Hamlin's crash at Kansas underscores vigilance of officials, medical staff
Oct. 18, 2012
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Denny Hamlin was right.
His
hard crash at Kansas Speedway during Thursday's NASCAR Sprint Cup test
session -- and two subsequent trips to the Infield Care Center --
probably
wouldn't have attracted much attention if it hadn't been for Dale
Earnhardt Jr.
On
Aug. 29, Earnhardt likewise suffered a similar hit at the 1.5-mile
track. Earnhardt admitted later that he had suffered a concussion during
the
crash, and after another wreck Oct. 7 at Talladega -- and another
concussion -- Earnhardt sought medical attention and ultimately was
sidelined from competition for at least two weeks, forcing him to miss
races at Charlotte and Kansas.
"If
Dale Jr.'s incident wouldn't have happened," Hamlin told reporters
outside the care center, "I don't think any of y'all would be here."
Hamlin lost control of his car in Turn 1 during the first hour of testing and slammed into the Turn 2 wall.
"It
was the third lap on sticker (new) tires, and a little treacherous, and
really, I just clipped the right rear on the outside wall on corner
entry," Hamlin said. "When I did, it just shot the car to the apron. I
tried to correct and overcorrected got into the outside fence."
Hamlin
said he felt slightly dizzy after the wreck, and though he drove his
No. 11 Toyota back to the garage, a NASCAR official examined the car,
which was damaged beyond repair, and recommended a visit to the infield
car center.
Hamlin
complied, was examined and was instructed to return an hour later for
follow-up. By the time Hamlin made his second visit to the care center,
his symptoms had passed, and he was cleared to return to the track in a
backup car.
"There
were a couple of NASCAR officials that analyze the car after a wreck,"
Hamlin said. "[A NASCAR official] looked at the car and said that
it would probably be wise to go, after looking at the car. Obviously,
the car's destroyed pretty good."
Fellow Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Clint Bowyer witnessed the wreck and testified to its magnitude.
"I
was pulling on the race track and I saw him," Bowyer said. "He was
sideways way, way early, and I was trying to figure out what the hell
was
going on. Then I saw him get on the apron, and he was in trouble, man.
He hit hard -- real hard."
Hamlin
wouldn't concede that his two visits to the doctors represented
increased vigilance on NASCAR's part in the aftermath of Earnhardt's two
concussions, but he couldn't remember ever having been sent to the care
center after driving back to the garage. This was the first time he had
ever been asked to return to the care center for reevaluation.
"Just
standard procedure, really -- nothing different from than I've ever
seen before," Hamlin said after exiting the care center for the second
time. "I was just slightly dizzy after the first hit. After that, just
came back, and everything's cleared right up. So it's definitely good. I
feel fine now…
"I
talked to ‘em (the doctors), and they said they have reevaluations all
the time. The reevaluate with me each wreck, through text messages, to
ask how you're doing and everything. But simply because of the speed of
the impact, I think they were just trying to be safe and asking me how I
felt, and I was honest with them and said I was a little dizzy.
"And
they said, ‘Well, come back in an hour and make sure you're OK.'… It
was the first time I really had some dizziness after a hit. Usually, I'm
sore, or your jaw hurts from clenching your jaw, things like that, but
this was the first time I got really dizzy."
The
car Hamlin wrecked was the one he had intended to race in Sunday's
Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas. Driving that same chassis, Hamlin won
the
second Chase race, Sept. 23 at New Hampshire, leading 193 of 300 laps
in the process.
The
backup car he'll drive this weekend last raced in the Chase opener
Sept. 16 at Chicagoland, where Hamlin ran near the front of the field
all
afternoon before running out of fuel and finishing 16th.
MURPHY'S LAW
Denny
Hamlin's wreck wasn't the only incident in an eventful test session.
Casey Mears' No. 13 Ford twice dropped oil on the track, forcing the
Germain Racing team to abandon the test car and bring out the primary
that will race on Sunday.
"Strange issue today," Mears posted on his Twitter account. "Motor fine? Pumping oil out for some reason?"
As
reporters were waiting for Hamlin after his second visit to the care
center, the engine blew in Tony Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet, again oiling
the track, forcing the team to change power plants.
Because
of the series of stoppages, NASCAR extended the test session an extra
25 minutes to 1:55 p.m. ET. Regan Smith, subbing for Dale Earnhardt
Jr., posted the fastest lap at 186.143 mph.
No comments:
Post a Comment