Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin continue to rehab off-season shoulder injuries but both expect to compete in the full race in two weeks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Hamlin underwent the more invasive arthroscopic surgery on November 22 and said afterwards that the damage was way more extensive than he realized. In fact, he says it hampered his performance in the closing weeks of the season.
He also said he will not be 100 percent until several weeks into the season, although he also anticipates having better range of motion early in 2024 than he did by the end of 2023. Hamlin says he has tested that range on motion in the Toyota simulator in advance of the Busch Clash.
“I’m already back in the sim kind of working through range of motion and trying to get my strength back — strength is going to be the biggest thing that hinders me,” Hamlin told FOX Sports during its preseason production day. “But we would actually rather it fatigue ourselves out at the Clash. That way I’m stronger two weeks from then.”
Elliott had his performed a week before Hamlin and this surgery came after a season in which he missed six races due to a snowboarding incident that broke his left leg just below his knee — receiving several screws in the top of his tibia.
With that said, Elliott says his shoulder rehab hasn’t been particularly pleasant.
“The knee was definitely worse, just way more complex of an injury,” Elliott told FOX. “But the rehab aspect of it? The shoulder, it’s been no joke, too. But the procedure itself, the shoulder was very simple and straightforward. My knee was not.”
It’s been a painful year of surgeries and rehabs.
“There’s definitely aspects of [the rehab] that are painful and not fun,” Elliott said. “Just trying to get your range of motion back and get things loosened back up again, is just difficult. Shoulders are kind of tricky.
“I didn’t realize just how many awkward ways you use your shoulder. But I’ve learned more about shoulders and knees in the past year than I’ve cared to know about.”
Neither driver expects to have a backup driver available just in case they can’t finish the Clash.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.