NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin pulls out of Friday's Nationwide race due to back spasms. (Photo : Reuters)
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin made a last-minute decision to sit out the Nationwide Series at Daytona due to back spasms.
According to the Associated Press, Hamlin sat out two sessions for Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway with the hope of giving his back time to heal.
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"I have made such decent to good progress through this week that you don't want to give that up by getting in a wreck or jeopardizing being able to start the Sprint Cup race," he told the AP. "We decided to sit everything out until I'm absolutely needed, and we'll take it from there."
Hamlin said the spasms began Sunday, a day after driving 400 miles over rough pavement at Kentucky Speedway. Due to the spasms the driver could barely move around. Addressing the media on his decision, Hamlin said that he treated the injury with ice, stimulation and a pain-killing injection.
"I'm just now starting to get mobile again and being able to get around. We don't want to set any kind of that back by sitting down any longer than I have to," Hamlin said.
Back spasms have been troubling Hamlin since 2008. Ultimately, the speedster may require surgery.
"There's some torn disk. There's some bulging disk. There's a lot of different thing that have just happened over time," he said.
