Denny Hamlin losing out on the 2025 Cup Series championship was not the only harsh headline of last year, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver suffered another heartbreaking loss. In December, Hamlin lost his father to a house fire, an incident that brought back his old injury, which was revealed just days ago. So, after going through every possible pain in the offseason, now that he’s back, insiders are worried that the latest injury could be a major roadblock this time.

Will his injury stop Hamlin this time?

On the Stacking Pennies podcast, hosts Corey LaJoie and Ryan Flores recently spoke about Denny Hamlin, particularly about how Hamlin raced in the Clash despite his injury. “I think one of the biggest news items of the weekend,” LaJoie said. “I don’t want to harp on somebody’s health or talk about it, but I think Denny’s shoulder is massive news.”

“That’s big news. And just to hear what he went through, like, so for context, watching, if you didn’t get to watch the Clash, Denny had gotten shoulder surgery a couple of years ago. And man, talk about somebody that’s just gone through it personally,” said Flores.

“He fell when he was going through the debris and the fire that he lost his father in. Yeah. And reinjured his shoulder. Yeah. He said there was no bright lights in his off seasons. He said it was just absolutely brutal,” Flores further added.

Hamlin had surgery on his right shoulder a few years back. After falling in the house fire in December, Hamlin has re-ignited that previous injury.

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Having lost the championship by a whisker and then going into the off-season, only to see his father pass away, is probably one of the harshest moments for a person. Despite that, Hamlin has decided to go ahead and continue racing without opting for surgery, which could keep him away from the tracks for months.

His injury history goes back to 2019, when he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. At the end of that year, Hamlin underwent surgery for it. In 2023, the JGR star injured himself again, this time in the right rotator cuff.

However, the injury did not heal properly. This went on to hamper his performance at the end of the 2024 season again. Now, he’s hurt his right arm.

There are talks that Denny Hamlin’s injury could prove to be a big factor in his championship fight this year. But crew chief Chris Gayle has other ideas.

Crew chief has full faith in Denny Hamlin

While there are discussions about Denny Hamlin‘s personal issues hampering his performance this season, his crew chief, Chris Gayle, thinks otherwise. When asked if Hamlin could compete at the highest level again, here’s what Gayle said:

“Oh, for sure. I think he’ll get there a hundred percent. I have the utmost faith that that’ll happen. Obviously yes, he’s had a tremendous up-and-down off-season, right? Like it’s just remarkable the things he’s had to kind of endure and go through.”

Gayle and Hamlin worked together last year to reach the Championship 4 and finish the season as runner-up. The #11 driver lost his championship to Kyle Larson at Phoenix. This year, Hamlin will continue to drive the #11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing.

He will compete under full-time obligation alongside Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell. With that said, it will be interesting to see how Denny Hamlin performs trying to heal from not just his emotional wounds but also his physical ones.