WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Denny Hamlin tore his shoulder again after having arthroscopic surgery on it following the 2023 season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he doesn’t plan to have surgery during the year on his right shoulder. At the end of 2023, he raced despite not having full movement.
Hamlin said Wednesday he noticed his shoulder didn’t feel right after the 2025 season and then fell in the rubble of his parents’ home, which burned down in December. His terminally ill father died in the blaze, and his mother suffered significant burns.
“I don’t think that it ever healed properly,” “Hamlin said prior to practice for NASCAR’s snow-delayed preseason Clash. “I just noticed some issues really kind of right after the season. It just was nagging me a little bit.
How will Hamlin fare in 2026 driving with an injured shoulder?
“Took a little fall at my mom’s house, going through all the rubble and stuff, and it just didn’t feel right. I got it re-scanned and [was told I] re-tore it again.”
Surgery would have put Hamlin out of the race car for possibly at least a couple of months.
“The option was just do it now and miss the first three, four months or just tough it out and do it the first day of the offseason,” Hamlin said.
“That’s what I’ll do.”
The 45-year-old Hamlin said the shoulder is not as bad as it was at the end of 2023.
“Certainly [I need to be] making sure I’m doing the things out of the car, working, keeping the range good, keeping the strength good, to kind of get to that November date where I can work on and get it fixed again,” Hamlin said.
“[I’m] limiting, honestly, the things I love to do … simply because that aggravates it, and it certainly causes the tear to get worse. And it’s kind of hanging on. It’s torn, but it’s still got a little few parts and pieces hanging on that I need to keep intact for the full year.”
As far as how Hamlin is doing mentally, he said he has not focused much on racing but it is up to him to make sure he performs well. While he’s got 60 Cup wins under his belt, Hamlin is still seeking his first Cup title.
Denny Hamlin looks toward a hopeful 2026 after dealing with adversity in the offseason.
“So everyone kind of has their times where they have to go through tough moments,” Hamlin said. “And I think that those are really kind of building moments of your character. It’s how you respond to it. This season, for me, could certainly go one of two ways. And I think there’s not much of a middle road there.
“It’s going to go really one way or really the other way. And it’s up to me which way I decide to turn. Right now, my focus is keeping this thing on the right track and making sure I spend these last couple years accomplishing everything that I want to before my career is over.”
Hamlin said he knows he isn’t the only one who has to deal with adversity and tragedy.
“The easy thing to say is, ‘Poor me,’ but I still have a fantastic life, a great family,” Hamlin said. “A lot of people go through tragedies.
“What happened with my family in the offseason was highly publicized. There’s probably tons of those stories of crew members that happen in their family this offseason, that happens to them during the season that no one really knows about.”
His mother is doing better, recuperating in Florida, he said.
“She’s definitely getting better physically and mentally, certainly will take some time,” Hamlin said. “But it feels like she’s getting in a better place.”
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