STANLEY, N.C. (WJZY) – The parents of NASCAR driver and team co-owner Denny Hamlin were victims of the large house fire Sunday night, and his father died from his injuries, Gaston County officials confirmed Monday.
The massive fire broke out around 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28, at a home owned by Hamlin’s property company in Stanley, North Carolina, according to the office of Emergency Management and Fire Services in Gaston County. Fire crews arrived to find the single-family home fully engulfed in flames.
Dennis Hamlin, 75, and Mary Lou Hamlin, 69, were already outside of the house, but had “suffered catastrophic injuries while escaping the flames,” the department said.
Gaston County Emergency Medical Services transported the couple to CaroMont Regional Medical Center. Dennis Hamlin ultimately died from his injuries.
Mary Lou was transferred to another facility in Winston-Salem, where she was being treated as of Monday night.
Gaston County officials did not comment on the extent of the Hamlins’ injuries, but Chief David Toomey of the Lucia Riverbend Fire Department had previously confirmed to The Athletic that two people, who were outside the home when emergency responders arrived, were taken to the hospital for potential smoke inhalation.
Toomey also told the outlet that while the home appeared to be a total loss, some of the “cars in the garage and some racing memorabilia and stuff” was saved. Footage from WJZY showed the site of the home still smoldering on Monday, with multiple older cars parked outside the now-charred frame of the structure.
Investigators had not determined a cause for the fire as of Monday night, officials said.
Hamlin, 45, is a 60-time race winner and a three-time Daytona 500 champion. In addition to racing for Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin co-owns 23XI Racing alongside NBA legend Michael Jordan.
Sunday’s fatal housefire is the second major tragedy to befall prominent NASCAR figures in as many weeks, after a Cessna C550 plane carrying seven people, including NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family, crashed last week in Statesville, North Carolina, killing all on board.
According to flight tracking data, the plane had just taken off from the airport minutes earlier before circling back to land. The flight was bound for Sarasota, Florida.
A preliminary NTSB report on the aircraft incident is expected to be available within 30 days.