Denny Hamlin will enter the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, his 21st as a full-timer at NASCAR’s top-level, nursing a re-aggravated shoulder injury.
The Chesterfield, Virginia-native spoke to members of the media ahead of Wednesday’s postponed Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he not only confirmed the injury, but made note that he would be unable to have surgery on his previously repaired shoulder until next off-season.
Per Hamlin, the injury was a result of a fall during the off-season, which occurred when his family was sorting through the rubble of his parents’ house. The home burned down on December 28 and tragically claimed the life of his ill father, Dennis Hamlin. However, there had been signs that his shoulder wasn’t in good shape before that happened.
“Kind of right after the season, it was just nagging me a little bit,” Hamlin said of his shoulder. “Took a little fall at my mom’s house, going through all the rubble and stuff, and just didn’t feel right.”
The 44-year-old driver previously had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in November 2023, ahead of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. Hamlin has also had his left shoulder operated on, doing so in November 2019.
“I could, the option as just to do [the surgery] now and miss the first three, four months,” Hamlin said about a timeline for potential surgery. “Or, you know, just tough it out and do it the first day of the off-season. That’s what I’ll do.”
Hamlin is coming off a devastating loss in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race last November at Phoenix Raceway, where, despite dominating the winner-takes-all finale, a late-race caution and pit stop cycle took away his shot at finally hoisting the Bill France Cup.
That significant loss, coupled with a mentally taxing off-season that included an antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body, his parents’ house catching on fire, losing his father, and now a shoulder injury, hasn’t given him much time to come to the Cook Out Clash ready to go for a brand-new season.
“Hard to believe I’ve gotta be in a car in a couple of hours,” Hamlin added. “But you know, I’ll have some rust and certainly feel like you don’t get much of an off-season. Obviously, no vacations, no fun stuff, anything like that. I had, I think, one day at the race shop since Phoenix. It’s good. As I said, it’s just going to take a little while to kind of get back into the swing of things.”
Hamlin and the remainder of the NASCAR Cup Series field will get on track for the first time this season in practice/qualifying for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium at 1:30 PM ET on Wednesday, February 4. The LCQ will take place at 4:30 PM ET, with the main event starting at 6:00 PM on FOX.
