RACE INFO:
Event: Bank of America 500
Date/Time: October 13, 2007 / 7:30 p.m. E.T.
Length: 1.5 mile
Shape: Quad-Oval
Banking: 24 degrees
Distance: 334 laps/500.1 miles
2006 winner: Kasey Kahne
2006 polesitter: Scott Riggs
EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin, FedEx Racing Fourth at Talladega: Despite a great deal of speculation as to how the Car of Tomorrow would perform at Talladega, Denny Hamlin and the #11 team came through relatively unscathed to lead a race-high 40 laps and record the team’s eleventh top-five finish of the season. The fourth place finish bumps him from 12th to ninth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, 262 points behind Jeff Gordon with six races to go. Leaving Talladega in 2006, Hamlin sat 51 points behind then leader Jeff Burton.
Hamlin at LMS: This will be Hamlin’s fifth Cup start at LMS and a good record notwithstanding, he is admittedly still getting comfortable at the 1.5-mile track. Through four starts, Hamlin has recorded three top-ten finishes, the lone finish outside the top-ten coming last fall in the Chase race when Hamlin was caught in a lap one accident and spent 60 laps in the garage for repairs before returning to the race. Most recently, Hamlin looked to be headed for a top-three finish in the Coca-Cola 600 but a late pit stop for fuel combined with a handful of cars that made the end without pitting added up to ninth on the night.
LMS Chassis JGR 121 and JGR 183: The #11 FedEx team will unload Monte Carlo chassis 121 this weekend for the third time at LMS. This car is a favorite of both driver and team, and the most successful car in the #11 fleet. In six starts in 121 this season, Hamlin has recorded five top-ten and two top-three finishes and has started in the top-ten for all six of those races. Chassis 183 is the back up this weekend.
Q&A with Denny Hamlin:
Going into the Chase the team knew the intermediate tracks, especially LMS and Atlanta, were tracks you would need to improve on to challenge for a championship. What is it about these tracks in particular? “This track, like Atlanta, is a track where I know I need more laps before I’ll be really comfortable out there. The high-banked intermediates have been a little bit of a struggle for us, even though we’ve still managed to put up some good results. I know we have the equipment for it so for someone like me who has only made a handful of Cup starts at some tracks, it really does help to turn a bunch of laps to get used to the track under a variety of conditions. What makes this place unique is the combination of the high speeds, the harder tire compound and the change in temperature at both races. We’ve seen in the past that this track, especially with the new surface, is tough on tires so Goodyear brings a really hard compound. Between that and trying to build adjustability into the car, it can be tricky.”
You have a good record at LMS but had a tough night in this race last fall. How do you approach LMS this time around?: “Honestly, the number one thing I have learned here is that you can’t take qualifying for granted. We started in the twenties, with a car that was much better than that, and it bit us almost immediately when guys started wrecking around us and there was no place to go. So on a night when we had a really good race car, and were right in the thick of the Chase, the race was over for us almost before it began.”
You’re in ninth place in the Chase with six race to go, how do you approach the rest of the Chase?: “We have ourselves in a pretty deep hole now but we’ll keep fighting because there are positions to be gained. Our goal all along has been to beat our season performance from last year when we finished third. We know it would take some unbelievable circumstances to catch the guys up front with the lead they have opened up but it doesn’t change our desire to win some races before the end of the season. We had some bad luck through the first couple of races but then we came through Talladega with only a little damage and a fourth-place finish. Maybe our luck is turning a little.”
Are you happy to be racing near home this weekend?: “Really happy. This is a good weekend for everyone in the sport who lives in the Charlotte area because everyone gets to live out of our houses for a race weekend instead of out of a hotel or motor home. I know the guys on the #11 crew are happy to be home, to spend some time with their families, so I am happy for them. I have spent a lot of time on the road lately, and I know that’s my job and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but to have a long stretch of time at home is really nice. Then we have a short trip to Martinsville next weekend. Plus, racing on Saturday night means I get to watch the Redskins live on Sunday and that’s pretty rare.”