“He Sold Everything We Had” – Denny Hamlin Previously Reflected On How Much His Late Father Sacrificed For His Success

Absolutely heartbreaking.

Officials confirmed yesterday that Dennis Hamlin, the father of NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, has died from injuries suffered in a fire at his North Carolina home on Sunday night.

According to WSOC, the fire was reported around 6 PM on Sunday, and fire officials say that the blaze had already consumed around 40% of the house by the time they arrived. Two people were reportedly already outside the home when fire crews arrived, but were immediately transported to the hospital.

Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department Chief David Toomey confirmed this morning that Hamlin’s parents, Dennis Hamlin and Mary Lou Hamlin, were the residents of the home, with a company owned by the NASCAR driver listed as the registered owner of the home.

Toomey reported that the home was a total loss, though crews were able to save some cars and memorabilia:

“They had some really expensive cars in the garage and some racing memorabilia and stuff, so all that was saved. We were able to save all that and get it out so it wasn’t damaged.”

According to the fire chief, efforts to extinguish the blaze were made more difficult by the lack of fire hydrants in the area:

“Well this house was about 40-45% involved when we got here. Of course where we are located there are no hydrants, so all the water had to be trucked in and there were times we would run out of water and we had to wait for more water to get here. We had to call for more, additional tankers throughout the county.”

Photos from Lucia Riverbend Fire Department at Denny Hamlin parents house. pic.twitter.com/GjH8fpikfV

— Speedway Digest (@speedwaydigest) December 29, 2025

It was reported that both occupants of the house were outside when fire crews arrived, and were immediately taken to the hospital. And this evening, Gaston County EMS officials confirmed that Dennis Hamlin passed away in the hospital, while his mother Mary Lou has been transferred to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston Salem, North Carolina. It was reported yesterday that she her condition was considered life-threatening, but no further update has been provided on her condition.

Just a horrific scene, and our thoughts and prayers are with Denny and his entire family.

Sad news: Gaston County EMS confirms that Denny Hamlin’s father, Dennis, died from his injuries at the hospital from the Sunday night fire. His mother, Mary Lou, was transferred to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston-Salem, where she is actively being treated

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) December 29, 2025

Denny’s father was instrumental in getting him into racing, making huge sacrifices in order to help him get to the highest levels of racing, which is why it meant so much to Hamlin to have his father, and namesake, at the championship race in November.

After dominating the final race at Phoenix and appearing to be headed to his first Cup Series championship, a late race caution and pit stop put Hamlin back in the field and he wasn’t able to make it back to the front, clearing the way for Kyle Larson to win his second championship.

Of course, it was disappointing for Hamlin as I think many fans felt this was finally his time, though his dad was there to see his historic 60th NASCAR Cup Series race win in October 2025 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which tied him with Kevin Harvick for 10th all-time and secured his spot in the Championship 4.

At the time, Denny said it was his father who took him to the racetrack when he was just five-years-old, noting that he sold “everything” their family had to afford to help him stay with it. Denny commented that they almost lost their house at times because of financial strain, in an effort to keep his son’s racing career going, and clearly, he saw something in him and was willing to do whatever it took to help him be successful.

By all accounts, he sounds like an incredible man and father, and it’s simply a tragedy that he passed in such a horrific way:

“He’s the one that got me into racing… took my to a racetrack when I was five [years old]. Then made all the sacrifices financially to keep me going.

He sold everything we had… we almost lost our house a couple times, just trying to keep it all going. So, you know, I’m glad he was able to see 60 … that was super important to me.”

I think that says all you need to know about Dennis and how much he loved his son, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Hamlin family during this horribly difficult time.The post “He Sold Everything We Had” – Denny Hamlin Previously Reflected On How Much His Late Father Sacrificed For His Success first appeared on Whiskey Riff.