Denny Hamlin

On Sunday evening, at the end of the race in Fontana, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano were trading paint, going for the win, when Logano came up the track and both cars were turned. Logano was able to recover and finish the race in third place, and commented in the post-race interview about Denny  "He probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets."

And I cringed. Because we didn't know if Denny was okay yet. Did Logano know the wreck sent Denny into a concrete wall, not the SAFER barrier? If he had, I believe he would have held his tongue.

Denny had dropped the net on his window, but the next shot was him being placed on a backboard. He was airlifted to the hospital. And he is not okay. He may not be for a good long while. Denny Hamlin has a compression fracture of his first lumbar vertebrae. So a bone in his back is broken. How badly broken? Will surgery be needed? Or just a brace and rehab? It is anyone's guess at this point.

Of course now Logano is back-pedaling- he didn't wreck Denny on purpose, it was just hard racing for a win... and his owner is on damage control:

"That's a tough thing, Joey had no idea what the situation was with Denny when he was doing the interview," Penske is quoted as saying. "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."


Taken out of context? I cringed as it came out of his mouth. I watched the replay, Denny was going up the track (to block Busch, perhaps, as he was coming fast) and Logano followed him up the racetrack.

This could be bad for Logano, and I don't think the criticism is unwarranted. At very least, maybe next time he will think before he speaks.

And Denny, I hope you feel better soon, and recover and get back to racing ASAP.


The latest update: Interview at discharge