Photo: Getty Images
Dennis Hamlin, the father of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, died at the age of 75 from injuries sustained in a house fire that also left his wife and Denny's mother, Mary Lou Hamlin, in critical condition, NASCAR announced on its official website Monday (December 29).
The fire was reported on Sunday (December 28) at 6:19 p.m. ET at a home in the Stanley community of Gaston County, North Carolina, and first responders found two people outside the four-bedroom home when they arrived at the scene eight minutes later. Both victims were transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Dennis Hamlin was identified and confirmed to have died from injuries sustained in the fire during an update from Gaston County Office of Emergency Management and Fire Services officials Monday (December 29) evening. Mary Lou Hamlin was reported to still be in critical condition after being transferred to a Winston-Salem hospital where she's "actively being treated."
The cause of the fire hasn't yet been determined due to the extent and resulting structural damage. Denny Hamlin, who is tied for 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series' all-time win list with 60 victories, including three Daytona 500 championships, had publicly acknowledged his father's declining health toward the end of the 2025 season and dedicated his last win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October to him.
Hamlin's parents have been supportive through every stage of his legendary racing career.
“I wanted to be able to sit in my rocking chair and say I did everything I could to get him there,” Dennis Hamlin told the Greensboro News & Record in 2006 via NASCAR.com. “I didn’t want no stone unturned.”