Denny Hamlin / No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry Preview

Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway

DARLINGTON, SC

No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry News & Notes:

• HAMLIN AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY: Denny Hamlin, current NASCAR Cup Series points leader, will make his 18^th-career start at Darlington Raceway this weekend. A track that’s known for being “too tough to tame”, Darlington has coincidentally been one of Hamlin’s best tracks throughout his career, with five NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) wins and three NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) wins on his resume. 
• A WINNING PAIR: In their 13^th season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Sport Clips Haircuts is back on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry at Darlington. Sport Clips has had much success with Hamlin at the historic track, tallying one Southern 500 victory, five top-five finishes, six top-10s and 250 laps led in just seven NCS races together. The duo also has two NXS victories at Darlington.
• THROWBACK WEEKEND: The No. 11 Sport Clips Camry will pay tribute to Julius “Slick” Johnson this weekend with a special throwback scheme. Johnson, a South Carolina-native, was a veteran in short-track racing around the Carolinas throughout the 70’s. Famously known as “Slick”, he transitioned to NASCAR in the early 80’s where he competed in over 65 Cup Series races. Sadly, Johnson was involved in a fatal crash at Daytona in 1990.
• RACE REWIND: Hamlin approached Kansas Speedway with three previous wins at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. While leading the race with 20 laps to go, Hamlin made contact with the wall and received damage to the right side of his Camry. Despite the turmoil, Hamlin battled back to score at 12^th-place finish.
• JGR AT DARLINGTON: Joe Gibbs Racing has claimed eight NASCAR Cup Series victories at Darlington Raceway. In 100 combined starts at the South Carolina track, the organization has tallied 29 top-five finishes, 61 top 10s and has led 1,865 laps at the 1.366-mile oval.
• RACE INFO: The Goodyer 400 at Darlington Raceway begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 9, 2021. The race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1, Sirius XM 90, and MRN Radio.

From the Cockpit:

Denny Hamlin: “Darlington has always been one of my favorite tracks. It’s a special place and we’ve had some good wins there. Obviously, the last couple of weeks haven’t gone the way we’ve wanted them to, but Darlington is a place where we can bounce back and maybe even get into Victory Lane.”

Hamlin’s Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Darlington Raceway:

Hamlin’s 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats:

Hamlin’s Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

About Sport Clips 

Sport Clips Haircuts is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas. It was established in 1993 and began franchising in 1995. The sports-themed haircutting franchise, which specializes in haircuts for men and boys, offers online check in for clients, and ranks #17 in the Entrepreneur “Franchise 500” for 2021 and is listed in Franchise Direct’s 2021 “Top 100 Global Franchises”. There are more than 1,850 Sport Clips stores open in the U.S. and Canada. Sport Clips is the “Official Haircutter” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises, and was named a 2019 Top Franchise for Veterans by Entrepreneur. Sport Clips provides “Haircuts with Heart” through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that has contributed $8.7 million to the VFW; national partnership with St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants; and other national and local philanthropic outreach. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing team; Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan IndyCar driver Ed Jones; and partners with other NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com. 

About Joe Gibbs Racing:

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR with four NASCAR Cup Series teams, four NASCAR Xfinity Series teams, an ARCA Menards Series team, and a driver development program. Its 2021 driver lineup will consist of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Christopher Bell in the NASCAR Cup Series. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, and Daniel Hemric will each run fulltime in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021. Ty Gibbs will compete fulltime in the ARCA Menards Series while running a partial schedule in the Xfinity Series along with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr. and Ty Dillon. JGR is based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Joe Gibbs, who also earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named as one of the NFL’s top 10 coaches of all-time with a winning career that included three Super Bowl Championships as head coach of the Washington Football Team. JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning five Cup Series championships and five Xfinity Series owner’s championships, along with more than 350 NASCAR races, including four Brickyard 400s and four Daytona 500s.