NASCAR: Denny Hamlin to run another special paint scheme at Richmond
By Asher Fair
Denny Hamlin is set to run a special #11 FedEx Cares Toyota Camry for this Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Richmond Raceway.
Fresh off throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway to kick off the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is set to run another special paint scheme on his #11 Toyota Camry for this Saturday night’s playoff race at Richmond Raceway, the Federated Auto Parts 400.
FedEx has been Hamlin’s lone primary sponsor at NASCAR’s top level since the 39-year-old Chesterfield, Virginia native began competing full-time back in 2006, and they have run FedEx Cares paint schemes for a number of programs which they have supported for many years.
This weekend’s paint scheme is the latest in that collection.
Hamlin’s paint scheme for Saturday night’s 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) oval in Richmond, Virginia pays tribute to the National Urban League, an organization with which FedEx has had a relationship dating back to 2008.
The organization’s workforce development programs, Youth Leadership Summit and the Project Ready program, have been empowered by FedEx over the past several years, with the latter set to be featured for this particular race.
Proud to take this special #FedExCares Toyota to @RichmondRaceway, promoting the long-time relationship between @FedEx and the @NatUrbanLeague. I've been listening and learning about the League's #ProjectReady program, which helps students prepare for college and careers. pic.twitter.com/3eOL4jGj5B
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 8, 2020
Last week, Hamlin met virtually with two students from Project Ready, and they were able to educate him on the importance of the program and how National Urban League has helped prepare them for college and their careers.
Ahead of Richmond, I was honored to meet with the @NatUrbanLeague and students from #ProjectReady, who educated me on how the program prepares Black Americans and other historically underserved youth for college and careers. See some of our discussion: pic.twitter.com/xtThF5y1wx
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 9, 2020
“FedEx Cares program, I’ve gotten to do a lot of great work with them,” Hamlin told Beyond the Flag after this virtual meeting.
“This week we will have those two nonprofits on our race car, and what I got to do last week was just speak with a few students that actually came in and told me about their experience through Project Ready and the National Urban League, getting them ready for either college or to go out in the work force and be prepared for that, while they’re still in middle school or high school. It’s a great cause that I got to learn something about, and I look forward to carrying them hopefully to victory lane here in Richmond.”
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Hamlin had never worked with these nonprofits directly before, despite FedEx’s relationship with National Urban League dating back to 2008, but he was thrilled with the opportunity to finally get to do so this week.
“Not directly, no,” Hamlin said. “This is my first time meeting those guys that help do that. They go into each community, and what’s great about them is that they have several different CEOs that go and are in charge of certain parts of their district or community, and they go into the schools and help with the kids and pick them out, ones that are interested in the programs, and then they go out to the workforce and meet with these business owners and get them ready to go out into the workforce.
“Each community is different, which is something I learned, it’s not just one big umbrella organization that it’s the same no matter what community, because every community is different. So that’s something that is very unique with them and it’s great to kind of learn that program just in the last couple weeks.”
In terms of the paint scheme itself, it is a part of the FedEx Cares 50 by 50 initiative. The goal of this initiative is to positively impact 50 million people by the year 2023, which marks the company’s 50th anniversary. To learn more about the initiative, visit FedExCares.com, and to learn more about Project Ready or the National Urban League, visit nul.org.
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The Federated Auto Parts 400 is set to be broadcast live from Richmond Raceway on NBC Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 12. Hamlin is set to enter this race in second place in the playoff picture following a 13th place finish to open up the round of 16 at Darlington Raceway this past Sunday.