Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin preparing for Clash amid post-surgery recovery

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HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott expect to compete in the preseason Clash in two weeks as they both continue to recover from offseason shoulder surgery.

Hamlin’s surgery was more invasive than Elliott’s, and Hamlin knows he won’t be 100 percent come the Feb. 3-4 event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (8 p.m. ET on FOX).

The event should test both drivers as nearly the entire quarter-mile oval is one big turn. It will also give them a good idea of areas they might need to focus on as far as rehab for the Daytona 500 two weeks later.

They can get some idea of how it will feel in the racing simulator (each manufacturer has a highly technical racing simulator where drivers can test racing lines and setups).

“I’m already back in the sim kind of working through range of motion and trying to get my strength back — strength is going to be the biggest thing that hinders me,” Hamlin told FOX Sports during its preseason production day.

“But we would actually rather it fatigue ourselves out at the Clash. That way I’m stronger two weeks from then.”

Both Hamlin and Elliott said they don’t expect to have a relief driver on-site at the Coliseum.

Elliott has spent several weeks rehabbing injuries over the last year. The Hendrick Motorsports driver missed six races in 2023 after breaking his left leg just below his knee. He had surgery in a couple of areas with a few screws in the top of his tibia. 

“The knee was definitely worse, just way more complex of an injury,” Elliott said. “But the rehab aspect of it? The shoulder, it’s been no joke, too. But the procedure itself, the shoulder was very simple and straightforward. My knee was not.”

Obviously, both drivers hope this is the end of surgical procedures.

“There’s definitely aspects of [the rehab] that are painful and not fun,” Elliott said. “Just trying to get your range of motion back and get things loosened back up again, is just difficult. Shoulders are kind of tricky.

“I didn’t realize just how many awkward ways you use your shoulder. But I’ve learned more about shoulders and knees in the past year than I’ve cared to know about.”

Neither driver suffered his shoulder injury on the race track and both got their surgeries soon after the regular season ended in November. Hamlin’s recovery time is three months, which would take him into late February.

“The Clash is, certainly in the sim, the most challenging track of all the ones that I’ve been working on at the moment,” Hamlin said. “It is a challenge — it’s a relatively short race. You never really run that many laps under green at one time.

“So I’m counting on plenty of caution laps like we usually have.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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