[clutch]

I found this article an interesting read...........those close to him are scared to talk to him when he aint happy.............and about the caution at the end of the Richmond race....from scene-daily

Basketball injury adds to Hamlin's angst

By Jeff Gluck - Associate Editor

Monday, May 05, 2008

var partnerID=282517; var _hb=1; window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.locati on.href;return true;} if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href;

• Print
• Email
• RSS Feeds
• Add to Del.icio.us
• Digg This

CONCORD, N.C. – Denny Hamlin looked beaten and bruised Monday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, gingerly stepping through the garage with a grimace on his face.

Already dealing with the mental pain and heartbreak of perhaps the most disappointing night of his career, Hamlin took a hard fall during a Sunday night basketball game and slammed to the ground on his left hip.

It’s safe to say the last few days haven’t been the best of times for Hamlin.

Watching Hamlin limp around, one might have thought he sustained his injury by kicking something following the flat tire that robbed him of what seemed to be a sure victory Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, his home track.

But during one of his usual basketball games with friends, Hamlin jumped in the air and ended up tumbling over another player’s shoulder. He fell straight to the ground and landed on his hip, which he said popped and has caused so much pain that he couldn’t sleep on it Sunday night.

“I’d like to say I was going up for a dunk,” he said, “but I think everyone would know that ain’t true.”

The sting of an injured hip is nothing compared to the difficulty of accepting his defeat at Richmond, the track where he wants a Cup victory more than any other.

To wit: Lowe’s Motor Speedway President Humpy Wheeler gave Hamlin a pocket knife as a good luck gift when Hamlin arrived at the track for Sprint Cup testing on Friday, which Hamlin jokingly said was “not good for someone on suicide watch.”

OK, so maybe it’s not that bad. But to lead 381 laps with an exceptionally dominant car only to see it all go away because of a flat tire 18 laps from the finish was devastating to the third-year driver.

Hamlin doesn’t like to be consoled by anyone when something goes bad – friends or family – so when his roommates picked him up from the airport, took him home and went to their respective rooms, “literally not one word was spoken” the entire time, Hamlin said.

His roommates may have then gone to sleep, but Hamlin didn’t. Unable to rest, he stayed up watching SportsCenter on ESPN – flipping the channel away every time the race highlights were about to be shown. He never got to sleep.

“I’m pretty tired right now,” he said. “I could use a nap.”

Hamlin said it was quiet around him for about 24 hours before those close to him felt like it was OK to speak again.

“I think they knew I didn’t want to hear about it,” he said. “You always hear stories about people winning [where] you’ll get that one back in a race that you probably didn’t deserve to win anyway later on in your career. Will I get it at Richmond? What are the chances of that?”

Hamlin said his team had no idea what caused the flat tire, but that he didn’t think he ran over anything because he pulled away for four laps on the restart before it gave way.

He rode around on the deflating tire for a few laps, trying to nurse it home, but it finally expired. Hamlin then stopped on the track in Turn 4 to bring out an intentional caution, which drew the ire of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was leading the race at the time and suddenly had Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch on his back bumper.

That led to an incident between Busch and Earnhardt Jr. that became the story of the race.

“It went in Turn 3 and that’s when I totally lost the entire tire,” Hamlin said. “So I stopped trying to be able to turn it down onto pit road, but I had already crossed over the wall. I didn’t want to risk tearing up the car to where we couldn’t finish the race. So I knew I had to stop or else I was going to jeopardize us even finishing the race.

“It was a fine line there. We had to stop or else we were going to get a DNF.”

Hamlin denied that he stopped on the track to help Busch catch up to Earnhardt Jr.

“I didn’t even know where Kyle was out on the race track,” Hamlin said. “For all I know, he was leading the race.”

[jks812]

So even if it wasn't to help Kyle, it was still intentional.

[kcoruol]

Originally Posted by jks812

So even if it wasn't to help Kyle, it was still intentional.

Hmm, intentionally didn't wreak his car.

Nascar should throw the book at him!

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by kcoruol

Hmm, intentionally didn't wreak his car.

