Denny Hamlin's Dad dies in house fire; his mother is recovering

Denny Hamlin with his Mom at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2012 
PHOTO ©Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

With just days to go until the New Year, tragedy struck The Hamlin Family as a devastating fire tore through the home of Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin, the parents of Denny Hamlin. According to authorities, the fire was reported at 6:19 p.m. ET. on Sunday on Blacksnake Road, northeast of the Stanley community in Gaston County, North Carolina, located northwest of Charlotte.

When emergency services arrived, Mary Lou and Dennis were found outside of the four-bedroom home and were taken to a nearby hospital. Sadly, Dennis died from his injuries at the hospital Sunday night. Mary Lou was treated and later transferred to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston-Salem.

 

"Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father’s passing. My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time," Denny said in a Facebook post on New Year's Eve.

 

NASCAR extended its support in the following statement:

“NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Denny Hamlin and the entire Hamlin family. Dennis Hamlin instilled a love of racing in his son, and sacrificed greatly to develop Denny into a world-class talent in the sport. We also continue to offer our thoughts and prayers to Denny’s mother, Mary Lou, and hope for her full recovery.” 

 

The cause of the fire is currently undetermined. The investigation is ongoing and will be challenging due to massive structural damage and collapse. According to the Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department, the fire resulted in the complete loss of the home. It took around two hours to put out the blaze due to a lack of water in the area.
 

The death of Dennis Hamlin is the third tragedy to strike the NASCAR community in the closing weeks of 2025. On December 5, the NASCAR community learned of the death of Michael Annett, whose career encompassed 436 combined starts across NASCAR’s three national touring series, including a win in the 2008 Xfinity Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

 

A couple of weeks later, on December 18, retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina, their son Ryder and Greg's daughter from his first marriage, Emma, died in a plane crash at Statesville Regional Airport shortly after takeoff. Also killed were family friends Craig Wadsworth, Dennis Dutton, and Dutton’s son, Jack. 

This story will be updated when new information is available.