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Hamlin wins Watkins Glen despite "worst pain I’ve had to go through"

How close did winner Denny Hamlin come to not even competing in Sunday’s road course race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International because of his recurring back spasms?

Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

NASCAR Media

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota takes the checkered flag
Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, crew members celebrating
Race winner Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Apparently a lot closer than many realized.

There was an early clue when Hamlin spent the entire pre-race drivers meeting standing behind the back row of seats, instead of sitting in a chair with his crew chief, Mike Wheeler, and fellow Joe Gibbs Racing drivers.

By then, Wheeler already knew the condition of his driver.

“I got the text this morning when he woke up. He was in trouble. It was like, you know, not something you really want to hear. You know you got good cars, good teammates, track position to start,” Wheeler said after the race.

“But at end of the day I know he man’s up when he needs to. I almost want to say if he knew he didn't have a winning car, he might do something different. But I know he definitely gets that attitude going in the car when he has a winning car, can run up front and tough it out.”

Not his first experience with spasms

Hamlin said he didn’t know what caused the spasms on Sunday. Neck spasms forced him out of his car at Bristol, Tenn., in April 2015 and Erik Jones filled in the remainder of that race.

“I’ve got a pretty good routine that I do during the week that helps with that. But just today, you know, slept wrong, something. Woke up and knew I was in pretty big trouble,” he said. “We worked on it all day to try to make it better. We really didn’t make it much better.

“No doubt if it was Friday or Saturday, no question I wouldn’t have turned one lap today. It was by far the worst conditions I’ve ever had to drive in, over the knees, anything else. This was by far the worst pain-wise I’ve had to go through.”

Pushing through the pain

Even during a late-race red flag, Hamlin was struggling to finish the race.

“It didn’t get any better throughout the day. Trust me, I’m sitting there, even though I’m overjoyed that we’re leading the race, I was thinking under the red flag, ‘Let's get this over with so I can get out of this car.’

“I don't know why it did it today. But I'll just continue to go to work on it and try to get in the gym and try to make things a little bit better overall. I have missed my routine because I've had to travel over the last few weeks. I kind of got off sequence of my routine that’s helped my back.”

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