Sunday Race Info
Race: GEICO 500
Date/Time: Sunday, April 23 / 3 p.m. ET
Distance: 188 laps / 500 miles
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Express Notes
Press Kit: Download the 2023 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedex.com/en-us/racing/press-kit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.
Talladega Notes: Hamlin is a two-time winner at Talladega Superspeedway with his most recent victory coming in October 2020. He leads all active Cup Series drivers with 10 top-five finishes and 424 laps led at Talladega. In line with those numbers, Hamlin has posted five top-five finishes in his past nine starts, including a fifth-place finish last fall, and he has led laps in the past six races at Talladega dating back to June 2020.
Martinsville Recap: The No. 11 earned their first top-five finish of the season with a fourth-place run last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. After finishing eighth and third in the opening two stages, Hamlin worked his way to the lead on lap 257 and proceeded to lead the next 36 laps before a round of green-flag pit stops. An untimely caution put Hamlin eighth for a restart with 88 laps remaining. He managed to recover to fourth by the time the checkered flag waved.
Loop Data: According to Loop Data provided by NASCAR, Hamlin leads all drivers with 752 quality passes and 2,370 of 2,385 laps run on the lead lap so far this season. He also ranks in the top five in multiple categories, including laps in the top 15 (second), average running position (third), fastest drivers late in a run (fourth), driver rating (fifth), and fastest laps run (fifth).
Hamlin Statistics
Track: Talladega Superspeedway
Races: 34
Wins: 2
Poles: 0
Top-5: 10
Top-10: 15
Laps Led: 424
Avg. Start: 15.3
Avg. Finish: 16.6
Hamlin Conversation – Talladega
What do you expect going to Talladega this weekend?
“I expect track position is going to be very important. No question about it, you’re going to have to be up front in the top eight with 30 or 40 laps to go or else it’s going to be almost impossible to win. With this car, we only see two lanes with not much room to go anywhere, so this is going to be an execution race where you’ve got to qualify well, have your strategy play out right, have fast pit stops and get on and off pit road quickly to have a shot.”
FedEx Freight Direct: This Sunday, the No. 11 Camry will feature FedEx Freight Direct. FedEx Freight Direct is the next step in offering great service. With FedEx Freight Direct, the company can help with residential and business freight delivery by providing multiple service levels to both simplify pricing and reduce transit times. FedEx Freight Direct was made possible by the innovative, resilient, and customer-centric approach team members take when confronted with new market trends and industry challenges.
FedEx Freight Along for the Ride at Talladega Superspeedway: For Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, the No. 11 FedEx Freight Direct Toyota Camry TRD will feature DCU on the b-post to recognize the company’s Decatur, Alabama service center and its 93 team members.
Joe Gibbs Racing PR
