Denny Hamlin: Express Facts - Phoenix International Raceway

NOTES:

DENNY HAMLIN TO RUN #11 IN 2006: Joe Gibbs Racing announced last Sunday that Denny Hamlin will take the wheel of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet for the remaining races of the 2005 season and all of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. The 24-year old from Chesterfield, Va., has five total starts in the #11 to date recording three top-ten finishes. He currently runs the #20 JGR/Rockwell Automation Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch series and will run the complete Busch schedule in 2006 as well. Hamlin will run both the Cup and Busch Series races in Phoenix this weekend.

HAMLIN MARKS ANNOUNCEMENT WITH SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH AT TEXAS: Only hours after being presented as the driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet for the 2006 season Hamlin turned in a stellar performance at Texas, bringing the #11 home in seventh place. The finish marks the best of the season for FedEx Racing.

HAMLIN BRINGS THE HEAT TO PHOENIX: Through five Cup starts this season Hamlin has recorded three top-ten finishes (Charlotte, Martinsville, Texas) and has completed all but three of 1763 possible laps. His average finishing position of 14.8 compares favorably with JGR teammate Tony Stewart who posted a similar 18.6 average through his first five Cup races. In his only Phoenix International Raceway start to date, Hamlin started sixth and led eight laps before bringing the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet home in eleventh place in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 on April 22, 2005.

HAMLIN VISITS COOK CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN FORT WORTH FOR FEDEX RACING CAMP: Prior to taking to the track last weekend in Texas, Denny Hamlin joined young patients at Cook Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth on Thursday, Nov. 3. The event featured 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 NASCAR’s up and coming drivers. FedEx also presented Cook Children's Hospital with a check for $25,000 in support of the hospital's commitment to patient and family care.

CHASSIS NO. JGR 67: The Checkers Auto Parts 500 will be the second Cup start of the season for this car. In its sole start this season, J.J. Yeley drove this car to a 34th-place finish at Loudon on Sept. 18. This car does have one previous race at PIR with Tony Stewart driving it to an 18th-place finish in Phoenix on Nov. 2, 2003. In addition to those starts, this car has served as back up on three occasions this season. The back up for the Checkers Auto Parts 500 is JGR44.

POINTS RACE: Following Hamlin’s seventh-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, the FedEx Team vaulted to 32nd place in owners points. It is the highest ranking the team has held since the spring race at Martinsville.

PAINT SCHEME: The #11 FedEx Chevy Monte Carlo will sport the FedEx Express paint scheme at Phoenix International Raceway, 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 Checkers Auto Parts 500 marks the eighteenth time the FedEx Express scheme will run in 2005.

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.

DENNY HAMLIN ON PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY:
"This is a track I am really looking forward to running because it’s a track that I believe plays to my strengths. I am short track driver at heart and though this track is a full mile, it sets up like a short track and that mentality has helped me here before. I am also looking forward to racing under the lights.

“I am extremely happy about the announcement and the opportunity to run the full Cup schedule with this team next season. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and FedEx has shown total confidence in me and that, in turn, has made me believe I can do this and do it well. We have put together some great races and with this equipment and this crew there is no reason we can’t sustain this success through the end of the season and onto the track starting at Daytona in the spring."