Denny Hamlin came back from an early-race spin to win at today’s Chase race at Chicagoland Speedway. Also battling back from a torn ACL, Hamlin explained his feelings post-race as “Ow”.
“Ow.”, Hamlin reiterated. “This was a great win for this FedEx Ground Toyota team today, and my knee really hurts. This goes to show you what you can do with a fast car, a great pit crew, and mind-numbingly excruciating knee pain.”
Hamlin sat in his car well after pulling into victory lane, and admitted debating on what to do next.
“Well, I can just sit here and stay with a dull throbbing, or I could climb out and deal with enough sharp pain to make me possibly pass-out,” Hamlin said. “Of course, the sooner I get out of this car, the sooner I can get some medical care. It’s the old pulling-off-the-band-aid problem.”
When asked how he was able to charge through the field with such relative ease, Hamlin again referenced his knee injury.
“Heck—you try banging your injured knee against solid metal for three-plus hours”, Hamlin said, noticeably wincing. “If someone could just knock me out—punch me in the face, hit me over the head with a mallet, whatever—maybe then I’ll get some relief.”