Denny Hamlin couldn't bring himself to skip Cup race at LMS

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Thursday, October 09, 2008

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CONCORD, N.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin said he considered skipping Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway because of last weekend’s grinding crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

Hamlin lost a tire and slammed into the wall during the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega on Sunday, sending him to University of Alabama-Birmingham hospital for overnight observation.

Hamlin opted out of Friday’s Nationwide Series race here, even though he has been cleared to race this weekend.

But after considering missing Saturday’s Cup event, Hamlin decided to race.

“We don’t have to race, but I feel like I have an obligation to my sponsors and everyone to come out here and race, and I feel up to it,” said Hamlin, who is 12th in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. “I feel like I couldn’t stand sitting this race out. I think there’s a lot of people that question that, but I think if I had any question in my mind about it I wouldn’t do it because I have nothing to lose.

“The most important thing is long-term health, and that’s why we’re sitting tomorrow night’s race out. If I take a hit there then it’s going to be hard for them to clear me on Saturday. I think right now we’re good to go.”

Hamlin said the Talladega crash was the hardest hit he’s ever had in a race car, and he joked that “hopefully that will be the hardest hit that I ever have in my career because I couldn’t imagine it being much worse.”

Hamlin said he was getting better every day since the crash, with the biggest concern the hit to his head.

“My head got hit pretty good, so I had some neurologists look at it and decide that we need to take it easy for a little while,” Hamlin said. “We’re going to be OK for Saturday night’s race, but there’s only one way to tell, and that’s to get on the race track.”

Hamlin said he would not have a relief driver standing by Saturday night.

“I don’t think so because physically I feel fine – I worked out this morning and had no issues, no headaches or anything,” Hamlin said. “I think everything is fine. You just still feel some effects. When you take a lick like that – I talked to Mark Martin and he still feels effects from his Nationwide wreck at Kansas so it’s just part of the sport and sometimes you’ve got to man-up and do it. If I felt like I was going to endanger myself or anyone else I wouldn’t be out there.”

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1 response to "Denny Hamlin couldn't bring himself to skip Cup race at LMS".

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John Lockhart said:
Oct 10, 2008 at 4:41 AM
Getting your bell rung like that takes time to recover.Hope Hamlin is not pushing it to much,for his sake as well as the other drivers.
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