MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb. 23, 2017—FedEx announced today its extension with Joe Gibbs Racing to serve as the sponsor of the #11 Toyota with driver Denny Hamlin in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“FedEx has been synonymous with the #11 car and Denny Hamlin for many years, and together we have enjoyed great successes on and off the race track,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president, FedEx Integrated and Marketing Communications. “The FedEx Racing program provides the unique opportunity for us to engage our team members and customers, as well as make a positive impact in the community. We are proud to extend this relationship with Coach Gibbs and the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization.”
This year, the company is tying the performance of the #11 FedEx Toyota on the track to its efforts to improve road safety through a new program, Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares, by donating $111 for each lap Hamlin leads and $11,000 for each race victory to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. Making roads safer for children is a key initiative under the company’s global giving platform FedEx Cares. FedEx will also contribute $111,000 to Safe Kids if the #11 team wins the 2017 NASCAR championship.
Hamlin is a 29-time race winner at NASCAR’s highest level, including the 2016 Daytona 500, and has made the sport’s playoffs in 10 of his 11 full-time Cup Series seasons. The Richmond, Va.-native has amassed 196 top-10 finishes in 398 career starts.
“FedEx has been with me for my entire career, and I’m honored to have them continue as the sponsor of the #11 team,” said Hamlin, who finished sixth in the 2016 NASCAR standings. “As a racer, you only dream of an opportunity to compete for wins and championships at the highest level, and I have been fortunate to do that with FedEx and JGR for more than a decade.”
The sponsorship began when the #11 team was formed at the start of the 2005 season as Joe Gibbs Racing expanded to a third car. Since then, the iconic FedEx brand has been a mainstay on the race track and in the NASCAR garage, and it is currently one of the longest-tenured sponsor, team and driver combinations in the sport.
“FedEx has been essential to the growth and stability of Joe Gibbs Racing through the years,” said team owner Joe Gibbs. “They are the standard-bearer for how a company’s involvement in NASCAR can meet and exceed business objectives through commitment to success in all facets of the relationship.”
Hamlin and the #11 team look to defend their win in the Daytona 500 with this year’s running of the ‘Great American Race’ on Sunday, Feb. 26. To learn more about FedEx Racing, visit FedExRacing.com or follow FedEx on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter via @FedEx.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $58 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 400,000 team members to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. To learn more about how FedEx connects people and possibilities around the world, please visit about.fedex.com.
About Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR with four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, three NASCAR XFINITY Series teams and a driver development program. Its 2017 driver lineup will consist of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Daniel Suárez in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Meanwhile Matt Tifft will run fulltime in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, joining Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suárez, who will all run partial schedules. In addition, Cody Coughlin and Riley Herbst are currently in JGR’s driver development program. Based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by Joe Gibbs — a three-time Super Bowl winner as head coach of the Washington Redskins and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame — JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning four Cup Series championships, and four Nationwide Series owner’s championships along with more than 270 NASCAR races, including four Brickyard 400s and two Daytona 500s.
About Safe Kids Worldwide
Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. Preventable injuries are the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the U.S. and with partners in more than 30 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 60 percent. Working together, we can do much more to protect kids. Join our effort at http://safekids.org.
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