Press Materials 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup
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Press Materials 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup About FedEx FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $33 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 275,000 employees and contractors to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit www.fedex.com Table of Contents Denny Hamlin – Driver, #11 FedEx Toyota Camry o Biography ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3 o 2010 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 o Career Highlights ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 o Cup Series Results by Chase for the Sprint Cup Track ............................................................................................. 7 Mike Ford – Crew Chief, #11 FedEx Toyota Camry o Biography ....................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Joe Gibbs and J.D. Gibbs o Biography ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 2010 Crew Roster ......................................................................................................................................................................... 11 201Denny0 Season Hamlin in – Review Biography enny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team enter the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup in their best-ever position to make a concerted run at the Cup championship. Through the first D 26 races, Hamlin and team collected six wins – a sign of both increased performance from the #11 Toyota, and increased maturity from Hamlin. With the Chase returning to two tracks where Hamlin has already posted wins in 2010 (Martinsville and Texas), to a track where Hamlin closed out the 2009 season with a resounding victory (Homestead) and a handful of additional tracks where the FedEx team expects to compete, Hamlin is hoping to continue his evolution from perennial Chase for the Sprint Cup contender to Sprint Cup Champion. The 2009 Sprint Cup Season proved to be a coming of age campaign for Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team. A leadership role within Joe Gibbs Racing and a desire to turn continued success into a championship saw Hamlin make a late-season charge to lock into NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin post season, but Chase wins at Martinsville and Homestead were ultimately negated by on- Driver, #11 FedEx Toyota Camry track problems at Auto Club, Charlotte and Talladega. Hamlin finished the season fifth in the points, setting career best marks for wins, top-five finishes and total laps led. His impressive Birth date: November 18, 1980 wins on a wide variety of tracks – from Richmond to Martinsville to Homestead-Miami – proved Hometown: Chesterfield, VA Hamlin and his team were already well-positioned to be the primary challengers to reigning Resides: Charlotte, NC Height: 6’0” champion Jimmie Johnson when the green flag dropped at Daytona in February. Weight: 155 lbs The 2008 Sprint Cup season was, by any definition, a season of change. As Joe Gibbs Racing H Weight: 155 lbs made the move to a new manufacturer in Toyota, the Cup Series made the full-time move to the Car of Tomorrow, and Hamlineight: 6’0” welcomed Kyle Busch as a teammate, the #11 FedEx team was hoping that change would also come in the form of a serious Championship effort. Despite making the Chase for the NASCAR Cup in both 2006 and 2007, the onus was on the team to translate regular season success into a successful Chase effort. The spring race at Richmond International highlighted both the satisfaction of fully dominating an event and the speed with which that dominance can be undone. Hamlin started the 400-lap event from the pole and led an impressive 381 laps before a cut tire forced him to pit road with only 19 laps to go. A win on a cold, rainy day in Martinsville earned Hamlin his sole Cup triumph of the 2008 season and a long-coveted Martinsville Grandfather clock. As Hamlin marched to his third consecutive Chase, the team was hoping to avoid the letdown that marked the 2007 edition but alas, it was not to be. After mechanical failure in Dover and a tremendous hit following a cut tire at Talladega, Hamlin was all but eliminated from championship contention and finished the year in eighth-place. The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season built on a wildly successful 2006 campaign and helped solidify Hamlin and the #11 team’s status as a perennial championship contender. Hamlin quickly allayed fears that he would fall victim to the dreaded “sophomore slump” by kicking off the season with a string of solid results that catapulted him into the top-five in points. Hamlin’s lone 2007 win came at New Hampshire International in July when a late-race two-tire change gave him the track position he needed and the opportunity to hold off Jeff Gordon for the win. On several occasions in 2007, dominating performances by Hamlin and the team were nullified by pit road mishaps, mechanical problems or penalties, yet the #11 team still maintained championship aspirations and a place near the top of the standings. Though he didn’t win another race in 2007, Hamlin recorded 12 top-five and 18 top-ten finishes and qualified easily for the Chase for the Nextel Cup before ultimately settling for 12th place in the points. In 2006, Hamlin burst on the scene with a win at the prestigious Bud Shootout at Daytona, and then carried that early momentum into one of the most successful rookie campaigns in NASCAR history. On his way to becoming the first ever rookie to earn a spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Hamlin posted his first career Nextel Cup win in dominating style at Pocono Raceway. He captured three Bud Pole awards in 2006 – taking the honor at both Pocono races and then made the Chase in grand fashion by winning the pole in front of his hometown fans at Richmond International Raceway. Hamlin was named the 2006 Raybestos Rookie of the Year, and earned an impressive third-place finish in the season standings. 3 2010 Season in Review February 14, 2010 First Race: Hamlin and the #11 FedEx team kick off the 2010 season, Hamlin’s fifth in the Cup Series with a 17th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway March 27, 2010 The Decision: Hamlin announces to the assembled media at Martinsville Speedway that he will undergo surgery on his torn left anterior cruciate ligament following the Martinsville race weekend. March 29, 2010 First Win: Hamlin records his first win of the 2010 season, leading 172 of 500 laps to claim the grandfather clock trophy at Martinsville Speedway and post one of the most memorable victories of his still-young career. The decision to pit from the lead with less than ten laps remaining appeared to have ended Hamlin’s chances of winning, but the strategy worked and the combination of four fresh tires, Hamlin’s sterling drive, and a well-timed caution put Hamlin in position to claim the win. March 30, 2010 From Victory Lane to the OR: Hamlin undergoes arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. The procedure, performed by Dr. Patrick Connor at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, was successful and Hamlin embarked on a strenuous rehabilitation program with the intention of making good on his plan to be behind the wheel of the #11 FedEx Toyota in Phoenix. April 9, 2010 Back in the Seat: Less than two weeks after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee, Denny Hamlin climbed back into the #11 FedEx Office/March of Dimes Toyota at Phoenix International Raceway determined to put pain to the side in the interest of the team. Despite suffering through the discomfort of the 376 laps around a physical 1.0-mile track, and the agony of losing laps to the leader due to electrical issues, Hamlin never left the seat that he’s occupied full-time since 2006, battling throughout the race to post a 30th place finish in the Subway Fresh Fit 600. April 19, 2010 Triumph in Texas: As they did in Martinsville, Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team again wait out the rain, then outrun their opponents, claiming the win in the rain-delayed Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. After starting 29th, it took a total team effort to get Hamlin into position as the end of the race neared. Hamlin, still suffering through rehabilitation following surgery, showed no ill-effect as he drove an incredibly smart race. With the race hanging in the balance under caution on lap 319, Hamlin visited pit road for two tires only, restarted second on lap 322, and then stormed past Jeff Burton on lap 323 to claim the lead. He never looked back as he led the final 12 laps of the race and held off a late charge from Jimmie Johnson to post his second win of