Hamlin Notches another Top-15 at Gateway

Coming off a 14^th place finish at Pike’s Peak, Denny Hamlin and the #20 Team headed to Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis, MO for the “Wallace Family Tribute 250”. Taking car #2043, the same one they ran to their top two performances of the year at Milwaukee and Loudon, the team was excited to get out on the 1.25 mile track.
 
With two practices before the race, the team had ample time to get the car dialed in. The first practice was spent with Hamlin getting use to the uniquely shaped oval. Following the second practice, the car had broken into the top-ten on the scoring monitor by placing sixth on the board. The team knew they had a fast car and carried this set up over to Saturday evening where Hamlin qualified the car third.
“I got all I could out of this car on that lap”, commented an excited Denny Hamlin following his lap. “This is one of the best prepared cars I have had all season. Cully and the crew did a great job on it and it is showing on the board.”
 
Although temperatures reached the low 90’s during the day, they cooled off to mid 80’s for the start of the race. Hamlin started the race 3 ^rd in front of a record crowd of 60,000. Hamlin fought tightness in the center but stayed in 4 ^th for the first 30 laps. Hamlin followed the leaders into the pits on lap 31 for four tires, and a small track bar adjustment. With four cars choosing not to pit, Hamlin returned to the track in the 9 ^th position. Even after the changes, the car continued to be a little tight especially in the center and off the corner. Even with this condition, Hamlin was able to work his way towards the front. By the time his next stop came, he was back in sixth and hunting down the leaders.
 
With several other drivers trying different pit strategies, Hamlin would restart 10 ^th . As the race went green again, Hamlin began his charge to front. After gaining a few spots early, he jumped back into the top five making an impressive three wide pass on lap 75 that moved him up to the 4 ^th position. Hamlin would continue to run in the top five until the next round of pit stops. With more two tire stops, Hamlin would fall back to 12 ^th but it would only take 30 laps to return to the top five.
 
Knowing that they needed to find a way to get the #20 machine to turn just a little better off the corner, Barraclough called for Hamlin to make his final stop on lap 136. Like earlier in the evening, Hamlin came out of the pits 9 ^th , but by lap 150, he had returned to the top five. Hamlin was running 5 ^th when he reported that the car was extremely loose. As the tires continued to wear, the condition worsened. By lap 190, Hamlin began to lose positions to faster competitors behind him. When the race concluded, Hamlin finished in the 11 ^th position, on the same lap as the leader.
 
“We definitely had a top-five car tonight,” said a disappointed Hamlin following the race. “We just wanted to make it a winning car. We could have continued to run around here being tight and finished top-five, but that was not going to give us a chance to win the race. In hindsight, we probably should have left it alone, but we tried to make changes that were going to make it better.”