{"id":379347,"date":"2025-12-31T12:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T12:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/379347\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T12:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T12:20:07","slug":"nascar-23xi-racing-issue-heartfelt-statements-on-denny-hamlin-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/379347\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR, 23XI Racing Issue Heartfelt Statements on Denny Hamlin Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767183607_118_Denny-Hamlin-Richmond-2024-e1723574344232.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Denny Hamlin at Richmond.\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Denny Hamlin on grid at Richmond. <\/p>\n<p>The NASCAR community is mourning the death of Dennis Hamlin, the father of Denny Hamlin, after a house fire in Gaston County, <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/denny-hamlin-dennis-dies-mary-lou-hospitalized\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">North Carolina<\/a>. The fire happened late Sunday night at the family\u2019s two-story home near Stanley. Dennis Hamlin was 75.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency crews found Dennis and his wife, Mary Lou Hamlin, outside the home after they escaped the fire. Both suffered severe injuries. Dennis later died at a nearby hospital. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/denny-hamlin-dennis-dies-mary-lou-hospitalized\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Lou<\/a>\u00a0remains in critical condition and is receiving treatment at a burn center.<\/p>\n<p>Fire details and emergency response<\/p>\n<p>Gaston County Emergency Medical Services confirmed that the fire was reported late Sunday evening. When firefighters arrived, the home was already engulfed in heavy flames and smoke. Crews worked to control the blaze, but the house suffered major damage.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin managed to get out of the home before crews arrived. Paramedics treated both at the scene and transported them for emergency care. Dennis later died from his injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Mary Lou was first taken to a local hospital before doctors transferred her by helicopter to the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston-Salem. Hospital officials said she remains in intensive care.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators are still examining the scene. Officials have not said whether smoke alarms or other safety devices were involved.<\/p>\n<p>NASCAR and Denny Hamlin receive support after tragedy<\/p>\n<p>NASCAR released a statement honoring Dennis Hamlin and his role in his son\u2019s career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Denny Hamlin and the entire Hamlin family,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NASCAR_Comms\/status\/2006033371315523671?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">\u00a0the statement said<\/a>.\u201d \u201cDennis Hamlin instilled a love of racing in his son and sacrificed greatly to develop Denny into a world-class talent in the sport. We also continue to offer our thoughts and prayers to Denny\u2019s mother, Mary Lou, and hope for her full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>23XI Racing, co-owned by Denny Hamlin and <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/michael-jordan\/\" title=\"Michael Jordan\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"133493\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Jordan<\/a>, also shared a message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone at 23XI Racing is deeply saddened by the tragic news concerning the Hamlin family, the team said.\u201d \u201cWe extend our deepest condolences to Denny and the entire Hamlin family during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and his mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hamlin has not released a personal statement as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Support from the racing community<\/p>\n<p>Drivers and teams across NASCAR have shared messages of support. Joey Logano posted his condolences on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy thoughts and prayers go out to Denny Hamlin, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/joeylogano\/posts\/my-thoughts-and-prayers-go-out-to-denny-hamlin-such-a-horrific-situation-the-log\/1426002382218106\/?_rdc=1&amp;_rdr#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Logano wrote<\/a>.\u201d \u201cSuch a horrific situation. The Logano family will continue to think of and pray for everyone impacted and we\u2019ll pray for Mary Lou and hope the best for her full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dennis Hamlin played a key role in his son\u2019s racing career. He worked as a mechanic and helped build cars during Denny\u2019s early years. He and Mary Lou traveled with him to tracks across the Southeast as Denny moved through the racing ranks.<\/p>\n<p>Denny Hamlin made his Cup Series debut in 2005 and has since won 51 races, including three Daytona 500 victories. His parents remained a steady presence throughout his career.<\/p>\n<p>As investigators continue their work, the focus remains on Mary Lou Hamlin\u2019s recovery. The NASCAR community continues to rally around the family during a difficult time.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Denny Hamlin on grid at Richmond. The NASCAR community is mourning the death of Dennis Hamlin, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-379347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}