Denny Hamlin / No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry Preview Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

(Aug. 30, 2017)

No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry News and Notes:

·        HAMLIN AT DARLINGTON: This weekend when Denny Hamlin climbs in to the No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200, he will make his 10th-career NASCAR XFINITY Series start at the historical track and be on the hunt for his fifth-career win at the track in the series. In his previous nine starts at the track, Hamlin has earned four wins (2006, 2007, 2010, 2015), all from the pole starting position. Hamlin has seven top-five finishes with his worst finish being eighth in his track debut in 2004. 

·        JGR AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 49 total starts at Darlington Raceway in NXS competition earning nine wins, 34 top-five finishes, 47 top-10 finishes and eight pole starting positions. The team has led 1,054 laps, completed 6,904 of 7,156 attempted laps (96.5%) and earned an average start of 12.5 and an average finish of 9.6. Denny Hamlin leads the team with four wins (2006, 2007, 2010, 2015), followed by Kyle Busch with two wins (2011, 2013) and Bobby Labonte (1998), Tony Stewart (2008) and Joey Logano (2012) each having one win. Six of the team’s nine wins have come from pole-starting positions.

·        LET’S THROW IT BACK: This weekend Hamlin and the No. 18 team will pay tribute to Mr. Modified, Ray Hendrick during the throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway. In addition to driving the throwback scheme on Saturday, Hamlin will also pilot the Flying No. 11 Camry in the Cup Series race on Sunday.

·        RACE INFO: The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Saturday, September 2, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Watch and listen live on NCBSN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.

Hamlin Career NASCAR XFINITY Series Stats at Darlington Raceway:

Hamlin 2017 Season NASCAR XFINITY Series Stats:

Hamlin Career NASCAR XFINITY Series Stats:

From the Pit Box:

Eric Phillips: “The 18 team is looking forward to Darlington where we are taking the same car we raced at Kentucky in July. I always love racing at Darlington with all of the history of the track and with the throwback paint schemes. It’s cool to see everybody's throwbacks. Darlington has some challenges on set up with the different corners and it’s a hot, slick race track. It's hard to get a good balance in both ends of the track, so there is always a compromise on the setup. 

No. 18 Sport Clips Toyota Camry / Joe Gibbs Racing Team:

Driver – Denny Hamlin                Crew Chief – Eric Phillips                       Car Chief – Chris Meyers

Engineer – Chris Whitenight        Engineer – Dustin Zacharyasz               Engine Tuner – Roger Purcell

Mechanic – John Egbert              Mechanic – Tyler Paxton                       Tire Specialist – John Lanham

Shocks – Brad Rothlin                Spotter – Chris Lambert                          Gasman – Kenneth Purcell  

Jackman – Trey Burklin         Front Tire Changer – David Mayo     Front Tire Carrier – Kevin Harris       

Truck Driver – Steve Fiedler   Rear Tire Changer – Adam Hartman    Rear Tire Carrier – Matt VerMeer