Denny Hamlin: Express Facts - Texas Motor Speedway

NOTES:

DENNY HAMLIN IN #11 CAR AT TEXAS: JGR Busch Series driver Denny Hamlin stays in the seat of the #11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. It will be his fifth start in the #11 FedEx Monte Carlo, fifth career NASCAR Nextel Cup start, and his first Cup race at Texas. Hamlin, making his first visit to Texas Motor Speedway, also will pilot the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet in the O’Reilly Challenge Busch Series race at Texas on Saturday.

HAMLIN TO VISIT COOK CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOR FEDEX RACING CAMP: Prior to taking to the track in Texas, Denny Hamlin will join young patients at Cook Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth on Thursday, Nov. 3. The event will feature opportunities for the kids to see the FedEx #11 up close, challenge Hamlin in radio-controlled car races, and learn more about NASCAR from one of the sports up and coming drivers. FedEx also will present Cook Children's Hospital with a check for $25,000 in support of the hospital's commitment to patient and family care. The event starts at 10:30 a.m.

HAMLIN PERSEVERES FOR TOP-20 AT ATLANTA: Sunday’s race in Atlanta marked Hamlin’s fourth Cup start and though he couldn’t add to his streak of top-ten finishes, he managed to overcome handling issues throughout the afternoon to finish 19th place and continue his impressive run in the #11 car. Through four starts Hamlin has recorded two top-ten finishes (Charlotte and Martinsville) and has completed all but three of 1425 possible laps.

CHASSIS NO. JGR 115: The Dickies 500 will be the second Cup start of the season for this car. Denny Hamlin drove this car to a 32nd-place finish at Kansas Motor Speedway, starting at the back of the field after a spin in qualifying. Chassis #115 was called into action to replace the damaged primary car and Hamlin was well on his way to a top-20 finish in his debut before suffering a cut tire and going two laps down when forced to pit under green.

HAMLIN’S #11 HISTORY: Despite being his first run in the #11 FedEx Monte Carlo, Hamlin’s history with the #11 dates back to 1997 – to his debut in the NASCAR Mini-Stock series at Southside and Langley Speedways. Denny’s car that year, a white Ford Probe sporting the #11. Hamlin started 34 races between the two series, recording eleven poles and eleven wins on his way to becoming the Mini-Stock Track Champion at Langley, and the Limited Dash Champion at Southside. Hamlin also was named Mini-Stock “Rookie of the Year” at both tracks.

POINTS RACE: Following Hamlin’s 19th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, the FedEx Team remains in 35th place in owner’s points and currently sits 31 points out of 34th place.

HAMLIN IN 2005: In addition to recent Cup starts, Hamlin has run the full 2005 Busch Series schedule in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing/Rockwell Automation Chevrolet – recording one top-five and ten top-ten finishes to date. With three races remaining, Hamlin sits in fifth place in the Busch series standings.

PAINT SCHEME: The #11 FedEx Chevy Monte Carlo will sport the FedEx Kinko’s paint scheme at Texas Motor Speedway, which is one of four it will display in 2005 representing four of the FedEx operating companies; FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Kinko’s. The Dickies 500 marks the sixth time the FedEx Kinko’s scheme will run in 2005.

DENNY HAMLIN ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
"I’ll be the first to admit that the intermediate tracks don’t play to my strengths as a driver but with every opportunity to race at places like Kansas and Texas, I feel like I am learning a lot and getting a much better feel for them.

“Despite some trouble in qualifying at Kansas we came back and had an extremely quick car and if it weren’t for some bad luck there we would have been there racing at the end. In Charlotte we posted a top-ten and last weekend in Atlanta we came home 19th so we have no reason not to be optimistic about this weekend at Texas.”