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Hamlin, FedEx Racing Hang On for 17th Place Finish at Daytona

Early Lead Evaporates During Series of On-Track Incidents

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 18, 2008) - From the drop of the green flag for Sunday's Daytona 500, Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team showed they were not only prepared to contend for the trophy, but combined with the performance of their Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, they were prepared to dominate the race. However, despite leading 32 laps and having arguably the car to beat early in the race, damage suffered on pit road would ultimately end their hopes for a race win and only through the perseverance of driver and team would Hamlin limp the #11 FedEx Express Camry home a respectable 17th.

The result was tough to swallow for a driver and team that had led early and felt they clearly had a race-winning car.

"It wasn't the way we wanted this night or this race to end for the FedEx team," said Hamlin. "We were really good from the start but after that contact with the #43 on pit road we were just never the same. These cars (COT) are so aero-sensitive. The damage took a toll on our handling and we just couldn't get it back. Then late in the race we caught some really bad breaks and suffered even more damage. The guys worked really hard and because of that we finished in the top twenty. We’ll look ahead to California. We were really good in testing there and we'll try to pick up where we left off.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Tony Stewart narrowly missed out on the win as he battled the Dodges of Penske Racing South with the laps winding down. He captained a dominant Joe Gibbs Racing contingent that led 134 of 200 laps on the day with a third-place finish, while Kyle Busch brought the #18 M&M's Camry home in fourth. Ryan Newman took the checkered flag for his first race win since 2005, beating teammate Kurt Busch to the stripe.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues next weekend when the teams head to California Speedway for the Auto Club 500 on Feb. 24th.

Hamlin started the race from the fourth spot on the grid and wasted little time pushing the #11 Camry to the point. By lap four, Hamlin led the race and was comfortable moving between the low and high lines as he wished. With teammate Tony Stewart, the Gibbs' entries ran in first and second place, and by the time Hamlin reached his pit window, he had already led 18 laps.

On pit road crew chief Mike Ford called for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to a car that Hamlin said was very good and needed little in the way of changes.

Hamlin cycled through in second place and literally picked up right where he left off. Running nose to tail with Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon, he worked the width of the 2.5-mile track as the three cars opened up a four second gap on the field with Hamlin in the lead. Once again to the end of his fuel load, Hamlin pulled on to pit road on lap 75 for fuel, tires and an air pressure adjustment. The first caution of the night would fly only six laps later on lap 81 and the team would seize the opportunity to take two tires and top the tank off with fuel before sending Hamlin out to restart fifth on lap 82.

Restarting further back in the pack, Hamlin had his first real taste of racing in traffic and found the FedEx Express Camry to be very loose. As he searched for the preferred line, he slid back to eighth place, often ducking out of line to avoid contact with the cars around him. Hamlin made it to the next fuel window and Ford called him onto pit road on lap 120 with the FedEx Express Camry running in the 12th position. On pit road the team changed four tires, made a wedge adjustment and filled the car with fuel before sending Hamlin out to cycle through in the top-twenty.

Unfortunately, as Hamlin was exiting pit road the #43 of Bobby Labonte pulled sharply from the pit and made contact with the left rear quarter panel of the #11. The damage, while seemingly inconsequential at first, worsened when Hamlin got up to speed and there was little he could do but slide back in the field while he worked to control the ill-handling car. From the pit box the damage was visible but the team had no immediate recourse other than to hold out for a caution or hope Hamlin could hold on to the next planned stop. Hamlin slid back in the draft, falling as far as 29th, while doing all he could to control the car.

The caution the team needed finally came on lap 152 and Hamlin pulled the #11 on to pit road while the team formulated a plan to make repairs. They made significant repairs to the left-rear quarter panel and sent Hamlin out to catch up with the pace car before calling him in a second time under caution to finalize the work. Hamlin would restart 31st on lap 165.

The repairs took immediate effect and the handling that had been so poor on the previous run was corrected significantly. Hamlin moved from 31st to 26th within four laps of the restart and then returned to pit lane for tires and fuel when the caution flew on lap 162.

He restarted in the 18th position and it seemed as through the fortunes of the #11 team had improved with less than 40 laps to go. That momentum, however, came to a halt when the #48 of Jimmie Johnson spun on the backstretch and there was no place for Hamlin to go but into the spinning Chevrolet. The resulting damage to the left-front fender meant Hamlin would again visit pit road for multiple repair efforts and, with his progress undone, he restarted 29th on lap 180.

The green flag racing lasted only a handful of laps before the #22 of Dave Blaney found the turn four wall and once again Hamlin, who was running deep in the pack, had nowhere to go but into the bumper of the #28 Ford. This time the damage was located on the right-front bumper and the team made repairs to that side that basically mirrored the left front. Hamlin lined the FedEx Express Camry up 30th for the restart on lap 190.

Through one final caution and a mad dash to the checkered, Hamlin sliced his way to seventeenth place on the night - a very good finish considering the damage to the car the team endured over the final 50 laps.

With each passing day of Speedweeks, concerns over the Joe Gibbs Racing team switch to Toyota rightfully faded away. From a strong showing in the Bud Shootout, through qualifying and the Gatorade Duel races, and by virtue of a total team effort in the Daytona 500, it looks like the Gibbs teams have transitioned successfully.

The team heads to California for the second Sprint Cup Series event of the 2008 season. The team tested at California Speedway at the beginning of the month and topped the speed chart so expectations are high as the series heads west.