Phoenix II: Denny Hamlin preview

Phoenix Chassis -- JGR 276 and 288: The FedEx team will unload Chassis JGR 276 this weekend in Phoenix. 276 last ran at Richmond in September when Hamlin led 251 laps on his way his sixth win of the season. Chassis 288 will serve in backup duty.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION -- Phoenix:

Leaving Texas with a win and the points lead is all you could have hoped for -- what is the strategy going forward?:"At this point we are going to keep racing as hard as if we were down. That's been our plan all along and having a lead coming to Phoenix doesn't change that at all. Texas was a good race for us, really what we needed to do in terms of the points, but there is a lot of racing left to do and this is no time to change strategy."

You had pointed to the final five races as the time when the #11 team would really step up -- what is it about these tracks that suit you?: "Really just tracks where we've been good in the past and had a lot of confidence that we'd be bringing even better cars back to those tracks this fall. We had a lot of people asking why we would bring a new car to Texas last weekend instead of just bringing back the car that won there in the spring. I think we showed that we've been consistently improving our cars and that was definitely the case at Texas. We feel that way about Phoenix and Homestead too and I feel confident as a driver at those tracks as well."

Is your team doing anything special through the Chase to keep focus?: "I think we're all just doing our jobs and really not thinking about the points or the standings. There is a lot of work to be done and everyone is really focused on doing their job to the best of their ability. Even though we haven't won a championship, we've been in the Chase before and we've won races before. We'll keep approaching these races as we have all season long."

-source: jgr