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Engine Problems Drop Hamlin, FedEx Team from First to Twenty-Third in All-Star Race
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After leading seven laps in the fourth and final segment of the Sprint NASCAR All-Star Race on Saturday evening at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the engine in Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota gave out on lap 86 and relegated Hamlin to a 23rd-place finish in NASCAR’s non-points Sprint All-Star Challenge.
Hamlin started the race from the 20th spot and steadily moved his way up through the field in the first 50 laps of the 100-lap race. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch led the race in dominating fashion for the first 38 laps, before the No. 18 blew an engine and sent the M&M’s Toyota to the garage.
The unique race format for this year’s All-Star race required each team to complete a mandatory pit stop on lap 75. Hamlin moved from the 9th position to the second spot as crew chief Mike Ford called for a quick fuel-only stop and did not have the FedEx team take on new tires, while most other teams made the decision to change at least two tires. The strategy appeared to be working as Hamlin proceeded to pass race leader Jimmy Johnson on lap 78 and held the lead for seven laps before the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota experienced engine problems and could not continue.
By virtue of Hamlin's retirement, Kasey Kahne became the first fan vote entrant to win in the race’s 24-year history.
Following the race, Hamlin was upbeat about the situation and the felt good about almost getting the FedEx Toyota into victory lane:
“I’m just proud of this whole FedEx Freight team. They gave me a shot to win it and they were going to have to knock me out to get around me. It was going to be about four lanes wide. That was all we could ask for is that we had a fighting chance with 15 to go and were leading the race. I just held it real strong that first lap and tried to go around that 48 (Jimmie Johnson) as soon as we could because we knew our car was tight. As soon as I moved up, our lap times really picked up and it seemed like we were going to be the car to beat. It’s just one of those deals. I’m proud of this whole team and I couldn’t be happier.”
“This is definitely experimental ‘All-Star only’ racing. We came out here with our guns loaded and unfortunately our gun went off a little bit before the end of the race. It just wasn’t enough. We knew this engine wasn’t going to go 500 miles. It was built for just a few more laps past 100 and it just didn’t make it.”
The FedEx Racing team will be back on the track in Concord next weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25th.