RALEIGH, N.C. — The father of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin died after a weekend house fire in western North Carolina, and his mother was critically injured, officials said Monday.
Officials with the Gaston County Office of Emergency Management and Fire Services said firefighters arrived on Sunday night at a two-story home near Stanley, where they found a large fire with flames showing through the attic. The agency said the house was mostly engulfed in flames.
The office said Dennis Hamlin, 75, and Mary Lou Hamlin, 69, were found outside the home suffering from catastrophic injuries. Dennis Hamlin later died from those injuries at a hospital, officials said.
Mary Lou Hamlin was taken to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center in Winston-Salem, where she was being treated Monday, the agency said. Officials also said the fire caused the structure to collapse.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation, the office said. Stanley is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Charlotte.
The home where the family lived was owned by a company called Won One Real Estate, according to local property tax records and a business document filing with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office, according to the Associated Press report. The AP also said it had not received a response from representatives for Hamlin as of Monday evening.
Denny Hamlin is a NASCAR top-circuit driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Associated Press reported that Hamlin has won 60 NASCAR Cup Series races, including three Daytona 500 victories, and that he has not won a Cup points championship.
The Associated Press report also said Hamlin had described his father in recent weeks as battling a serious illness and having limited time to live. It added that Hamlin mentioned his father again in emotional testimony this month at the start of a federal antitrust trial involving NASCAR and 23XI Racing, which is owned in part by Hamlin and by Michael Jordan.