Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin facing offseason rehab after shoulder surgeries

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin have something in common.

It's not the most popular driver. That honor still belongs to Elliott, who was voted as the NASCAR Cup Series most popular driver for the sixth consecutive year.

"I don't ever take it for granted," said Elliott, whose father won the award 16 times. "It's an easy thing to look at and to think that I would [win]. I'm always grateful for the honor and always grateful to have the support that we've had.

"This has always been, to me, an extension of my family's place in the sport and the success that they had over the years."

Elliott's right arm was in a sling as was Hamlin's right arm as both have had offseason shoulder surgery. Elliott said his rehab is progressing and he didn't see anything, as of now, that would keep him out of the preseason Clash on Feb. 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

"Anytime you have surgery, and you go through the process, any little setback can slow the process down," Elliott said. "But thus far everything has gone really well. The way I see things today, I don't think there's anything that would make me think that next year will be compromised at the beginning of the season, including the Clash."

Hamlin's was more invasive as his arthroscopic surgery was more intensive on Nov. 22 than he had planned, and he said he has to keep his right arm immobile for three months. Whether he can race the preseason Clash on Feb. 4 is still to be determined. 

"It's obviously depressing when you wake up from your anesthesia and know you've got three months of just a limp arm that you can't do anything with," Hamlin said.

Hamlin said the surgery was not the result of any accident and he aggravated it in the days leading into the playoff race at Las Vegas.

"This is a genetics thing where the bone just grows a little bit too long," Hamlin said. "As you keep agitating. I popped some tendons that [Vegas] week and then the following week had another incident and then just trying to race on it was just not good."

He said he drove the last three events struggling to lift his right arm but he still thought the recovery would be a month or less rather than three months. Neither Hamlin nor Elliott will get much simulator time in the offseason as they heal. 

"Three years ago, I did a left shoulder bone spur and this was supposed to be just a bone spur as well," Hamlin said. "But I knew that I messed it up pretty bad Vegas week. And then since I ran the rest of the season after Vegas, it just continued to do more damage, and now certainly will be a little bit longer than what was anticipated."

Elliott said his injury also was a nagging one, an injury that he thinks dates back to playing sports in high school. He said he was starting to get concerned about his long-term health.

"It was really pretty last minute," Elliott said. "It wasn't really something I had planned for a long time. I knew I needed to get the ball rolling to get some answers. ... I wanted to get it looked at, and when I got it looked at, they felt like surgery was the best option so I listened to the doctors from there."

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.