FedEx Racing Express Facts – Texas Motor Speedway

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Sunday Race Info

Race: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500

Date/Time: Sunday, Sept. 25 / 3:30 p.m. ET

Distance: 334 laps / 500 miles

Track Length: 1.5 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.

Bristol Recap: The FedEx Racing team continued their strong start to the playoffs with a ninth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. After starting fourth, Hamlin spent most of the first two stages running solidly inside the top five. On lap 234, a flat left-front tire on Hamlin’s FedEx Camry brought out the caution. He spent the remainder of the night trying to fight his way back towards the front. Hamlin made his way back up to sixth before a miscue on the team’s final pit stop dropped him outside the top 10. In the end, he gained several positions to earn his third consecutive top-10 finish and his fifth top-10 in the past seven races.

Round of 16 Rundown: Hamlin turned in a 4.3-average finish in the first round of the playoffs. The Chesterfield, Virginia native finished second in the opener at Darlington Raceway after coming up just 0.252 seconds short of the win. One week later at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin was runner-up once again after his effort to chase down eventual winner Bubba Wallace came up one second shy of the victory. Last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin finished ninth after overcoming a flat tire during stage two.

Texas Notes: Hamlin is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at Texas Motor Speedway. After sweeping the track’s races in 2010, he most recently won in the Lone Star State in March 2019. Last fall, Hamlin finished 11th in the series’ lone points race at the 1.5-mile quad-oval. Earlier this year, he raced to a second-place finish in the NASCAR All-Star Race in Texas.

Pit Crew Swap: The Nos. 11 and 18 teams will trade pit crews beginning with this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. The FedEx pit crew now will consist of CJ Bailey (tire carrier), Lee Cunningham (rear tire changer), Thomas Hatcher (front tire changer), Kellen Mills (jack man), and Matt Tyrell (gas man).

Hamlin Statistics

Track: Texas Motor Speedway

Races: 31

Wins: 3

Poles: 0

Top-5: 7

Top-10: 14

Laps Led: 290

Avg. Start: 12.9

Avg. Finish: 13.7

 

Hamlin Conversation – Texas

What do you expect going to Texas this weekend?

“This is going to be a very important race. With the unknowns of Talladega and the (Charlotte) ROVAL, we’re looking at Texas as a place we can go run up front, try to maximize our points and be in contention for the win. Passing was very difficult in the All-Star Race though, so I expect that to be the case like it has been for the last few years at Texas, so qualifying up front and having a smooth day on the track and on pit road are going to be key for us to have a shot.”

JGR PR

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