Hamlin Rallies to Ninth-Place Finish at Pocono

No. 15 Digital Qpons Tundra Led Laps before Contact with Wall Disrupted Day

LONG POND, Penn. (July 31, 2010) – Denny Hamlin nearly drove the No. 15 Digital Qpons Toyota to victory lane in Saturday’s  inaugural Pocono Mountains 125 at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s experience at the 2.5-mile tri-oval was evident in his performance. He led five laps of the event and was vying for the top position with six laps remaining, when contact with another truck forced him into the outside retaining wall of the track.  Hamlin’s Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded Tundra suffered front-end damage and had to make an unscheduled pit stop for repairs.  Despite the injured race truck, Hamlin made a mad dash over the remaining laps to capture ninth-place.

Hamlin started the event from third-place. He maintained his position through the first caution period, Lap 26, when the action slowed for a spin on the track.  Hamlin entered pit road, where his crew changed the tires and topped off the fuel cell. The Digital Qpons Tundra was “tight on exit of Turn 3,” so crew chief “Cowboy” Starland called for a wedge and air pressure adjustment to free up Hamlin’s machine.  He returned to track in sixth-place.

Green flag action returned on Lap 31. Hamlin worked his way back into third-place before the next caution flag waved, Lap 34, but he wasn’t about to stop there.  When the race went back to green, Lap 38, Hamlin quickly moved into second-place and drove alongside Todd Bodine to challenge for the lead.  On Lap 39, Hamlin cleared Bodine and claimed P-1 on the track. As Hamlin began putting distance between himself and his competitors, the caution flag waved on Lap 41. Hamlin stayed on the track without pitting.

On Lap 45, the race went green with six scheduled laps remaining.  On Lap 46, the No. 3 truck and the No. 18 truck drove underneath Hamlin in an effort to draft by him. Their momentum caused the 3 truck to wash into the Digital Qpons Tundra.  Hamlin brushed the wall and sustained damage to the front-end of his truck.  Fortunately a yellow flag slowed the action and allowed him to make a pit stop for repairs.  Hamlin’s crew changed his tires and reshaped his fenders to prevent any rubs.  He rejoined the field 24^th-place.

Not about to give up, Hamlin used the remaining laps to claim as many positions as possible. When the race returned to green on Lap 50, Hamlin picked up nine spots, moving into 15^th-place.  Another caution slowed the race and gave Hamlin one last chance to dash through the field. The final restart came on Lap 54.  Hamlin mowed down six competitors to finish the day in ninth-place.

“I was towards the outside and typically that’s where you want to be,” Hamlin stated after the race.  The 3 (Austin Dillon) was pushing the 18 (Kasey Kahne) and he kind of drove him a little too hard and washed up into our left front and it hooked us right into the fence.

“It is, these trucks with no horsepower and these big spoilers, you have to have help down the straightaway.  I felt like we were going to be good.  As soon as we got the lead I felt it was game over.  When we had that caution, that just killed us.

“I loved the length of the race.  I thought it was a great distance.  You couldn’t get more per lap excitement than right there – 50 laps is a perfect amount for this race track.  Hopefully they look at something like that for the future of the Cup Series.”