After running for six consecutive weekends not including a vigorous testing schedule, the #20 team was ready for a weekend off. Before they could enjoy the time off, they needed to go tackle the World’s Fastest Half Mile, Bristol Motor Speedway. This half mile track is known as much for survival as it is for racing. This can be a tough race for the veterans of NASCAR, so you can imagine what was going through Denny Hamlin’s mind for his first visit to Thunder Valley.

The car unloaded fast. Running in the top ten in both practices on Friday, the team was confident in their setup for the race and qualifications, both scheduled for Saturday. As the teams arrived at the track on Saturday, they were greeted with cold temperatures and the threat of rain. Two hours before qualifying was scheduled, the clouds opened up and the rains came. The rain continued into the evening and as the sun set, NASCAR Officials finally postponed the race until Monday morning.

Monday was the complete opposite of Saturday. With sunny conditions and temperatures in the 70’s, over 70,000 fans stayed around to watch the Busch Series Race. Qualifications were canceled on Saturday soHamlin would start in the 10^th position. When the green flag dropped, it took less than one lap for the first caution flag. Hamlin settled into the 10^th position and just tried to maintain a patient and steady pace.

By lap 20, Hamlin was complaining of tight race car especially in the center of the corner. Crew Chief Trip Bruce reminded Hamlin that “this is a totally different track from Friday. There were 500 laps driven here yesterday and the temperatures are a lot different from Friday. Be patient and we will work on it during the first stop”. As the laps continue to wind off, Hamlin ran as high as ninth and as low as 13^th . By lap 78, when the caution flew, Hamlin followed the leaders down pit road. After changing four tires and two rounds up on the trackbar, Hamlin restarted the race in the 16^th position. Reporting that the car was better, but still too tight, he would continue to pick up positions.

The closest near miss of the day happened on lap 108. When the lap car of Shawna Robinson spun towards the inside, Spotter Curtis Markham called for Hamlin to stay high. However, two cars in front of him were fighting for the high line when one of the cars got spun into the wall on the high line of the track. With cars stacking up behind him, Hamlin ducked to the inside and then sawed the wheel back to the outside line to make it through the incident behind him. That wreck collected eight cars by the time it was finished.

On lap 123, Hamlin followed several of the leaders to pit road for more service. Receiving four tires, fuel and two rounds of wedge out, he returned to the track in the 22^nd position. With a large portion of the field choosing not to pit, Hamlin would have to be careful as he worked his way through the traffic. As the laps ticked off, the caution laps continued to build. Noticing the problem, NASCAR chose to red flag the race three times to make sure the competitiors had maximum laps for racing. As the cars who stayed out continued to pit, Hamlin moved back up the board and back into the top 10 by lap 200. Continuing to gain spots, Hamlin was running in the seventh position when the final caution came out on lap 248. Hamlin settled in for the green-white-checker finish that started on lap 254. As Hamlin came around the final corner in the seventh place, the eight place car of Carl Edwards drove directly in the rear of the #20 car and Hamlin did a great job to keep from wrecking. He was able to wrestle the car back to the finish line and bring it home in the ninth position.