{"id":383676,"date":"2026-01-02T14:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T14:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/383676\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T14:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T14:38:07","slug":"denny-hamlin-makes-first-public-comments-since-fire-killed-father-injured-mother-whio-tv-7-and-whio-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/383676\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin makes first public comments since fire killed father, injured mother \u2013 WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">NASCAR star Denny Hamlin took to social media on Wednesday to thank friends, fans and community members for their outpourings of support after a house fire killed in North Carolina his father and severely injured his mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">\u201cThank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father\u2019s passing,\u201d the 60-time winner on NASCAR\u2019s top series <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dennyhamlin\/status\/2006460054497878279?s=20\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dennyhamlin\/status\/2006460054497878279?s=20\">tweeted<\/a>. \u201cMy mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">Dennis Hamlin, 75, died after the home in Stanley was engulfed in flames on Sunday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\">WSOC-TV<\/a> reported. He was taken to an area hospital where he later died, officials with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/157\/Emergency-Management-Fire-Services\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/157\/Emergency-Management-Fire-Services\">Gaston County Office of Emergency Management and Fire Services<\/a> said Monday.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father\u2019s passing. My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dennyhamlin\/status\/2006460054497878279?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">December 31, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/m\/newsflash\/Home\/Detail\/746\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/m\/newsflash\/Home\/Detail\/746\">news release<\/a> from Gaston County officials said that Dennis Hamlin died from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/m\/newsflash\/Home\/Detail\/746\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.gastongov.com\/m\/newsflash\/Home\/Detail\/746\">catastrophic injuries<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">Mary Lou Hamlin, 69, was taken to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\">Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center<\/a> in Winston-Salem, where she is being treated. Mary Lou Hamlin, 69, was taken to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/1-dead-1-hurt-fire-home-where-neighbors-say-nascar-drivers-family-lives\/AKICBFGAT5CYLGM5V4AC7VNI3Q\/\">Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center<\/a> in Winston-Salem, where she is being treated. She was originally listed in critical condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">Denny Hamlin, 45, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6924458\/2025\/12\/28\/denny-hamlin-parents-giant-house-fire-nascar\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6924458\/2025\/12\/28\/denny-hamlin-parents-giant-house-fire-nascar\/\">won six races<\/a> and had 14 top-5 finishes this past season on the NASCAR circuit. He finished second in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series standings, losing to champion Kyle Larson by four points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">The driver has won the Daytona 500 three times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph\">Others associated with NASCAR offered their condolences to Denny Hamlin, including legend <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/therichardpetty\/status\/2005807554920693999?s=20\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/therichardpetty\/status\/2005807554920693999?s=20\">Richard Petty<\/a> and drivers <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KurtBusch\/status\/2006118682867462390?s=20\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KurtBusch\/status\/2006118682867462390?s=20\">Kurt Busch<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KyleLarsonRacin\/status\/2005738556967256170?s=20\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KyleLarsonRacin\/status\/2005738556967256170?s=20\">Kyle Larson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chasebriscoe\/status\/2004280119104622973?s=20\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chasebriscoe\/status\/2004280119104622973?s=20\">Chase Briscoe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Richard Petty and the Petty family extend their hearts and prayers to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dennyhamlin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@dennyhamlin<\/a> and the entire Hamlin family during this incredibly difficult time following the passing of his father. They are also praying for strength, healing and peace for his mom.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Richard Petty (@therichardpetty) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/therichardpetty\/status\/2005807554920693999?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">December 30, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hamlin family and their loved ones \ud83d\ude4f<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KyleLarsonRacin\/status\/2005738556967256170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">December 29, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 lofITx body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a9 2025 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASCAR star Denny Hamlin took to social media on Wednesday to thank friends, fans and community members for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,10662,117175,3932,163284,1132,41526,4386,160508,634,25834,82,18810],"class_list":["post-383676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chase-briscoe","tag-dennis-hamlin","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-fatal-fire","tag-fire","tag-kurt-busch","tag-kyle-larson","tag-mary-lou-hamlin","tag-nascar","tag-richard-petty","tag-sports","tag-stanley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383676","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=383676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}