Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin has been dealing with a lot lately. He missed out on winning the 2025 Cup Series championship by a thread and was dealt a bigger blow when his father, Dennis, passed away in a house fire. His mother, Mary Lou, was severely injured in the accident as well and is currently recovering from the tragedy.
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While all these do weigh on Hamlin’s mind, he is certain that he will be the high-performing athlete his team needs him to be when he gets into the No. 11 car this season.
Hamlin said, “There’s no way I could actually show up this week and face my team and not be prepared, so I’ve done as much as I can to be prepared, given the amount of time that I got and given all the stuff I have going on. But they know once I get in that car, they never have questioned that I’m capable of going out there and competing and giving them their best opportunity to win.”
Hamlin believes that it is his job to go out there and do justice to all the hard work that his crew has been doing in the offseason. So, come hell or high water, the veteran is going to give it his all to notch up wins again. If anything, the pain he has endured in these past few months would only serve as fuel for his heart.
The state of Hamlin’s shoulder injury
Hamlin had undergone surgery on his right shoulder back in 2023. When searching through the remains of his parents’ home, he appears to have fallen and re-aggravated the injury. He said, “I don’t think that it ever healed properly. I took a little fall at my mom’s house, going through all the rubble and stuff, and just didn’t feel right. Got it re-scanned and re-tore it again.”
He now needs to go through the entire year without making things worse, so that he can have the shoulder fixed in November. This means he won’t get to do a lot of fun things outside the race track. That’s a price he has to pay to ensure his long-term health. Furthermore, aggravating it further could also impact his performance during the season. That’s something he will look to avoid.
