Denny Hamlin to have knee surgery before awards ceremony

By foxsports
Published

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) Denny Hamlin will have surgery Nov. 30 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Hamlin injured his knee playing basketball in September and opted to wait until after the season to have surgery. He plans to attend NASCAR's season-ending awards ceremony in Las Vegas a few days later.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the pole Friday for the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and provided the timetable for his surgery. Dr. Patrick Connor, the team physician of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, will perform the operation in Charlotte.

Hamlin has experience with this kind of injury. He tore the ACL in his left knee in 2010, but had in-season surgery that year during an off week.