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Denny Hamlin fracture lower back
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Hamlin has compression fracture in lower back
By JENNA FRYER (AP Auto Racing Writer) | The Associated Press - 18 minutes ago...
Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower spine during a last-lap crash while racing for the win against former teammate Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing gave no indication Monday how long its driver could be sidelined.
''I just want to go home,'' Hamlin tweeted from a hospital in Southern California. He later posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up and appeared to be wearing a back brace
The team said he had what is called an L1 compression fracture; essentially, the first vertebra in the lumbar section of his spine collapsed.
Hamlin was expected to be released from the hospital Monday and return to North Carolina to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates.
NASCAR does not race this weekend, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, is a four-time winner.
Hamlin was airlifted from the Fontana track after a collision with Logano sent him nearly head-on into the inside wall in a place where Auto Club Speedway does not have energy-absorbing SAFER barriers. There are barriers on the inside of some of the walls, but portions of the track between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 are not protected.
Track spokesman David Talley said Monday the SAFER barriers are installed upon NASCAR's recommendation, and track officials will wait to see what, if anything, NASCAR recommends after Hamlin's accident.
''NASCAR is reviewing the incident and any improvements that can be made, will be made,'' Talley said. ''If NASCAR feels that additional SAFER Barriers are needed, then we will absolutely make those enhancements. SAFER barrier recommendations are based on past history and this is a situation we, nor NASCAR has ever seen at this track before.''
IndyCar last year returned to Auto Club Speedway for the first time since 2005 and the season finale is scheduled to be held at the track in October.
But the issue of the SAFER barriers and Hamlin's impact seemed to be overshadowed by the most recent flare-up in this new feud.
Logano managed to finish third despite wrecking into the outside wall after hitting Hamlin, who spun Logano last week at Bristol to spark a bitter post-race confrontation.
Because of the recent bickering between the former teammates, Logano was somewhat defiant after Sunday's accident.
''He probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets,'' Logano said.
On Monday, Logano's car owner said the driver was unaware of Hamlin's condition when he made the comment during a television interview.
''That's a tough thing, Joey had no idea what the situation was with Denny when he was doing the interview,'' Roger Penske said. ''It's one of those things that came out and taken out of context isn't what he meant. He can't take it back, but people are certainly blowing that up to mean something different than what he knew at the time.''
Tony Stewart also got into a post-race shoving match with Logano, who aggressively blocked Stewart on a late restart. Stewart claimed Logano threw a water bottle at him when he approached, but crews separated the two before it turned into a full fight.
Stewart later railed against the 22-year-old Logano in several interviews and accused him of being ''nothing but a little rich kid that's never had to work in his life.''
Logano was 18 when he broke into NASCAR with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 with the nickname ''Sliced Bread.'' He'd risen rapidly through the racing ranks with the financial backing from his father, Tom, who used funds from the family's Connecticut waste management company to help his two children pursue their dreams.
Logano had the means to pursue a racing career, and was in Georgia racing quarter midgets at the age of 6 while his older sister chased a life of competitive ice skating.
But Tom Logano's near-constant presence at the NASCAR races hurt Logano's reputation, and him angrily demanding his son go after Kevin Harvick after a 2010 incident at Pocono only made things worse.
On Monday, Patricia Driscoll, girlfriend of Kurt Busch, referred to Logano as (hash)TrustFundRacer in a series of tweets that accused him of reckless racing with ''no less than 5 drivers.''
''We were lucky that none of the others were hurt by his actions,'' Driscoll tweeted.
An agitated Penske thought the criticism of Logano's upbringing was out of line.
''He's a solid young man and his family has supported him in racing as many families of professional athletes do in every sport,'' Penske said. ''Anyone who looks at that as a criticism, to focus on that is just petty.''
He also said he supported his driver, who signed last year to join the Penske Racing organization as teammate to defending Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski.
