Denny Hamlin 'dizzy' but cleared after testing crash

• Hamlin was evaluated a week after Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed he had suffered two concussions
• The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is running third in the championship standings with five races to go
• The crashed No. 11 Toyota was his primary race car for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Championship contender Denny Hamlin said he felt "slightly dizzy" and admitted that he would probably not have gone to the infield care center after a testing crash Thursday at Kansas Speedway had a NASCAR official not suggested he do so.

Hamlin crashed his No. 11 Toyota in Turn 1 -- the same corner Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit during a tire test on Aug. 29 where he sustained the first of two concussions that is forcing him to miss his second race in a row.

Hamlin said he clipped the wall with the right rear going 202 mph entering the corner, sending the car down the track. He overcorrected and hit the wall with the right side, destroying the Camry he intended to race Sunday.

After seeing the car's damage, a NASCAR official suggested that Hamlin go to the infield care center. Hamlin could not recall another time he had driven to the garage and a series official suggested he go to the care center.

Hamlin was asked to return to the infield care center an hour later for a re-evaluation before being cleared to drive. He was cleared after a 10-minute evaluation.

"I was slightly dizzy after the first hit and after that just came back and everything has cleared right up," Hamlin said after being re-evaluated. "I feel fine now. You don't feel good after a hard hit. Just (a) typical hard hit, ring-your-bell-type of thing. (You) get jarred around, you feel a little out of it for a second, but everything came back. This is the first time I really kind of got dizzy."

In response to questions from USA TODAY Sports about whether NASCAR reacted any differently to Hamlin's incident in light of Earnhardt's concussion revelation, spokesperson Kristi King issued a statement. "Safety has been and always will be the No. 1 priority for our officials," King said. "They are trained and experienced to be on the outlook for any type of situation in regards to safety at the racetrack. This is just an example of them doing their job."

Hamlin compared the incident to his 2008 crash at Talladega Superspeedway, where he blew a right front and crashed, although he said he the impact was "way harder than this.'' After that incident, he was kept overnight with what he called a "slight concussion."

Clint Bowyer saw Hamlin's crash Thursday and tweeted: "@dennyhamlin just hit a ton right in front of me!!!''

Hamlin's last lap before he crashed was 181.409 mph -- his fastest lap of the session. The track qualifying record is 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth in October 2005.

Hamlin said he did not think the attention he received after his crash was related to the prominence of concussions after Earnhardt suffered two concussions within six weeks and will miss his second consecutive race. He said it made sense to be evaluated before getting back in a car.

"Simply because of the speed of the impact, I think that they were just trying to be safe in asking me how I felt and I was honest with them and said I was a little dizzy and they said just come back in an hour to make sure you're OK,'' Hamlin
said of his conversation with medical staff. "My car wasn't going to be ready for an hour anyway. It just made sense to come back and make sure that we're all good."

Hamlin said he felt no hesitation to admit in the infield care center he felt dizzy after the crash.

"The medical staff can't do their job unless I tell them exactly what's going on," Hamlin said. "They may as well not be here if I am going to tell them stories and give a false sense of security to them. I'm honest with them. I knew that I was fine. I just had my bell rung and let them do their jobs from thereon out.''

Hamlin stands third at the midpoint of the Chase for the Sprint Cup title run, 15 points behind leader Brad Keselowski. Jimmie Johnson is seven points off the lead. Hamlin will use the car he drove to a 16th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in the opening race of the Chase. The car Hamlin crashed was the same one he won with at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month.

"A little disappointed in losing that car,'' Hamlin said. "We struggled for speed (Wednesday) but today our third lap put us (second fastest), so I was very optimistic what we had going for us."

Also during Thursday's test, Casey Mears and Tony Stewart experienced engine issues.