Denny Hamlin Takes Sprint All-Star for JGR

Hamlin on track to a million dollar payoff

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(CONCORD, NC – MAY 16, 2015 – RIS) Denny Hamlin took the 2015 edition of the Sprint All-Star tonight at Charlotte Motor Speedway, earning the Joe Gibbs Racing organization its first All-Star victory, plus Toyota's first All-Star trophy. Starting from the pole, Hamlin led the first 14 laps of the race before Kasey Kahne took over the lead, followed by Brad Keselowski.

"You want to win the Daytona 500. You want to win the Brickyard 400. You want to win the Coke 600. You want to be an All-Star, so [I] can't say enough for this whole FedEx Express team," said Hamlin. He also thanked "everyone from Toyota for getting their first All-Star victory as well. Just a big day.

"It's just an unbelievable experience. We just didn't have a car that was fast enough to run with those guys until Dave (Rogers, crew chief) made that last adjustment and of course the clean air, but that pit crew – that's all I can say – they carried me all day long and they got us this victory."

Fellow JGR driver Matt Kenseth finished fifth and JGR's Kyle Busch placed sixth in his return to competition following a crash at the season opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona which caused him to miss eleven races.

The first 25-lap segment of the Spring All-Star had Kasey Kahne finish in front of Denny Hamlin, trailed by Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch in the top five slots. Run at an average speed of 183.054 mph, the first segment had all cars running on the lead lap and no real 'incidents' among the 20 cars racing for a million dollars. Pole winner Denny Hamlin headed the field for 14 of the 25 laps before ceding the lead to Kahne for the remainder of the segment.

Segment two had Keselowski finish in front of the field, followed by Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne. Keselowski grabbed the lead with a great pit stop.

The third segment had Keselowski leading after 75 laps total, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne. During the segment, Danica Patrick pulled into the garage only to return later in the race, and Kyle Busch pitted early but gained the lost lap thanks to the 'lucky dog' rule that allows the first car a lap down to pass the field and get back on the lead lap.

At the end of the final 25-lap segment, the field was reordered by NASCAR to reflect the cars' average finishing order in the first three segments. Denny Hamlin restarted the final ten laps in the preferred first position with the best average finish.

"Dave (Rogers, crew chief) is a bit more of a cheerleader than I like at times, but he definitely ain't afraid to pump you up at times," commented Hamlin. "Thanks to him. This is such a new relationship for me working with him, but these results really, really pay off and thank everyone at JGR in the fab (fabrication) shop too building this brand new car. This is a great thing and hopefully we start to get some speed down the road."

Asked what he would do with the million dollar winner's prize, Hamlin quipped: "Well, I've got a little daughter at home that would like to go college, so let's save that for the college fund."

Hamlin commented that the win: "means so much, especially for JD Gibbs and everything he's going through and the entire Gibbs family. It means so much. My 11th year with Joe Gibbs Racing and winning it in this shot of it, this is a great feeling. We'll have a great night."

Kyle Busch, fresh from recovering from his fractures suffered at Daytona, stated: "I think we also learned some stuff, myself and Adam Stevens (crew chief), about this race car, for me, and getting around here in Charlotte. So we can take some of that next week and look forward to the Coke 600."

Busch "got busted for speeding on pit road. In that same segment, we ended up having a loose wheel. At least it was two things biting us in one segment, not two things biting us in different segments. That was a real positive. Otherwise everything felt good and getting to pit road, all that, everything was fine.

"I'll be sore for a couple days, just muscles that haven't been woken up like this in a little while," he added. "It's nothing new. Typically I get that in the beginning of the year anyway. It takes a few weeks to kind of get warmed up to things, your body to kind of settle in. Being out of the race car the longest I've ever been in my career, it's a wake‑up call for myself to get back rolling."

Carl Edwards, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, finished 17th after being caught speeding on pit road at his final pit stop.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said: "I think for us, it was a team effort, but it just shows how hard this sport is. We have been blessed. It's been a long time coming. We have been here a long time and to have a first time experience is unbelievable. It is really special to have the family here, son J.D. and the grandkids. They have been going through a lot lately."

Second place finisher Kevin Harvick  said that Hamlin "saw us coming there at the end. I just got a little aero tight and the car pushed up the track.

"I kind of put us in a hole during qualifying. Our car was really fast and I was able to come up through traffic. We made some really good changes throughout the night and got the car where it really needed to be. I was able to move around the race track and Denny (Hamlin) saw I was running the middle of the track and he moved up. I had to get out of the throttle. I'm real excited for next week to pass cars and run cars down."

Kurt Busch drove his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet to third place, commenting that: "we finished no worse than fifth in all the segments and that put us in position for the finish. We did our job, but I was asleep at the wheel on the restarts."

Unofficial Finishing Order, 2015 NASCAR Sprint All-Star:
1) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota
2) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Hunt Bros. Pizza Chevrolet
3) Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet
4) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet
5) Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota
6) Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&Ms Red Nose Day Toyota
7) Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Time Warner Cable Chevrolet
8) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford
9) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford
10) Dale Earnhardt Jr, No. 88 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Chevrolet
11) A.J. Allmendinger, No. 74 Kingsford Chevrolet
12) Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Cherry 5Hr Energy Toyota
13) Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ortho Ford
14) Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford
15) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet
16) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
17) Carl Edwards, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota
18) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Cat/Quicken Loans Chevrolet
19) Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
20) Danica Patrick, No. 10 Mobil 1 Chevrolet

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