NASCAR star Denny Hamlin shared a positive health update regarding his shoulder injury at Martinsville Speedway, with surgery looming this offseason.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star revealed ahead of February's Clash that he had torn his shoulder while rummaging through the rubble at his parents' home following a house fire in December.
Unfortunately, Hamlin stated that the injury requires surgery to repair it, but given that it would be a three-to-four-month recovery, the JGR star is postponing it until the end of the 2026 season.
That means racing with an injury for the entire campaign this year, but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down, with one race win under his belt, and having taken pole and dominated at Martinsville this past weekend.
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Denny Hamlin shares update on shoulder injury
After qualifying on Saturday, Hamlin was quizzed on how he was holding up physically in light of the injury, to which he joked: “Oh, just get [getting] fatter, truthfully."
The Joe Gibbs Racing star then turned more serious: "I can't play the sports I like to play. That's about it, but it's holding up.
"To be at this point, you know, a lot of it too is that I'm really being cautious with all the other things to not aggravate. So, when I come here on the weekend, I know that it's like 100 percent - it's as good as it's going to be.
"So, it's not too bad. Last week [at Darlington] wore me down pretty good. It's been a while since I've been that worn down after a race, and certainly I felt it in the shoulder, but I feel like if it stays on this pace, I'll be fine for the end of the year.”
Hamlin backed up his comments with another strong performance at Martinsville on Sunday, leading for 292 of the 400 laps and coming home in second.
The 45-year-old sits third in the points standings after seven events, trailing only Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick heading into the Easter weekend.
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