FedEx Racing Express Facts – Richmond Raceway

Sunday Race Info

Race: Toyota Owners 400

Date/Time: Sunday, April 3 / 3:30 p.m. ET

Distance: 400 laps / 300 miles

Track Length: 0.75 miles

 

Express Notes

Press Kit: Download the 2022 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

COTA Recap: The FedEx Racing team earned their first stage victory before ultimately finishing 18th in last Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas. Early on, Hamlin battled a loose handling condition, but a strategy call to pit prior to the end of stage one set him up in the top five for most of stage two. When the front four cars elected to pit late in stage two, Hamlin stayed on track to collect a playoff point for winning the stage. After pitting between stages, the No. 11 driver found himself mired in traffic. He climbed back into the top 10 before being spun out on a late restart and dropping to 33rd in the closing laps. He rallied back on a pair of late-race restarts to finish 18th.

No Place Like Home: Hamlin, who is from nearby Chesterfield, Virginia, has claimed three NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond Raceway. In the past 10 races at the track, the FedEx Racing team has posted eight top-five finishes, including a pair of runner-up results in 2021 where Hamlin led the most laps in each race. He also owns three NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at the track.

Front Runner: Hamlin’s 2,108 laps led at Richmond Raceway are most of all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. In 2021, Hamlin led 404 of 800 laps run at the .75-mile short track. He ranks fifth on the all-time lap leader list at Richmond behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip.

Qualifying Success: Hamlin is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to advance to the second round of qualifying in each of the five races that have featured time trials this season. Only two drivers – Austin Cindric and Joey Logano – have advanced to the second round four times.

Hamlin Statistics

Track: Richmond Raceway

Races: 30

Wins: 3

Poles: 0

Top-5: 15

Top-10: 19

Laps Led: 2,108

Avg. Start: 9.4

Avg. Finish: 8.8

 

Hamlin Conversation – Richmond

Talk about your mindset going to Richmond for the first time with this car…

“I’m always excited to go to Richmond. I have been fortunate to have had a lot of success there throughout my career and especially the last few years. No matter what car you’re racing, you’re always going to fight the same things there. You have to be able to turn the middle and have good drive off if you want to have any chance, especially on the long run. Richmond is very unique compared to the tracks we have been to so far with this car, so it’s really going to be up to us to unload close and fine tune on it during practice and qualifying to be ready for the race, but I have a lot of confidence in Chris (Gabehart) and our team that we can do that.”

 

FedEx Career Insights Program: The FedEx Career Insights program was designed to provide 24 HBCU students with a passion for sports, the support they need to grow their professional network and gain real-life experiences. Each student was hand-picked by the Career Services program at one of the eight HBCU schools FedEx supports including Fayetteville State University, Jackson State University, LeMoyne-Owen College, Lane College, Miles College, Mississippi Valley State University, Paul Quinn College, and Tennessee State University. Upon selection, each student was paired with a participant of the program, including Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing, FOX Sports, and NASCAR, based on their degree. Throughout the six-week program, students will have the opportunity to experience two virtual learning sessions and one in-person learning session with one of the participants. Students will head to Richmond and Charlotte on April 3 and April 5, respectively, for their in-person experience with NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing at the race or a shop/studio experience with FOX Sports and 23XI Racing in Charlotte. The program will wrap up in mid-April with each participant hosting a final virtual session following the in-person experience.

 

FedEx Express Along for the Ride at Richmond Raceway: For this weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway, the No. 11 Toyota Camry TRD will recognize the team at the FedEx Express GAIA station in Rockville, Maryland. The team who has adopted the “We won’t fail” motto faced unprecedented challenges during the global pandemic. They have remained FedEx Strong while prioritizing safety, service, and a commitment to operational excellence.

JGR PR