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Hamlin, FedEx Racing Stung by Last Lap Flat - Finish 24th
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Like his teammate, Tony Stewart, who had a sure win taken away by a last lap flat, Denny Hamlin left Lowe's Motor Speedway in disbelief after Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. Though he wasn't racing for the win as Stewart was, Hamlin's night - 600 miles of steady progress interrupted by a lap 307 incident that forced the #11 FedEx team to make substantial repairs -- was also undone by a flat tire on the last lap that forced Hamlin to pull onto pit road and settle for a frustrating 24th-place finish.
"It was just bad luck - what else can you say?," said a disappointed Hamlin. "This FedEx Freight team worked really hard tonight to get to the front and this race was turning for us. Even with the damage from getting stacked up on the restart, we were going to get out of here with a top-ten. Then the right front goes down and there's nothing we could do. To go 598 miles and then lose a tire right at the end is unbelievable."
In a race that was ultimately decided by fuel strategy, Stewart appeared to have the race locked up and had the #20 Home Depot Camry headed to victory lane when his right front tire went down as well. Forced to pit for fresh rubber, Stewart handed the lead and the win to Kasey Kahne who took the checkered flag and completed a rare All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 double. Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.
The result allows Hamlin to hold onto fourth place in the Sprint Cup series points heading to Dover International Raceway next weekend. He currently sits 264 points behind leader Kyle Busch and has an 18-point lead over Clint Bower in fifth place.
Starting from the 16th spot on the grid for Sunday's 600-mile marathon, Hamlin immediately faced handling issues that kept him from making significant strides forward. Fighting a loose condition early Hamlin slowly picked off spots and by the time he reached his fuel window on lap 57, he ran in 12th place. Crew Chief Mike Ford called Hamlin onto pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment and the FedEx crew sent Hamlin out to cycle through in 12th.
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The first caution of the night flew on lap 62 and even though he had just been on pit row, Hamlin pulled the #11 FedEx Freight on to pit road for a fuel only stop.
Hamlin continued to fight handling issues as he slowly slid back, dropping as far as 18th by the time the field reached the fuel window again. Hamlin visited pit road for tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment on lap 118 before cycling through in 20th place.
As the leaders pulled away, Hamlin continued his fight to maintain position only to ultimately face the prospect of going a lap down. Then leader Earnhardt Jr. forced Hamlin to push the #11 to the limit in order to avoid losing a lap to the field and the FedEx driver responded by fighting tooth and nail for the position until the caution flag flew on lap 160.
Safely on the lead lap, Hamlin and the crew took their time on pit road to pack the car with as much fuel as possible before sending the #11 FedEx Freight out to restart 15th. However, as soon as the field completed one green lap, the caution flag flew again as Juan Pablo Montoya flew through the infield grass. With concerns about grass thrown up from Montoya's spin that might have collected on the front grille of the #11, Hamlin turned onto pit road for fuel and a quick check by the crew. He restarted 15th on lap 174.
On lap 186, Brian Vickers lost a left rear wheel and set off a string of four cautions over forty laps. Under caution on lap 244, Hamlin pulled onto pit road for fuel only and the team sent the #11 out to restart tenth on lap 248.
With the track now completely shaded, Hamlin worked to find a line that worked for the #11. Lacking grip off the turns Hamlin dropped back to 19th place and again faced the prospect of losing a lap before the caution flag flew on lap 297.
Restarting 13th with 99 laps to run, the 600-mile race was shaping up to be a fuel mileage play much like it had the year before. Unfortunately, during the restart, the field stacked up and Hamlin had no place to go. He was slammed by the car behind him and the FedEx Freight Camry suffered substantial damage to the front end when he made contact with the car immediately in front.
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If there was a silver lining to be found, it was the fact that more than half of the field was off the lead lap, leaving Hamlin ample time on pit road for repairs without risk of dropping lower than 20th place. Hamlin made consecutive visits to the #11 pit and the crew worked quickly to repair as much of the damage as possible.
Hamlin restarted in 20th place on lap 309 and was relieved that the damage, while certainly adversely affecting the handling, was not keeping him from picking up places.
The final caution of the day flew on lap 336 and the #11 team focused their attention on the fuel mileage situation. While revisiting the front-end repairs, they also packed the car with fuel. Knowing that one more stop would get them to the end, the idea was to make that final stop as short as possible.
As the laps counted down, Ford notified Hamlin that they would need to stop for fuel but they would need only a couple of seconds of fuel to make the end. Meanwhile Hamlin pushed the FedEx Camry forward, climbing up to ninth place by lap 380. With the field starting their visits to pit road for fuel, Hamlin continued to pick up spots. When Ford called him to pit road on lap 390, Hamlin was scored in first place.
The stop for fuel was quick, with only enough to cover the distance to the end being packed into the fuel cell, and Hamlin rejoined the field in tenth place.
When the race hit lap 398, Hamlin keyed his radio to inform the crew he had a tire going down - a concern that was confirmed by Curtis Markham in the spotters stand. Hamlin made his way to pit road for right side tires, turned one last lap and settled for an agonizing 24th place finish.