Hamlin Hangs in there for a Top-Ten at Memphis

Almirola and the team put together a strong car that showed 10th quick in the final Busch Series Practice. Almirola was able to qualify the car in the 16 th position. Even though the car would have to go to the back of the field for the race, due to a driver change, they would at least have a decent pit stall position.

“I only ran the car about 75%,” Almirola said after practice. “This is one of their best short track cars so my job is just to shake it down, give them some feedback and keep it in one piece. Lately, I have been running mainly Truck Series races and this is my first time in a Busch Car. These cars handle a good bit differently than the trucks, but I have enjoyed working with this team.”

Hamlin arrived to the track 15 minutes before driver introductions which allowed enough time to set his steering wheel, change his uniform and sign a couple autographs before strapping into the car. Dropping to the rear for the start, Hamlin planned to use the first 50 laps to get a feel for the car, learn the line around the track and make some early adjustments on the handle. As the green flag dropped, he wasted no time working his way to the front. By lap 10, he had already gained 10 positions and continued forward.

Reporting that the car was tight in the center of the corner and loose off, Crew Chief Cully Barraclough made the decision to bring Hamlin in early and try to fix the condition. They made three stops in the first half of race making adjustments on air pressure, wedge and trackbar, slowly improving the car each time.

During a caution on lap 168, Hamlin brought his car down pit road for the final stop of the event. Running in the 15 th position, the #20 team turned around a great stop with some major changes in an attempt to free the car up. Hamlin returned to the track in the 12 th position. As the race restarted, it only took him 10 laps to drive in to the top-ten for the first time of the day. Slowed by seven more caution periods in the remaining 80 laps of the race, Hamlin was only able to climb to the 7 th position.

“We finally got the car to where we could really race with it at the end,” commented Hamlin following the race. “The team and Aric (Almirola) did a good job setting up the car but I think the weather hurt us. Yesterday it was overcast and cool and today it is sunny and warmer; it just tighten up the car too much and it took us a little while to get it freed up. Once we got it to where we could race, we couldn’t get enough green flag laps to get to the front.”

With Hamlin’s 7th place finish, he maintained his position of 5th in the NASCAR Busch Series events. The Busch Series will have this weekend off but return to action on November 5 th at the Texas Motor Speedway. The O’Reilly Challenge is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on TNT.