Hamlin nearly faints from sweltering Texas heat

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Denny Hamlin was talking with reporters on pit road about his fifth-place finish in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway when he nearly fainted and collapsed Sunday.
It brought an abrupt end to the interview, as a wobbly Hamlin staggered to a nearby golf cart with the assistance of team personnel. He then was whisked away to be given fluids and to rest, after which team officials insisted he was fine.
"The heat got to him a little bit, but he's OK," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "He's actually in pretty good shape. He's been working really hard at it, and I think it paid off.
"He'll need to get some fluids in him, and he'll be all right."
Hamlin stood off to the side for several minutes before even attempting to answer questions, taking sips from a water bottle and having a cold towel applied to the back of his neck.
He then answered three questions before nearly collapsing, with one of his answers being about his physical condition. "I didn't feel well [during the race]," Hamlin said. "It's just the heat, the long runs. So I'll try to get better. It really hit me when I got out of the car. I was just really dizzy and I knew I needed to sit down."
Crew chief Mike Ford said there were no signs of Hamlin faltering in the car during the event that went five laps over its scheduled 334-lap run of 500 miles because of a green-white-checkered finish. Temperatures inside the cockpit of the cars soared to well above 100 degrees as they reached the mid-80s outside -- not far removed from the all-time record of 89 degrees for the date in Fort Worth, which was set in 1978.
"It's a demanding racetrack. It's probably the hottest day we've had so far this year," Ford said. "You get a guy who gives you everything you've got, and he's going to be worn out. That's what you want at the end of the day.
"He ended the race strong. I had no indications that he was behind or faltering in the car at all. The indications that you would have weren't there. His lap times were very consistent. He was fast, obviously, because he was running in the top five. He was running fourth, and he made a charge for third with Kyle [Busch, before falling back to fifth]. So there were no indications at all that he was suffering inside the car during the race."

courtesy NASCAR.com