Nascar should throw the book at him!

yeah. how can he hold his head up and look people in the eye having done such a dastardly thing?

[jks812]

When has Nascar ever cared if the driver does something for a senseable reason?

[GrimlockAutobot]

NASCAR needs to have set rules about certain things and stick to them. It seems like they make things up as they go along most of the time.

Hamlin should've been penalized for that....if he tried to help Busch or not.

[BiscuitMan]

Originally Posted by GrimlockAutobot

NASCAR needs to have set rules about certain things and stick to them. It seems like they make things up as they go along most of the time.

Hamlin should've been penalized for that....if he tried to help Busch or not.

If there was radio traffic from the crew chief or spotter that told Denny to stay on the track, then there possibly would have been a bigger penality than to hold him for 2 laps.

However, he could have just spun out like other drivers have done in the past.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by BiscuitMan

If there was radio traffic from the crew chief or spotter that told Denny to stay on the track, then there possibly would have been a bigger penality than to hold him for 2 laps.

However, he could have just spun out like other drivers have done in the past.

yeah, but he said he didn't want to hurt the car .. so stopping was the best alternative .. in his mind.

[jks812]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

yeah, but he said he didn't want to hurt the car .. so stopping was the best alternative .. in his mind.

I know this is gonna sound like a really stupid question. But if he didn't want to hurt the car, why didn't he just turn and go down pit lane, change the tire and come back out? I think he could've done it, I see them do it every race. So what's gonna happen the next time a driver has a flat and decides oh I don't want to mess the car up ( or go down a lap) I'll just stop on the track and bring a caution out. Is this going to become a normal thing to do now?

[kcoruol]

Originally Posted by jks812

I know this is gonna sound like a really stupid question. But if he didn't want to hurt the car, why didn't he just turn and go down pit lane, change the tire and come back out? I think he could've done it, I see them do it every race. So what's gonna happen the next time a driver has a flat and decides oh I don't want to mess the car up ( or go down a lap) I'll just stop on the track and bring a caution out. Is this going to become a normal thing to do now?

As opposed to pulling in front of your favorite driver and wreaking him?

Seems like most of the time even when somebody does has a flat and gets to the bottom of the track a caution is called anyway for debris.

[jks812]

I for one don't think anybody pulled in front of my driver and wrecked him. But since the tire was not completely gone when he got to pit road entrance there wasn't any debris.
I'm just saying, isn't Nascar setting themselves up for this to have the possibility of becoming a normal thing to do now? And if it does as long as they don't get on the radio and claim to do it on purpose, what can Nascar do about it?

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by jks812

I for one don't think anybody pulled in front of my driver and wrecked him. But since the tire was not completely gone when he got to pit road entrance there wasn't any debris.
I'm just saying, isn't Nascar setting themselves up for this to have the possibility of becoming a normal thing to do now? And if it does as long as they don't get on the radio and claim to do it on purpose, what can Nascar do about it?

Nascar will probably say somethin in the next drivers meetin tellin them not to do what Denny did or they will get penalized.

[Phils20]

Well, I think a two lap penalty was punishment.

What would folks have liked to see?

$100,000









$200,000







Come on, can we be real? At most, they should have just parked him. Either way, no other punishment is needed, in my opinion!

And as far as Denny still being upset, wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

They have names for being that moody as a "regular Joe", and none of them are very complimentary.

Suck it up Denny.

[Phils20]

Originally Posted by GrimlockAutobot

NASCAR needs to have set rules about certain things and stick to them. It seems like they make things up as they go along most of the time.

Hamlin should've been penalized for that....if he tried to help Busch or not.

Nice new location Grim!

I liked the other one better!

[Jeffrey4396]

Here is my take on it. If the flat would have happened at the beginning or middle of the race he stops at the first sign of trouble in his pit for new tires. Since it happened with a handful of laps to go he tried to stretch it to the end or to a caution. Seems to me if he were willing to take a chance on making it till the end then he needs to take a chance on tearing up his car. If not then he should have pitted when he had a first sign of trouble. The kid is a idiot plain and simple.