Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin underwent intensive shoulder surgery immediately after the 2023 Cup Series season. He had been struggling with issues in his right arm for a major part of the postseason and held through it in a bid to win his maiden championship. Though he failed in that task, he showed up in 2024 with renewed energy and a healing shoulder.
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Six months was the time that he fixed back in February for his arm to be fixed completely. He went on to dominate races and put three victories in his bag through the regular season. Racing under such tricky physical conditions can be detrimental more often than not, and Hamlin is no exception. He revealed to the press in Michigan on Saturday that his shoulder was still far off from 100%.
He said, “I had some internal stuff that needed to be repaired, and now it is repaired, but even though it has been nine months since surgery, the rotator cuff can take forever, and I’m not as young as I used to be, so I don’t recover quite as quick as I used to.” The driver noted how he was getting better every week but the ones like the last one in Richmond offset the path to recovery.
He was in a position to win at the 0.75-mile short track on Sunday when Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon right-hooked him out of the blue. He suffered a very hard crash against the wall as a result and ended the race in second place. Such hard impacts certainly don’t help with the process. But is it something that’s going to be a hurdle in his continued bid for the title? He thinks not.
Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart stated on SiriusXM earlier this week that the driver’s crash into the wall put a G-Force spike of 32g on him. This is one of the highest spikes recorded in the NextGen car and the highest a Joe Gibbs Racing driver has encountered since 2022. Worse yet, it was his right side that took the major brunt.
Hamlin said, “When you look at how these Next Gen cars take crashes, really the flat side impact is kind of the worst thing you can have because there is no crush there. There is no crush to have there.” He would’ve been better off with impact on his front or back end owing to the advanced bumpers that are in use now. The #11 team certainly hopes such hard hits will stay away and not aggravate his injury further.
