DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry that Denny Hamlin drove to his second Daytona 500 victory last year has gone on a road trip.
The winning Daytona 500 car – which has been on display for the past year inside the Daytona Int’l Speedway Ticket and Tours Building – has been transported to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., to be part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for its owner, Joe Gibbs.
Gibbs will join the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020. Also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a three-time Super Bowl-winning coach of the Washington Redskins, Gibbs has five NASCAR Cup Series championships.
Gibbs’ 176 Cup wins as an owner includes three Daytona 500 victories.
Following the induction ceremony on Friday, the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry will return to Daytona Int’l Speedway for display before being returned to the team prior to the 62nd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 16.
The transportation of the car is the first time that the winning DAYTONA 500 car has left the DIS Ticket and Tours Building during its residence at the “World Center of Racing.”
Once the car is returned to Joe Gibbs Racing prior to the Daytona 500, the car will return to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and will be on display in the Hall of Honor, where the NASCAR legends are enshrined.
The 2019 Daytona 500 win was an emotional one for Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 11 team. The organization honored Joe Gibbs’ late son J.D. Gibbs on lap 11 of the race, as crew members stood on pit wall as a tribute.
J.D. Gibbs, who passed away the previous month due to a neurological disease, wore No. 11 as a high school football player and later, as a race car driver himself.
Hamlin’s car number when he won last year’s Daytona 500? Fittingly, the No. 11.
“I remember that night I referred to the win as the biggest win I’ve ever had in anything,” Gibbs said. “It was an emotional experience for everything it represented for J.D. [Gibbs] and our family and I’m thrilled to work with Daytona to have the car on display for this weekend’s induction ceremony and for the next year.”