Gotta be hard to lock in after all he’s been through.
It’s been a brutal offseason for NASCAR in general, but especially for Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin.
Denny’s father, Dennis Hamlin, passed away from injuries suffered in a fire at his North Carolina home last month that also left his mother, Mary Lou, hospitalized from the blaze.
According to WSOC, the fire was reported around 6 PM on Sunday, December 28, and fire officials say that the blaze had already consumed around 40% of the house by the time they arrived. Two people were reportedly already outside the home when fire crews arrived, but were immediately transported to the hospital.
Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department Chief David Toomey reported that the home was a total loss, though crews were able to save some cars and memorabilia:
“They had some really expensive cars in the garage and some racing memorabilia and stuff, so all that was saved. We were able to save all that and get it out so it wasn’t damaged.”
According to the fire chief, efforts to extinguish the blaze were made more difficult by the lack of fire hydrants in the area:
“Well this house was about 40-45% involved when we got here. Of course where we are located there are no hydrants, so all the water had to be trucked in and there were times we would run out of water and we had to wait for more water to get here. We had to call for more, additional tankers throughout the county.”
It was later confirmed that Dennis Hamlin had passed away following the fire, while Denny also revealed that his mother was “continuing to improve.”
We haven’t heard any updates since late last month, with many questioning whether Denny would return for the season-opening Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, an exhibition race coming up on February 1.
But this week during NASCAR media day, Denny put to bed any speculation that he would be missing any racing.
Denny admitted to Fox Sports that he had “considered all options,” but that he had made a commitment to his Joe Gibbs Racing team and would indeed be in the car for the Clash. And in fact, he would be heading to the race shop for the first time since the fire after leaving media day.
Hamlin admitted that he wasn’t entirely in the right mindset to race just yet, but doesn’t seem to think it will take long once he gets back in the groove:
“I think once I get in the swing of it, it’ll actually be good to get back to it. I just haven’t locked in for the season, necessarily, quite yet.”
We also got our first update on Mary Lou this week, thanks to a post on Instagram from Denny’s wife Jordan Fish celebrating their daughter’s 13th birthday.
Photos show Mary Lou in attendance at the party, and luckily she appears to be recovering well:
Hamlin also provided an update on his mother during media day:
“She has good days, bad days, but is getting better.”
As counterintuitive as it may sound, there’s no doubt that getting back behind the wheel of a race car will be a nice distraction for Hamlin and help him get his mind off of everything that he’s been through.
Hopefully we’ll see Mary Lou back at the track sooner rather than later too.
