Denny Hamlin, Others Visit Infield Care Center After Hot Race At Pocono

Denny Hamlin loves Pocono. He swept both races there his rookie season and his average finish is 2.8 for the 4 races he’s run at the Long Pond, Pa track. He usually leaves there feeling pretty good, and with good reason. But after yesterday’s race, Hamlin was complaining. He wasn’t feeling well and had even made a trip to the infield care center.

He slumped into the post-race press conference, along with Brian Vickers, who also complained of not feeling well. Combine a long race with 90-degree temperatures and even well-conditioned athletes -- and yes, NASCAR drivers are athletes -- struggle for survival by day's end.

''I'm about to fall over,'' Vickers said. ''I hate to see one of my friends and comrades [Hamlin] down, but just knowing I'm not the only one makes me feel a little bit better. It's brutal. These cars. A…''''They're hot,'' chimed in Hamlin. ''They are hotter than the old car, by far.''
Apparently, the new car holds in the heat more than the old one did. Vickers and Hamlin were prime examples of just how devastating the outside temperatures combined with a hot car can leave a driver after a grueling 500 mile race at Pocono.

''We want to keep the cars light and go fast, but we're killing ourselves,'' Vickers said. ''We're going to the infield care center after the races and that's ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and say we have to do something to cool these cars down and help us. It's extremely ... hot out there.''

Vickers lead the call for a shorter race during his press interview. ''Absolutely, 500 miles is way too long,'' he said. ''It always has been, and I love Pocono for all of the reasons I just told you. But there's no reason to run 500 miles.''

An exhausted, over-heated Hamlin whole heartedly agreed.''This is the longest race I think I've ever been a part of,'' he said. ''It just seemed like it took forever, and a lot of the reason is we never run 500 miles where the average speed is 155 miles per hour. If we run 500 miles, it's Atlanta where we are running an average speed of 180 [mph].''

Of course, the only guy who seemed no worse for the wear at day's end was the winner, Kasey Kahne.

He seemed to gauge the race's marathon-length perfectly. Plus, he had the fastest car, which helps.''You know it's so much different when you have a great car,'' he said. ''And for us, we had to go to the back, so those 60 laps coming back to the front flew by. It just happened so quick. So, I didn't think it was that long of a race.''

But then Kahne, who won for the first time here, broke into a grin.''But every other 500-miler here in the past I thought was way too long,'' he admitted. ''So, I don't know. I just think how you run, how good your car is and where you finish determines how long you think this race should be.''

Vickers, Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger, another driver who had to visit the care center disagreed. Vickers went on to say: "We're going to the infield care center after races and that's ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and ... do something to cool these cars down and help us."
Hamlin believes the problem may be with the exhaust system.

"It's closer to the floor panel and that's going to make the car hotter itself," he said. "Here, the pace (of the race) is so slow, once the car is loose, (the race) just takes forever.
"It's tough on us drivers."

No doubt the drivers will continue to search for ways to keep cool in the coming hot months. Hamlin, who has lost over 30 lbs. and in the best physical condition of his life, has fallen ill after over heating during a race before. He nearly fainted at Texas during a post-race interview and had to sit down with a cold towel on his neck.

This is a concern with temperatures continuing to rise as Summer kicks into full swing and should prove interesting in the next few months. Maybe they need to find out what Kasey Kahne is doing to look so fresh and be able to show such a bright smile after 500 grueling miles in 90+ temperatures. Of course, winning doesn’t hurt either.