Denny Hamlin - Federated Auto Parts 300 Pre-Race Notes

Event: Federated Auto Parts 300
Date: June 10, 2006
Track: Nashville Superspeedway
TV: FX 8:05 PM ET
Laps/Miles: 200 / 300
Radio: MRN 8:00 PM ET

QUOTES

Driver Denny Hamlin on his first weekend of Double Duty…

“Nashville is the perfect place to start this adventure. I have run four races here plus testing some last year so I am comfortable getting into the car with limited practice and still being able to drive it to the front. We had a good setup here in the spring race and will not move too far away from that. The concrete surface typically stays pretty consistent and 300 miles on this track is plenty of time to work my way to the front if we need to pit early to get the car right. Dave (Rogers – Crew Chief) and I have a good rapport and he has done a great job during the season making solid adjustments during the race. I expect this weekend to be no different than any other.

I do have a little experience with two races in two different cities. Last year, we split the Memphis Race with the Martinsville Race. I scored top ten finishes in both, so the travel didn’t seem to effect me too much.”

Crew Chief Dave Rogers on working with two drivers this weekend….

“This will be a busy weekend for us, but I am not concerned. We are bringing our favorite Chevrolet Monte Carlo which sat on the pole and won the race at Darlington. We have a lot of confidence in Kertus (Davis) to get in the car and give us good feedback. Denny & him have similar backgrounds so the feedback should be close. I am confident in our setup from the spring. It will be a long day with practice, qualifying & the race all on Saturday. We are not planning on bringing any additional personnel, but we will try to rest our over the wall guys every chance we can.”

NOTES

Standby Driver…This week Kertus Davis will be assisting the #20 team in setting up the car while Denny Hamlin is in Pocono attending to his Nextel Cup duties. Davis, a 25 year old from Gaffney, SC, has been racing in the Busch Series since 2002. Most of his Busch Series starts have come driving for his family owned team. During his 5 years, he has made 48 starts and completed 6334 laps at tracks across the country. Davis began his career driving go-karts then moved to Late Model cars (same as Denny Hamlin). In addition, Davis also has three years experience driving the USAR Hooter’s Pro-Cup.

Car History… This week the #20 team is bringing car #2041. The most popular Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the shop; it is freshly cleaned from the all the Busch Beer spilled on it in Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway in May. The only other start for this car this year was at California Speedway in February.