In the midst of a two-week whirlwind period, lot of has gone down with relation to Denny Hamlin, health issues and the metal in his eye. There’s a lot to be learned from the discussion and certainly things that should be noted moving forward.
1. When a driver speaks, they should be believed for saying truth not as a lie
When Denny Hamlin stated that he missed the race at Fontana due to metal in his eyes, some people stated that they didn’t believe him. Some felt it was a cover-up to cover for something else. Some were saying he was covering a drug test and not wanting to race that weekend on track. After all, it was the track that he got hurt at previously.
Doubting someone is speaking the truth especially on an issue of this nature is not something to be commended or accepted at all. Hamlin could say whatever he wanted, but NASCAR would have copy of doctor’s report and be able to check. In that matter, why would he lie? Obviously, that’s what had him fired up last weekend.
“People who think negatively of me or think that we side-stepped some sort of drug test or something is ridiculous,” Hamlin said. “I’m in one of the top-three cars in NASCAR, I would have to be an absolute moron—moron to risk that. I have a daughter that I have to provide for for a really long time. For people to question who I am inside and outside the race car, I’ve never done anything to even put that in question.”
2. Balancing what should be known, and what should not be known
A person’s health is called their business and a doctor isn’t allowed to comment per ‘patient-confidentiality’ agreement. However, when you’re out there racing against 42 other drivers, those other drivers may worry about your health and whether you are able to compete.
While some people may want a statement released for every situation, it should be sufficient enough to look at NASCAR’s clearance of the driver as why would Dr. Petty clear a driver and risk everyone’s lives without full belief in that driver’s health?
3. Each driver should watch their own behavior surrounding the situation
Whether the direct individual involved or whether not, all driver should watch their behavior.
In this particular situation, there were lots of questions being asked by everybody – though those questions took an even bigger turn with Earnhardt Jr.’s quote mid-week last week to the USA Today.
“I’m worried the perception is bad for NASCAR and the perception is bad for Denny.” Earnhardt Jr. told the USA Today. “If Denny didn’t race because his vision is blurred and he had a sinus infection, NASCAR should put out a release and say, this is the timeline of the events and this is why we made this choice and this is protocol for going forward.”
Instead of releasing a public statement, it may have been better for Earnhardt to either contact NASCAR or Denny Hamlin with his concerns.
Beyond simply stiring more discussion, some people have interpreted Earnhardt’s thoughts into wanting to peep into Hamlin’s life. Based on those words above, he wasn’t trying to peep into Denny’s health or find answers to that or doubt Hamlin’s situation. Earnhardt was more questioning it because he wanted to know how NASCAR handled it and a timeline basis for situations like this that may come up in the future so drivers know what they’re getting into if they have a similar deal. Isn’t that a question that would be better asked in a question to Mike Helton and NASCAR, rather than the public?
4. Focus should remain on-track rather than off-track
Rather than being focused on the off-track stuff and letting it get to him, Hamlin should keep his focus where he needs to – on-track. Last week, Hamlin was not in contention throughout the day at one of his back tracks. Could he have been distracted? Possibly.
As they say, the results will speak for themselves and rather than being concerned with everything, energy directed towards on-track performance could bring Hamlin a win.
Why do these type of articles keep popping up? From a fans perspective it is very simple. The whole Hamlin saga from start to finish (days later) was handled badly by JGR, Denny and to a degree Nascar. Jr. was not trying to delve into Hamlin’s personal life, Jr. was bascially saying you better put something out there that makes sense or you are going to have rumors swirling, and he was right. I for one respect the privacy and don’t really care if he had a hangnail or a broken leg, but when you start out with one statement and it ends up being something totally different (something very common) well that’s how one begins to question the narrative. Again, it was handled very badly from the start.
Anne – The thing is JGR was only releasing what they knew as they thought originally it was a sinus deal and not something else so therefore how could they know to handle that aspect in saying one thing yet another later? Perhaps the best thing would’ve been for Denny to say something sooner – say a statement release on Monday rather than mid-week, but beyond that there isn’t much that JGR could do on their end.