Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
On Friday at Dover International Speedway, Denny Hamlin detailed why he was feeling sick and being dehydrated in the car during the Coca Cola 600.
As the race got into the later bits, Hamlin commented on the radio to crew chief Dave Rogers that he had a headache and wasn’t feeling good. He was taken to the infield care center post-race, where he was given fluids due to dehydration. Beyond the dehydration, though, he said that they had an exhaust leak during the race. He feels that exhaust leak caused the migraine that he was suffering from.
“We blew a hole in our header and exhaust system that was leaking in the car,” he commented. “That didn’t help at all either.”
Hamlin says that he fell ill last week as a result of a lack of preparation for running the 600-mile event, on top of running the XFINITY race the day prior. He isn’t racing in Saturday’s XFINITY event this weekend.
“I felt like I kept up with my fluids pretty well last week, but obviously it wasn’t enough,” he commented. “I’ve got to go above and beyond. The conditions and the car didn’t make things very easy for me.”
So far, Hamlin is off to a good start as he will start Sunday’s FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks from the pole. He also knows that he will have a good pit crew in the pits, based on the speed that they’ve shown so far this year. There are concerns, though, surrounding the new rules that NASCAR issued. Each team member on the team is required to wear fire retardant gear underneath their suits, rather than just the fuel guy as in the past.
“I would think in some way it would hinder speed, but it’s going to be the same for everyone so hopefully everyone takes that step back,” he said. “But, my guys obviously are exceptional. They find ways around getting slowed up by anything else, so I’m sure they’ll do the same for that.
“I think it’s a great step on NASCAR’s part to make that mandatory. It’s something that’s definitely needed around pit area any time there’s lug nuts flying around or sparks flying and fuel you’re going to have the chance of what’s happened with those RCR (Richard Childress Racing) teams those last few weeks. Obviously a great step and it’s just something that the team guys will all adapt to for sure.”