''Listen, Joey is a great driver and what happened at the end there wasn't anything more than hard racing,'' Penske said. ''I stand behind him and I think he's going to go down as one of the greatest drivers to ever race.''
It never developed at JGR, where Logano replaced Stewart in 2009 and was teammates with Busch and Hamlin. Signs of a rift between Hamlin and Logano didn't show publicly until after this year's season-opening Daytona 500, when the two exchanged barbs on Twitter.
Then came an on-track incident at Bristol last week, more exchanges on Twitter, and finally their last-lap battle for the win at Fontana. Although the crash seemed to be a result of hard racing, Logano's lack of empathy immediately after the race gave the impression his contact with Hamlin was intentional.
Hamlin got himself out of the car, but then slumped to the ground beside it before an ambulance arrived. He was eventually airlifted out due to traffic around the track.
The injury is a bit more common in open-wheel racing, which has had three incidents of drivers breaking their backs since 2009.
Will Power broke several vertebrae in his lower back in a 2009 crash during practice at Sonoma and missed that event and the final three races of the season. He couldn't train for two months and wore a back brace for almost four months.
He also suffered a compression fracture of his fourth thoracic vertebrae in the 2011 season finale at Las Vegas but missed no racing as he healed during the offseason.
Justin Wilson fractured his fifth thoracic vertebra in 2011 and missed the last six races of the season. Wilson said he was in a back brace for 10 weeks.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti fractured the L1 vertebrae in his back in a 2003 motorcycle accident. He needed surgery and was out of a race car for almost nine months.
In NASCAR, Sterling Marlin missed the last seven races of the 2002 season with a fractured vertebra in his neck.
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By JENNA FRYER (AP Auto Racing Writer) | The Associated Press - 18 minutes ago...
Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower spine during a last-lap crash while racing for the win against former teammate Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing gave no indication Monday how long its driver could be sidelined.
''I just want to go home,'' Hamlin tweeted from a hospital in Southern California. He later posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up and appeared to be wearing a back brace
The team said he had what is called an L1 compression fracture; essentially, the first vertebra in the lumbar section of his spine collapsed.
Hamlin was expected to be released from the hospital Monday and return to North Carolina to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates.
NASCAR does not race this weekend, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, is a four-time winner.
Hamlin was airlifted from the Fontana track after a collision with Logano sent him nearly head-on into the inside wall in a place where Auto Club Speedway does not have energy-absorbing SAFER barriers. There are barriers on the inside of some of the walls, but portions of the track between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 are not protected.
Track spokesman David Talley said Monday the SAFER barriers are installed upon NASCAR's recommendation, and track officials will wait to see what, if anything, NASCAR recommends after Hamlin's accident.
''NASCAR is reviewing the incident and any improvements that can be made, will be made,'' Talley said. ''If NASCAR feels that additional SAFER Barriers are needed, then we will absolutely make those enhancements. SAFER barrier recommendations are based on past history and this is a situation we, nor NASCAR has ever seen at this track before.''
IndyCar last year returned to Auto Club Speedway for the first time since 2005 and the season finale is scheduled to be held at the track in October.
But the issue of the SAFER barriers and Hamlin's impact seemed to be overshadowed by the most recent flare-up in this new feud.
Logano managed to finish third despite wrecking into the outside wall after hitting Hamlin, who spun Logano last week at Bristol to spark a bitter post-race confrontation.
Because of the recent bickering between the former teammates, Logano was somewhat defiant after Sunday's accident.
''He probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets,'' Logano said.
On Monday, Logano's car owner said the driver was unaware of Hamlin's condition when he made the comment during a television interview.
''That's a tough thing, Joey had no idea what the situation was with Denny when he was doing the interview,'' Roger Penske said. ''It's one of those things that came out and taken out of context isn't what he meant. He can't take it back, but people are certainly blowing that up to mean something different than what he knew at the time.''
