If I had to guess, I’d say the question that NASCAR drivers get most often is probably, “What happens if you need to use the bathroom during the race?”
Obviously these guys can’t just get out of the car and make a quick bathroom run when they need to go. So if nature calls during the race and they can’t hold it, they really only have one option: They just go.
One of the most notorious incidents of a driver using the bathroom in their race car is probably Tony Stewart back at Watkins Glen in 2004. While he never exactly confirmed that he pooped himself, let’s look at the evidence.
While battling with Jeff Gordon for the lead about 20 laps into the race, it was reported that Stewart was experiencing “stomach cramps” and was looking for a relief driver to replace Tony in the car.
But apparently the bubble guts weren’t enough to keep Tony from taking the lead, and when he brought his car into the pits, the team passed him some meds through the window to “try to settle his stomach” as Stewart decided to remain in the race, despite Boris Said being in the pit box on standby.
Meanwhile, Stewart was still suffering on the track, telling his team that they needed to make a change even if it was only for “a short period of time.”
Hmm, wonder why Tony thought it would only take a short period of time for him to get to feeling better…
Well a few laps later, Stewart once again took the lead…and apparently, took a crap in his pants, because he then reported to his team that he was good to go and would no longer need a relief driver. And as luck would have it, Tony Stewart would go on to win the race that day – but instead of celebrating, Stewart rushed out of victory lane and into his motorcoach for what we can only assume was a quick wardrobe change.
So yeah, sometimes sh*t happens and drivers can’t hold it.
But luckily for Denny Hamlin, it wasn’t a #2 that hit him during this weekend’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta.
The driver of the #11 car for Joe Gibbs Racing, and co-owner of 23XI Racing alongside Michael Jordan, talked about his race on this week’s episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. And he admitted that for the first time ever, he had a bathroom emergency during a race:
“For the first time, in my whole career, 19 years, I peed in my seat.”
Hey, that’s a pretty good run.
Hamlin said that it hit him while the race was stopped under a red flag (which had to be painful, knowing you were just wasting time and not getting any closer to being able to relieve yourself).
“I was hurting. I was so thirsty the second half of the race, but I couldn’t drink anymore because my body, I’m sitting there in the seat and I’m just like, ‘Please just let it go.'”
But apparently Denny couldn’t convince himself to go:
“I just couldn’t let it go. I just have never been able to go in the car. There’s something about it…something just doesn’t feel right to my body and it just hangs on.”
Eventually though, he realized he wasn’t going to make it to the end of the race:
“My stomach is killing me. I ain’t gotta go #2, I gotta go #1. But I just…my bladder is just dying.”
And finally he realizes that his only hope for relief is to just…let it go.
“I get to pit road, and they’re working on the damage, and I just close my eyes and I’m like, just trying to think of something that will make me go.
And then as soon as I got the first dribble, boom. It was warm, and then it was cold…I’d never felt what it felt like to pee in my seat but I kinda liked it. Is that weird?”
Yeah Denny, that’s weird. But hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
@sliktokker Denny Hamlin pisses himself during Atlanta race. #DennyHamlin #Nascar #11 #23 @Dirty Mo Media @dennyhamlin @atlantamotorspeedway ♬ original sound – SlikTokMike
