Denny Hamlin should probably skip Auto Club Speedway in the future. He’s had the worst luck on the 2-mile oval over the past two seasons.
Last year, Hamlin confused Joey Logano, crashed and suffered back fractures. He missed four races due to his injury and never ran well all season until he won the finale at Homestead.
Miami Motor Speedway.
This time, the track figuratively hit the Virginia driver in the nose. Hamlin’s sinuses were so infected that it caused him vision problems. Before the start of the Auto Club 400, the team declared Hamlin unable to drive, sent him to an area hospital for treatment and put Sam Hornish Jr. in the No. 11 Toyota. Hornish finished 17th as Hamlin’s sub in the 11th hour.
“He had a little sinus infection a while ago,” said JD Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “The hardest part, I think… he can still drive, but he talked about it and was concerned about it and wanted to make sure it was taken care of.” The doctors said, “Hey, you need to do this right away.” » I hope it’s nothing, but you need to get checked out.
After the race, the team said Hamlin was examined at a hospital near the track and released. Hamlin could be the first driver to miss a race because of a blocked nose.
Gordon denied
Has Jeff Gordon used up all his luck in the race? Gordon was less than two laps away from winning Sunday’s race until the No. 15 Toyota of Clint Bowyer blew a rear tire and spun, prompting a white flag caution. Signalman’s case.
Gordon went from assured victory to a distant 13th place and feels less than charitable towards the manufacturer of his wayward tire. “I don’t know where to start with how disappointed this team is,” the four-time Cup Series champion said. “They gave me the most incredible race car today and it’s so disappointing that it ended like this.
“I hate the warning that was issued. I hate that Goodyear is not prepared today for what happened. They are so good at what they do and this is just uncalled for.
mention Danica
It’s been a few weeks, so let’s add Danica Patrick’s name to the Hot Topics mix. Patrick finished 14th in California, her best result of the 2014 season. “It seems like some of our more grueling weekends end with better results,” she said. “We’ll take it and know there’s so much more potential for those weekends where we feel like we’re running a lot better.”
Then she added: “It’s nice when you get lucky and your best racing position on the track happens to be the last lap, so I’ll take it.” This doesn’t normally happen.