Tony Stewart also got into a post-race shoving match with Logano, who aggressively blocked Stewart on a late restart. Stewart claimed Logano threw a water bottle at him when he approached, but crews separated the two before it turned into a full fight.
Stewart later railed against the 22-year-old Logano in several interviews and accused him of being ''nothing but a little rich kid that's never had to work in his life.''
Logano was 18 when he broke into NASCAR with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 with the nickname ''Sliced Bread.'' He'd risen rapidly through the racing ranks with the financial backing from his father, Tom, who used funds from the family's Connecticut waste management company to help his two children pursue their dreams.
Logano had the means to pursue a racing career, and was in Georgia racing quarter midgets at the age of 6 while his older sister chased a life of competitive ice skating.
But Tom Logano's near-constant presence at the NASCAR races hurt Logano's reputation, and him angrily demanding his son go after Kevin Harvick after a 2010 incident at Pocono only made things worse.
On Monday, Patricia Driscoll, girlfriend of Kurt Busch, referred to Logano as (hash)TrustFundRacer in a series of tweets that accused him of reckless racing with ''no less than 5 drivers.''
''We were lucky that none of the others were hurt by his actions,'' Driscoll tweeted.
An agitated Penske thought the criticism of Logano's upbringing was out of line.
''He's a solid young man and his family has supported him in racing as many families of professional athletes do in every sport,'' Penske said. ''Anyone who looks at that as a criticism, to focus on that is just petty.''
He also said he supported his driver, who signed last year to join the Penske Racing organization as teammate to defending Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski.
''Listen, Joey is a great driver and what happened at the end there wasn't anything more than hard racing,'' Penske said. ''I stand behind him and I think he's going to go down as one of the greatest drivers to ever race.''
It never developed at JGR, where Logano replaced Stewart in 2009 and was teammates with Busch and Hamlin. Signs of a rift between Hamlin and Logano didn't show publicly until after this year's season-opening Daytona 500, when the two exchanged barbs on Twitter.
Then came an on-track incident at Bristol last week, more exchanges on Twitter, and finally their last-lap battle for the win at Fontana. Although the crash seemed to be a result of hard racing, Logano's lack of empathy immediately after the race gave the impression his contact with Hamlin was intentional.
Hamlin got himself out of the car, but then slumped to the ground beside it before an ambulance arrived. He was eventually airlifted out due to traffic around the track.
The injury is a bit more common in open-wheel racing, which has had three incidents of drivers breaking their backs since 2009.
Will Power broke several vertebrae in his lower back in a 2009 crash during practice at Sonoma and missed that event and the final three races of the season. He couldn't train for two months and wore a back brace for almost four months.
He also suffered a compression fracture of his fourth thoracic vertebrae in the 2011 season finale at Las Vegas but missed no racing as he healed during the offseason.
Justin Wilson fractured his fifth thoracic vertebra in 2011 and missed the last six races of the season. Wilson said he was in a back brace for 10 weeks.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti fractured the L1 vertebrae in his back in a 2003 motorcycle accident. He needed surgery and was out of a race car for almost nine months.
In NASCAR, Sterling Marlin missed the last seven races of the 2002 season with a fractured vertebra in his neck.
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Comments
I sure would like to hear the XYZ G-Force Numbers.
Sure Hope there are no complications, and that he gets to race again.
And I Was Points Champion the Following Year..
Woody[:(]
Oh, and Jeff Gordon was a "Trust Fund Baby" racer, too. His daddy moved the family from Ohio to California so his little boy would have a better shot at the brass ring.
I seriously doubt there are ANY drivers in NASCAR right now who did not get where they are because somebody did not pull some strings to get them there.
Had to be something on the order of Hundreds of Gs in order for the Vertical Whip to be enough to crush His Vertebrae with him in the Chair! Does NASCAR Require Instrumentation onboard, G-meters?
I sure would like to hear the XYZ G-Force Numbers.
Sure Hope there are no complications, and that he gets to race again.
A hundred G's would kill someone.
