NASCAR Driver Denny Hamlin's Father Dies in Gaston County, NC, House Fire

Briah Lumpkins
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
(TNS)

Dennis Hamlin, the father of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, died from “catastrophic” injuries sustained at his residence from a house fire Sunday, Gaston County officials confirmed late Monday. He was 75.

Hamlin’s 69-year-old mother, Mary Lou, was transferred to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston-Salem where is she actively receiving treatment, according to a press release from the county. First responders found the two outside the home, both critically injured.

Fourteen fire departments, Gaston County Emergency Medical Services, and Gaston County Police responded to the fire at the single family home on Blacksnake Road near Stanley at 6:19 p.m. Sunday. Investigators have not determined a cause of the fire.

When first responders arrived, the home was nearly halfway gone. It took nearly two hours for the fire to be put out because this part of Stanley does not have fire hydrants, Chief David Toomey of the Lucia Riverbend Fire Department told WSOC.

“Well this house was about 40-45% involved when we got here. Of course where we are located there are no hydrants, so all the water had to be trucked in and there were times we would run out of water and we had to wait for more water to get here,” Toomey told WSOC’s Glenn Counts. “We had to call for more, additional tankers throughout the county.”

The fire resulted in “complete structural collapse,” a press release stated. The cause of the fire is undetermined and still under investigation.

Toomey told The Athletic that firefighters were able to save racing memorabilia inside the home and “some really expensive cars.”

Hamlin, in addition to competing as a driver in NASCAR, is a team owner with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Earlier this month, their team settled a multimillion antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR.

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