Pit Stop Radio News

No. 11 Mavis Toyota Camry XSE News and Notes

• HOME SWEET HOME: Denny Hamlin grew up in nearby Chesterfield, Virginia and attended races at Richmond Raceway as a child. Throughout his racing career, that hometown connection has provided Hamlin plenty of on-track success. He has four NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond (September 2009, September 2010, September 2016, and April 2022). His record at the .75-mile track also includes five top-five finishes in his past six starts and 11 top-fives in his past 14 starts dating back to September 2016. Hamlin has also earned three NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at Richmond.
• FRONT RUNNER: Hamlin leads all active drivers with 2,226 laps led at Richmond Raceway. He ranks fourth on the all-time lap leader list at Richmond behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, and Bobby Allison.
• UP FRONT AT RICHMOND: In four Richmond races with the Next Gen car, Hamlin leads all drivers with 1,500 laps run in the top 15, including all 400 laps in two of the past three races at the .75-mile track.
• SHORT TRACK STANDOUT: Throughout his career, Hamlin has excelled on the three short tracks on the schedule – Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Richmond Raceway. In 107 career starts on short tracks, Hamlin has posted 13 wins, 49 top-five finishes, 66 top-10s, and 11 pole awards. In 11 non-dirt short track races in the Next Gen era, Hamlin has recorded three wins, eight top-five finishes and led laps in nine of those races. He has finished fourth or better in his last five short track starts, including his win at Bristol two weeks ago. He also started fourth or better in the past four short track races.
• LEADING IN 2024: Hamlin is the only driver to lead in all six races so far this season. After leading three laps last weekend at COTA, the No. 11 driver has also led a series-best 275 laps this season. He has led in 10 consecutive races dating back to last season.
• COTA RECAP: Hamlin finished 14th in last weekend’s race at Circuit of the Americas. After starting eighth, he ran inside the top 15 for most of the first half of the race. Late in stage two, crew chief Chris Gabehart made the call for Hamlin to stay on track to claim the stage win. The strategy, which earned one playoff point, put Hamlin outside the top 20 early in the final segment. He meticulously worked his way forward and found his way back up to 14th when the checkered flag waved.
• MAVIS: The No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE will feature Mavis as the primary sponsor this weekend at Richmond Raceway. Mavis, based in Millwood, N.Y., is a tire and service provider in the United States with more than 850 service centers in 22 states. Mavis recently acquired TBC Corporation’s NTB Service Centers and Tire Kingdom Service Centers, which yields more than 2,000 service centers under the brand umbrella in total. For more information, visit www.mavis.com.
• JGR AT RICHMOND: Joe Gibbs Racing leads all teams with 18 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Richmond Raceway. In 167 combined starts at Richmond, the organization has tallied 59 top-five finishes, 97 top-10s, seven pole awards, and 6,110 laps led. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, and Martin Truex Jr. join Hamlin on the list of drivers who have won for JGR at Richmond.
• JGR OFF TO A HOT START: Joe Gibbs Racing has started the season off strong across the board. All four JGR drivers rank in the top seven in the overall standings, led by Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs in first and second place. Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin have both secured victories while Gibbs leads all drivers with a 7.8-average finishing position. Each JGR driver has led more than 100 laps this season and all four rank in the top five for laps led this season. The organization has also won the past five stages dating back to Phoenix.
• TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway begins Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Denny Hamlin, Driver of the No. 11 Mavis Toyota Camry XSE

What do you expect going to Richmond this weekend?

“I expect we’ll see a lot of the same that we’ve had at Richmond the past few years. It’s definitely a race where you have to manage the car over the long run because it tends to run long and have green-flag pit cycles. That always brings in some strategy if you want to pit early or pit late and the risks that come with both of those scenarios. The crew chiefs will definitely have their work cut out for them to figure out the best strategy. Overall, it’s a fun race. I feel very confident about our chances this week, but we’ll have to execute and stay in position throughout the race and see what happens.”

Hamlin NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Richmond Raceway

Hamlin 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats

Hamlin NASCAR Cup Series Career Stats

About Mavis

Mavis, founded in 1972, is a tire and vehicle service provider in the United States with more than 2,000 service centers. The Mavis brand includes Mavis Discount Tire, Mavis Tires & Brakes, Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, Brakes Plus, Tuffy Tire and Auto Service Centers, and Town Fair Tire. In addition to its expansive selection of tires from more than 20 major brands, Mavis offers a menu of services including oil changes, brakes, alignments, suspension repair, shocks/struts, and battery replacement.

-JGR-