With that said, NASCAR has instruments in the car. They do not release this information to the public. Supposedly Jeff Gordon's Las Vegas crash in 2008 was at the time the highest recorded at 40G.
Hamlin got lucky, Greg Moore didn't...
Yeah, I remember that wreck. [V]
He almost didn't even race because of his hand too...
Jon
Sorry he got hurt bad, but he has been punting Longano off the track for several races, with the attitude of 'Hey, I was just racing," even after NASCAR had imposed fines, which he ignored, and NASCAR did nothing about.
Oh, and Jeff Gordon was a "Trust Fund Baby" racer, too. His daddy moved the family from Ohio to California so his little boy would have a better shot at the brass ring.
I seriously doubt there are ANY drivers in NASCAR right now who did not get where they are because somebody did not pull some strings to get them there.
I don't really care for Joey, but I don't disagree with the way he raced Hamlin. They both drove the heck out of each other going for the win. Joey drove it in hard, chased it up the track and got into Denny. Denny tried correcting and avoiding Joey and was sent into the wall at a nasty angle and hit a bad spot.
I honestly don't think that it would have happened had they not had the run-in at Bristol. Joey for sure would not have raced him that hard and Denny may not have either.
I didn't really care for the block he threw on Stewart though because it cost a bunch of guys a lot of track position. It backed up the whole inside lane. Stewart would have just ran him over in the old days, but was too nice with him. The next time he is going to end up in the grass....don't sound like too many drivers were happy with that one. Just my opinion on the whole thing though.
Jon
quote:Originally posted by Queen of Swords
Sorry he got hurt bad, but he has been punting Longano off the track for several races, with the attitude of 'Hey, I was just racing," even after NASCAR had imposed fines, which he ignored, and NASCAR did nothing about.
Oh, and Jeff Gordon was a "Trust Fund Baby" racer, too. His daddy moved the family from Ohio to California so his little boy would have a better shot at the brass ring.
I seriously doubt there are ANY drivers in NASCAR right now who did not get where they are because somebody did not pull some strings to get them there.
I don't really care for Joey, but I don't disagree with the way he raced Hamlin. They both drove the heck out of each other going for the win. Joey drove it in hard, chased it up the track and got into Denny. Denny tried correcting and avoiding Joey and was sent into the wall at a nasty angle and hit a bad spot.
I honestly don't think that it would have happened had they not had the run-in at Bristol. Joey for sure would not have raced him that hard and Denny may not have either.
I didn't really care for the block he threw on Stewart though because it cost a bunch of guys a lot of track position. It backed up the whole inside lane. Stewart would have just ran him over in the old days, but was too nice with him. The next time he is going to end up in the grass....don't sound like too many drivers were happy with that one. Just my opinion on the whole thing though.
Jon
+1
Looked like racing to me. It appeared to me that after the initial contact as Logano came up the track that Hamlin turned into Logano in an attempt to wreck him worse and instead caused himself to head into the inside wall.
Stewart will wreck Logano if he gets near him at Martinsville. I bet NASCAR tells Stewart that they'll black flag him if he intentionally goes after Logano.
As far as being a trust fund baby...quite a few pro athletes have made it both on hardwork and serious financial backing. It takes money, time and dedication on the part of parents to support kids from youth in order to achieve professional status in any sport. My sister has spent a fortune in time and money on her son's tennis career growing up, and the best they will get out of it is a partial scholarship. I'd say if the kid's been racing since 6 years old, he's earned his place. He wouldn't be driving in NASCAR if he didn't have the skill to be there. He's young and probably not conforming to the unwritten rules between drivers. It seems like others such as Kyle Bush went through these type growing pains.
Danica's good looks and nice * didn't hurt her rise to success either.
It sure wasn't her driving.... 26th place. At least she's improving. Her last three finishes were 28th, 33rd and 39th.
I've enjoyed seeing how all the Danican't supporters have been eerily quiet since Daytona.