Career Day for Hamlin in Texas - No. 11 FedEx Driver Backs Up 2006 Announcement with Season-Best Seventh-Place Finish

The overall team performance will rank as the best of the season as Hamlin started fourteenth and never looked back, riding a combination of poise beyond his years on the track and great work by the crew on pit road. Hamlin’s gradual push of the leaderboard Sunday mirrored his rise in the sport as he methodically picked up places over the 334-lap event running as high as fifth place before taking the checkered flag in seventh.

Carl Edwards earned his second consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup win Sunday, leading 82-laps and beating teammates Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth to the checkered flag. Casey Mears and Jimmie Johnson filled out the top five while Chase for the Nextel Cup leader Tony Stewart finished one spot in front of Hamlin in sixth. Heading to Phoenix, Stewart holds a 38-point lead over Johnson and the win moves Edwards to within 77 points of the lead in third place.

Hamlin brought the #11 FedEx Kinko’s Monte Carlo to life in 14th place Sunday with a strong belief that the car was competitive enough to fight for a top-ten finish. The earlier practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway had shown the car to be extremely quick, but also extremely responsive to adjustments, a feature that would pay dividends as the warm afternoon sun gave way to the cooler early-evening temperatures.

Early on Hamlin radioed that the car was just slightly tight through the middle of the turns and back to the gas but it did not stop him from taking the 12th and eleventh spots from Elliot Sadler and Joe Nemechek, respectively. Hamlin was running in eleventh when the first of six total caution flags flew on lap 30. Crew Chief Mike Ford called Hamlin in for air pressure and track bar adjustments designed to free him up a little, but following a brief conversation with Hamlin as he entered pit road, revised the call for air pressure only. The FedEx crew set the standard for the day early, rattling off a 12.6 second stop for four tires and fuel before sending Hamlin out to restart ninth on lap 33.

The ensuing green flag run featured some great racing as Hamlin and Kyle Busch raced hard from the restart and at one point drove three wide past Jeremy Mayfield. By the time the caution flew on lap 83 Hamlin had the #11 car in eighth place and was running times only fractionally slower than the leaders and he reported to the crew that the Kinko’s Chevrolet was pretty good on its own, but tightened up in traffic. Ford called for another air pressure adjustment and this time the team made the track bar adjustment as well. Only a hung lug nut kept the team from duplicating the first stop and Hamlin would be forced to restart tenth, the only time the team would lose position on pit road during the race.

The changes worked to good effect and Hamlin would run as high as ninth before dropping back to eleventh position as the field started green-flag visits to pit road. With his only complaint being that the previous changes had made him a little free into the turns, Ford ordered track bar and wedge adjustments to the #11before sending him out. By the time the field cycled through the pit stops the #11 car was running comfortably in 13th place.

At the halfway point Hamlin was running in 12th place though still fighting a car that was a “touch tight” through center. He would hold that position until the yellow flag came out again on lap 183 and Ford called him in for another air pressure adjustment. The crew, again, took the opportunity to showcase their skills with a quick stop before and sent Hamlin to the line just ahead of Rusty Wallace to restart 10th on lap 188.
The air pressure adjustment had immediate effect and Hamlin methodically moved up to seventh place just 30 laps into the run. With 100 laps to go Hamlin came on the radio to both update the team and push them forward.

“Just free me up a little through the center – we have a good thing here.”

The crew would get the chance to work on the car when Ryan Newman spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution flag out on lap 244. Another lightning quick stop for tires, fuel and both air pressure and wedge adjustments and Hamlin was sent out to restart fifth on lap 249.

Following the restart Hamlin found himself in the middle of a battle for the free pass between Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman, both one lap down, while being chased by the #17 of Matt Kenseth. Hamlin would try to preserve his equipment and ultimately surrender the spot, taking the day’s penultimate caution in seventh.

The stop provided opportunity for the crew to make another wedge adjustment, give Hamlin four tires and fuel and earn him two spots before leaving pit road. When the car lined up for the green, Hamlin found himself on the outside in the seventh position with two cars having stayed on the track. The ensuing green flag run found Hamlin waiting on the #11 to find its speed and he slowly fell back as far as tenth place before the final caution of the day flew on lap 320 for debris.

Crew Chief Ford, in response to the concerns about the sluggish start from Hamlin, called for increased right side air pressure and the crew changed only the right side tires and filled the tank before sending Hamlin out to restart eighth on lap 323 with only 21 laps to go.

Hamlin would gain one more spot before taking the checkered flag and delivering the season-best finish. The result continues Hamlin’s impressive form since taking the wheel of the #11. In five starts Hamlin has recorded three top-ten finishes and has vaulted the #11 team from 35th to 32nd in points heading to Phoenix next weekend.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series continues with the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, November 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern. The race will air live on NBC and can be heard on MRN.

Hamlin's Quotes:
“It’s been quite a day. To have the announcement about next year out of the way and take some of the pressure off both the team and myself and I think it made a big difference out there tonight.

“I can’t say enough about the crew tonight, they made great stops and great decisions. Every time I pitted I came out spots ahead and as a driver that is the best you could hope for. Even when I lost spots out there they would get them back for me.

“I am excited about next year because I truly believe we have a competitive team that can run this kind of race every week. These guys on the crew and everyone at FedEx deserve success for all they do and I am proud to help them achieve it.”

Joe Gibbs Racing:
In addition to the 7th-place finish of the FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte finished 6th and 26th, respectively. Stewart was competitive all day and led on three occasions before falling back to claim the sixth spot. The result, coupled with Jimmie Johnson’s fifth-place finish saw Stewart’s Chase lead cut to 38 points heading to Phoenix. Bobby Labonte and the #18 team remain in 25th place overall.