Denny Hamlin feeling fine after Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Sunday, October 12, 2008

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John Harrelson / Getty Images for NASCAR

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin finished 16th at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

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CONCORD, N.C. – Denny Hamlin spent several minutes after Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup race talking with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. And while his 16th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway wasn’t what Hamlin wanted, it beats spending the night in the hospital.

That’s what happened to Hamlin after last week’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, where the No. 11 Toyota slammed the wall late in the race. Hamlin took a blow to his head and spent the night for observation at University of Alabama-Birmingham hospital.

He was cleared for the Charlotte Cup race, but he decided to skip Friday’s Nationwide Series event at the track. And after 500 hard miles Saturday, Hamlin said he felt fine.

“I feel about like I would after any race,” Hamlin said. “I wish we would’ve ran a little bit better, and that would’ve made me feel a little better. It’s a tough day overall.

“I feel really good. No issues at all. I had dizzy spells earlier in the week, but those have pretty much subsided, and I feel pretty good now.”

Hamlin ran in the top 10 early in the race but lost track position with a pit stop under caution on lap 65. Restarting 26th, Hamlin slowly made his way back toward the front.

But on lap 233, Hamlin said he cut down on Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer heading into Turn 1, then slipped and slid into the wall. The damage was relatively minor and the caution didn’t come out, but Hamlin’s car was affected.

“I heard he was looking, but it was the last minute,” Hamlin said. “It was my fault. I came down on him and got myself in the wall there. That pretty much ended our day competitive-wise.”