Championship contender Denny Hamlin said he felt ‘slightly dizzy’ and admitted that he would probably not have gone to the infield care center after a testing crash Thursday at Kansas Speedway had a NASCAR official not suggested he do so. Hamlin crashed his #11 Toyota in Turn 1 ‘ the same corner Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit during a tire test on Aug. 29 where he sustained the first of two concussions that is forcing him to miss his second race in a row. Hamlin said he clipped the wall with the right rear going 202 mph entering the corner, sending the car down the track. He overcorrected and hit the wall with the right side, destroying the Camry he intended to race Sunday. After seeing the car’s damage, a NASCAR official suggested that Hamlin go to the infield care center. Hamlin could not recall another time he had driven to the garage and a series official suggested he go to the care center. Hamlin was asked to return to the infield care center an hour later for a re-evaluation before being cleared to drive. He was cleared after a 10-minute evaluation. Hamlin’s last lap before he crashed was 181.409 mph ‘ his fastest lap of the session. The track qualifying record is 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth in October 2005. Hamlin said he did not think the attention he received after his crash was related to the prominence of concussions after Earnhardt suffered two concussions within six weeks and will miss his second consecutive race. He said it made sense to be evaluated before getting back in a car.(USA Today)(10-18-2012)
UPDATE: Denny Hamlin said he feels ‘100 percent’ one day after jarring practice-session accident at Kansas Speedway caused him some dizziness. ‘Today waking up, I was good to go,’ Hamlin said Friday afternoon after practice. ‘I feel 100 percent. I thought I was good yesterday and got better every hour. Now it’s just business as usual for the weekend.’ Hamlin took a heavy impact into the wall when his #11 Toyota spun up the track in practice on Thursday. He admitted he was dizzy afterward and said he ‘got his bell rung.’(ESPN)(10-19-2012)
