Analysis

NASCAR Cup

Once again, Fontana is forgettable for Hamlin

For Hamlin, the two-mile track in Fontana, Calif. is star-crossed, to say the least.

Edited: Mar 24, 2014, 9:12 PM

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Don’t blame Denny Hamlin if he develops the same sense of foreboding for Auto Club Speedway that Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch has for Kansas Speedway.

For Hamlin, the two-mile track in Fontana, Calif. is star-crossed, to say the least.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

Last year, Hamlin missed four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races after breaking his back (a compression fracture of the first lumbar vertebra) after a collision with Joey Logano’s Ford sent his Toyota rocketing into the inside wall.

Naturally enough, one of the main story lines entering Sunday’s Auto Club 400 was a possible revenge play between Hamlin and Logano, but that show closed before the curtain went up.

Instead of walking to the starting grid, Hamlin rode to a local hospital on the morning of the race, suffering from a sinus infection serious enough to require immediate attention. Sam Hornish Jr. took his place in the No. 11 JGR Toyota and finished a solid 17th.

Hamlin was released from the hospital Sunday evening, with further observation and evaluation planned this week after his return to North Carolina, according to a statement his team released on Sunday night.

Coincidentally, Hamlin spent most more than 24 hours in the hospital before returning home after last year’s accident. A hospital certainly is an uncomfortable place for a driver to be.

But the most uncomfortable place a driver can be is anywhere outside his race car.

Here’s to a speedy recovery that will keep Hamlin’s absence as short as possible.

Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service

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