Easy on those shoulders! Todd Hazelwood with Brodie Kostecki at The Bend. Image: InSyde Media
The South Australian suffered a momentary dislocation of his left shoulder in a last-lap incident with James Moffat while battling for the lead in the Saturday Trans Am race.
Hazelwood was attempting to duck under Moffat at the exit of the second-last corner when they made multiple bouts of contact, for which Moffat was later penalised.
While DJR downplayed any concern over Hazelwood before he took the start on Sunday, the 30-year-old had been seen holding his shoulder in the aftermath of the incident.
“The first wheel-to-wheel contact was quite violent in the steering, so his right-front wheel hit my left-front wheel,” Hazelwood told Speedcafe.
“I was at full opposite lock trying to catch the wheel and when the second hit happened I wasn’t ready for it, essentially.
“The wheel got ripped out of my hand with enough force to pop my left shoulder out momentarily.
“It was popped for about two to three seconds whilst I was travelling through the grass trying to gather it all up, and then it popped itself back in.”
Hazelwood reported the shoulder issue to his Todd’s Garage Trans Am team via radio immediately after the finish.
That led to a group of DJR personnel, including Kostecki, Tom Moore (team manager), Paul Haines (performance coach) and Chloe Prudden (physiotherapist) greeting Hazelwood in parc ferme.
They whisked him back to DJR’s pit area for treatment. Supercars’ medical delegate Dr Carl Le also checked in on Hazelwood, but the driver was not required to go to the medical centre.
James Moffat and Todd Hazelwood came together on the final lap of Race 2 while fighting for the lead.
“That was more as a precaution, just to make sure that if I needed any assistance or if it was bad,” he said of the aftermath.
“From my point of view, the pain threshold was non-existent. It was like a one out of 10 pain.
“So I knocked back a couple of Panadols and had a bit of strapping to make sure that it didn’t fall out again for the big day, and it was fine.”
It’s not the first time Hazelwood has dislocated a shoulder in a race car, having popped his right one out during wheel-to-wheel contact in a Supercars race at Townsville in 2018.
Hazelwood said that dislocation was far worse and has resulted in his right shoulder subsequently suffering mild dislocations, including while playing cricket and once while pulling a jumper on.
“I’ve been told recently that I’ve got bad genetics and my shoulders are prone to popping, which is a bit of a feature of the mould, apparently,” he said.
“It was more annoying that this was actually my good shoulder! I’ve always looked after my right shoulder and now this one has decided to play up.
“Once you’ve dislocated your shoulder there’s damage to the bone and so forth, so it’s just something that I have to manage.
“We did the strapping [at The Bend] as a precaution, just to make sure that I was giving myself the best chance for it to obviously not fall out again.
“I’ve had scans since. I’ve been working with the team just to make sure I get the strength and conditioning back into the shoulder, and everything’s been managed at a really high level.
“I certainly can eliminate any doubt or any questions going into the big race at Bathurst next month.”
Hazelwood endured a horror first stint. Image: InSyde Media.
Hazelwood ultimately endured a horror start to The Bend 500, sinking back through the pack at up to four seconds a lap after starting from pole position.
That has been blamed on a bad set of wet tyres, with Hazelwood’s speed making a miraculous return after his first pit stop.
“There were a lot of rumours that I’d torn ligaments and that I’d been in hospital and all sorts of things that weren’t the case,” Hazelwood added.
“My physical condition had nothing to do with that first stint.”
The other rumour at The Bend was that Hazelwood had been taken from parc ferme in haste to avoid a potential physical confrontation with Moffat following their latest on-track scrap.
“Moff and I had words at QR, and I gave him a few character references, so I’ve said what I need to say, and I think he knows what I think of him now,” added Hazelwood.
“But I’m a lover, not a fighter, so you won’t see me throwing any punches anytime!”