RACE INFO:
Event: Lenox Industrial Tools 301
Date/Time: June 27, 2010/1 p.m. EST
2009 winner: Joey Logano
2009 polesitter: Rain
Distance: 301 laps/318.46 miles
Track Length: 1.058 miles
Banking: 7 degrees
Track Shape: Oval
EXPRESS NOTES:
Sonoma Review: Heading to Sonoma for Sunday’s Toyota/Savemart 350, Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team knew they would have their work cut out for them. Despite being on a streak that had seen them win five races already this season, road course racing offers a different and unique challenge – especially the 1.99-mile, twelve turn Infineon Raceway. Unfortunately, Hamlin and team had little opportunity to put their preparation and strategy to the test and race with the leaders. Instead, they were crippled by two incidents that left them in the garage making significant repairs instead of fine tuning a race car for a shot at a win. Despite the struggles, full credit goes to the #11 team as the work completed on pit road and in the Infineon Raceway garage kept Hamlin in the race and ultimately led to a hard-fought 35th-place finish. By virtue of his 35th place finish in Sonoma, Hamlin drops one position to fourth in the Sprint Cup standings heading to New Hampshire next weekend.
Hamlin, FedEx Team up with Salvation Army for Boston Event: Denny Hamlin will join representatives from FedEx, the Salvation Army of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, for the donation of a Disaster Relief Unit on Thursday, June 24 at Boston City Hall Plaza. The event starts at 11 a.m. Eastern. For more information, please contact Jon Mason.
Hamlin at New Hampshire: This weekend will mark Hamlin's ninth career Cup start at New Hampshire and 168th-career Cup start. New Hampshire has been a good track for the #11 team as they have only finished outside of the top ten twice in eight previous tries. Last fall, Hamlin and team posted a hard-fought second-place finish at New Hampshire. Hamlin led on two occasions for 22 laps and was a factor throughout the race, rarely dropping outside of the top five and certain to be fighting for a win at the end. Through the late-race cautions Hamlin found himself stuck on the bottom unable to attack eventual winner Mark Martin. Hamlin, however, did manage to catch and pass Juan Pablo Montoya before the race-ending caution flew on lap 300. A year ago, Hamlin fought handling issues all-race long before rain ended the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 after 273 laps with the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota running 15th. In 2008 Hamlin showed he had a car capable of winning on the one-mile track but, as is often the case at New Hampshire, fuel mileage dictated the team's strategy and they were forced to sacrifice track position for fuel. Hamlin fought his way back into the top-ten and scored a well-deserved ninth-place finish. Hamlin settled for an eighth-place finish when rain shortened the June 2008 race to 284 laps, and he finished 15th in September of 2007 when he fought handling issues throughout the 2007 Chase kick-off. In the July race at Loudon in 2007 Hamlin led 46 total laps but needed a late-race, two-tire call by crew chief Mike Ford to give him the track position needed to restart out front. He then held off a late challenge from Jeff Gordon to take the win by the slim margin of .0068 seconds. Two starts at New Hampshire in 2006 saw him post impressive finishes of fourth and sixth, respectively. The #11 team looked to have a chance at the win in the July 2006 race before a bizarre caution-lap wreck forced the race into extra laps and forced Hamlin to stop for fuel instead of challenge eventual winner Kyle Busch.
HAMLIN CONVERSATION – New Hampshire:
Tough week in Sonoma after two consecutive wins – are you looking forward to getting back on an oval?: “It was a long day for sure but it happens to every team at some point and it just comes down to limiting those types of races and moving past them. We’re actually pretty good on road courses so it’s too bad that we weren’t able to show it and keep a good streak alive but we know heading to New Hampshire that it’s a track where we have won before and where we are usually pretty good off the truck. The best way to put a bad week like last week behind us is to go out and run really good the next.”
What are your feelings on New Hampshire Motor Speedway? “This is a great track and a place that has been good for this team in the past. We seem to run a little better here in the summer than we do in the fall so we’ll be trying to run as well as we have here in past summers but also take something with us to learn from. This track is faster than you would think so you need horsepower to take advantage of the long straights, but getting through, and off, the corner is where you win or lose at New Hampshire. It's definitely a little bit different than any other track we go to because it almost seems like it's banked in the other direction on the bottom. But you can go way up high or run on the bottom so there are some options for you to find a fast line. I like the tracks that demand you to feel your way through the corner and New Hampshire is one of those tracks. You need to find that rhythm, hit your marks getting into the corner so you can roll through the center and get back on the gas as soon as possible for the next straight. New Hampshire can be a tricky place to pass so we’ll be looking to qualify close to the front because that goes a long way at this track. We know we need to be running in the top-five or top-ten all day to be in position at the end.”
