Via FedEx Racing

Denny Hamlin finished 20th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, fighting an ill-handling #11 FedEx Office Toyota throughout the 335-lap event on the 1.5-mile oval won by Jimmie Johnson, Round 8 of the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Hamlin qualified 12th and ran among the top-15 throughout the first half of the race, with crew chief Darian Grubb calling for a host of changes during green flag pit stops. During a stop on pit road with just over 100 laps remaining, Hamlin made contact with Greg Biffle leaving his pit box, causing right-front damage to the #11 machine. The contact disrupted the balance of the car, and Hamlin crossed the finish line in 20th.

“It was a frustrating day all around,” said Hamlin. “We were really loose on corner entry for most of the race, but tight in the center. Whenever we fixed one thing, it seemed to hurt another. Hopefully we can regroup and go to Phoenix with a shot at the win.”

The finish dropped Hamlin two spots to seventh in the Chase standings following Texas, 73 points behind leader Johnson with two races remaining.

NASCAR returns to action at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, November 11.