{"id":380476,"date":"2026-01-01T00:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/380476\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T00:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:55:11","slug":"mother-of-nascars-denny-hamlin-continues-to-improve-after-deadly-stanley-house-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/380476\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of NASCAR\u2019s Denny Hamlin \u2018continues to improve\u2019 after deadly Stanley house fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

STANLEY, N.C. (WBTV) – The mother of NASCAR star Denny Hamlin \u201ccontinues to improve\u201d after being seriously injured in a Gaston County house fire<\/a> that killed her husband last weekend.<\/p>\n

Dennis Hamlin, father of NASCAR driver and team-owner Denny Hamlin, died on Sunday, Dec. 28<\/a> after a massive fire broke out at a home in Stanley, North Carolina. Dennis Hamlin\u2019s wife Mary Lou Hamlin was seriously injured.<\/p>\n

\"PhotosPhotos shared by the Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department showed the main part of the house engulfed in tall flames, with much of the home gone by the time the fire was out.(Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department)<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin posted to social media on Wednesday, Dec. 31 for the first time since the deadly house fire. He thanked his fans<\/a> for their support, and gave an update on his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time,\u201d Denny Hamlin wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

—> Related: NASCAR community has tough December with 2 former drivers, father of another driver killed<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials said both of Denny Hamlin\u2019s parents were able to exit the burning home, and were taken to the hospital. Dennis Hamlin, 75, died at the hospital due to his injuries. Mary Lou Hamlin suffered \u201ccatastrophic\u201d injuries from the fire, and was taken to a burn center in Winston-Salem.<\/p>\n

The house fire appeared to happen on or near the couple\u2019s 52nd wedding anniversary<\/a>, and just days after Christmas. The cause of the fire was still under investigation.<\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin has previously said that his father sparked his interest in racing, and that his parents \u201csacrificed everything\u201d for him to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s my No. 1 hype man when it comes to confidence,\u201d Denny Hamlin previously said<\/a> in a social media post. \u201cHim and my mom just had so much sacrifice that they endured to keep me going, to keep their son\u2019s dreams alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"**** FILE ** Denny Hamlin, center, watches the competition with his mother, Mary Lou, left, and father, Dennis, while waiting for results during qualifying for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup auto race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., in this Sept. 8, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo\/Steve Helber)(STEVE HELBER | ASSOCIATED PRESS)<\/p>\n

Just two months before his father\u2019s death, Denny Hamlin dedicated his milestone 60th career win<\/a> in Las Vegas to his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know you earned that one for your dad,\u201d Hamlin\u2019s crew chief, Chris Gayle, said over the in-car radio. \u201cWe all know.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR released a statement this week mourning the loss of Dennis Hamlin, saying the father \u201cinstilled a love of racing in his son, and sacrificed greatly to develop Denny into a world-class talent in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE – Denny Hamlin is introduced before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Rick Scuteri, File)(Rick Scuteri | AP)<\/p>\n

—> Related: NASCAR planning Charlotte remembrance event for Greg Biffle, family, others killed in plane crash<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STANLEY, N.C. (WBTV) – The mother of NASCAR star Denny Hamlin \u201ccontinues to improve\u201d after being seriously injured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-380476","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\/380476","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=380476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}