical issues forced the #11 Toyota to the garage less than 50 laps in to the event for repairs. The crew worked fast but Hamlin returned to the track four laps down and had little recourse but to run out the race and settle for a disappointing 40th-place finish. In 2007 Hamlin and the FedEx team, sitting second in the Cup points, unloaded a new car and race package at Chicago and simply couldn't find the handle on the way to a frustrating 17th place finish. In 2006, Hamlin was well on his way to a top-ten finish before a loose wheel forced him a lap down late in the race. Despite getting the lap back, he was unable to significantly improve his position and finished 14th on the day.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – Chicagoland:
What do you expect at Chicago this weekend?: “Chicago has been a bit of a struggle for us but I think we are turning the corner there. We’ve had electrical issues before and a loose wheel a few years ago – but we came here last season and ran better than we had here before so you take that along with our improvement on the intermediate tracks and we feel like we should be pretty good coming back. We had a really strong car at Texas, Darlington and Michigan and we just keep taking big steps forward with our equipment at places where we’ve struggled in the past. I think we’ll take a step forward here as well. It’s a track I like to race and to have a strong car only increases that.”
What are your thoughts on racing at Chicagoland?: “It’s relatively flat and it seems to have lost a lot of grip there over the years for whatever reason. I like the racing at Chicago because you can move around, from the wall to the line and back, to find a place where your car is working. Any of the drivers will tell you they really like being able to search for that line to find that place where you can pass and make your car work. You work to get your car ready in practice and make it adjustable – but as it gets cooler things definitely tend to change a lot and you have to be ready to find a new line and make the car work.”
The team has struggled for a couple of weeks now, is a standard intermediate what you need to get back on track?: “It just might be. We definitely expected to run better at Sonoma and at Daytona but those races are also unpredictable. Not running well at New Hampshire was frustrating because that is a place where we’ve been really good in the past. Going to Chicagoland and then into the off week should be good for this team.”
