This offseason, there have been not one, not two, but three drivers who have disclosed injuries they raced with in the 2023 season. Why are drivers hiding these and choosing to race with these injuries?
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell all had different injuries they waited until after the season to disclose. Here are each driver’s specific injuries
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott had surgery on his shoulder early in the offseason for an undisclosed injury. This would probably feel inconsequential, but, Elliott also had another injury in 2023. A broken leg caused Elliott to miss 6 races early in the season, so it does call into question how healthy Elliott really was in 2023.
Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin was the second driver to disclose an injury, as he had surgery on his shoulder shortly after Elliott. However, Hamlin disclosed during a NASCAR Champions Week media session in Nashville that the healing from the surgery is taking longer than he expected. As a result, his availability in the season-opening Clash at the Coliseum is potentially in jeopardy.
Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell disclosed his injury, a broken finger to the media on the red carpet of the NASCAR Awards. Now, his was a non-racing injury as he says he sustained it by trying to start a pull-start engine the week of the regular season finale at Daytona.
Simply put, these injuries do not seem to hamper driver performance too much. Christopher Bell broke his finger the week of the regular season finale, but he was still good enough during the Playoffs to make the Championship 4. Denny Hamlin made the Round of 8 despite a shoulder injury. Chase Elliott’s performance dipped, but, that can also be credited to his broken leg and missing 6 races.
Hamlin has had plenty of injuries in the past, but, his performance in the car did not waver for his relatively minor ones. In 2010 he tore his ACL, and he went on to win a career-high 8 races. He tore his labrum in 2019 and made the Championship 4. Missing the Clash would seem to be more of a result of the surgery than the injury itself.
Why would a driver disclose such an injury to the media if it’s not hampering their performance on the race track? At that point, it becomes another question to answer during media availability and potentially negative publicity surrounding a driver’s health.
It’s not uncommon for athletes to play through major injuries in big events either. In NASCAR, drivers cannot afford to miss many races because every race pays points, and, missing multiple races makes it very difficult to make the Playoffs. Chase Elliott fell victim to this in 2023. As a result, if a driver can race through some bumps and bruises, they will.
Ultimately, these injuries did not seem to affect driver performance that much. As a result, these drivers drove through it. They may be interesting stories to watch as the off-season goes on, however.
Where do all the drivers stand after the first official points race in the standings table?
After winning the opening points race of the season at Daytona by leading one lap, Tyler Reddick made it to the top of the standings. Under the new rules, he managed to pull up 58 points. He pocketed 55 for the win and added three more by finishing Stage 2 in P8. He may have squeezed out at least one more had he landed inside the top 10 in Stage 1, but after getting swept into a Lap 5 crash, Reddick limped the Stage 1 in P20, giving him no extra points.
Rounding out the top 10 are Brad Keselowski with 39 points in sixth despite a P5 finish, followed by his driver, Chris Buescher, in seventh with 39, Bubba Wallace in eighth with 37, Carson Hocevar in ninth with 36, and Ryan Blaney in 10th with 36.
Atlanta could be a springboard for Elliott, who owns an average finish of 11.4 across 14 starts there, with two wins, including one in last year’s fall race, plus three top fives and nine top 10s. The track could also pull Kyle Busch back into contention. Having already shown his speed at Daytona by winning the pole, he may potentially pull it off at the 1.54-mile track. The RCR driver sits P14 in the standings, but with an average finish of 8.8 at Atlanta since 2023 across six starts, the place might finally snap his 94-race drought.
Then again, Connor Zilisch has only one start at the track and came home P11 last year when he made his third Cup start there, making Atlanta a stage where he could stamp his mark.
Ryan Blaney will also have a better chance than anyone else to climb through a win or even points alone at Atlanta. The No. 12 Team Penske driver has one win there from 2021, but consistency has been his strong suit, with seven top fives and nine top 10s in 15 starts. And that puts him in a position to move the needle when the field rumbles into Atlanta.
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The Daytona 500 and Speedweeks may be over, but that doesn’t mean the chaos will cool off for the stars of NASCAR’s three National Series, as they roll into Hampton, Georgia, to the high banks of EchoPark Speedway for one of the schedule’s most unique race weekends.
Note: This article will be updated as more information about the weekend comes out.
One race weekend is in the books, and a 36-week march back to Florida is underway for the three NASCAR National Series. Whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Hampton, Georgia?
Before the Races (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Truck Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
After the Race (8:00 PM – 11:00 PM)
Before the Race (11:00 AM – 3:00 PM)
During the Race (3:00 PM – 7:00 PM)
After the Race (7:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
NASCAR got lucky at EchoPark in 2025, and, as a matter of fact, everywhere else, but that doesn’t mean weather hasn’t affected the track’s races in the past with spot showers and major showers taking on race weekends. Take the summer of 2023, when the race took on a large rain shower that resulted in the race ending after just 185 laps, with race winner William Byron the leader at the time of caution.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
