Notes: Hamlin nearly faints from sweltering Texas heat

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Denny Hamlin was talking with reporters on pit road about his fifth-place finish in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway when he nearly fainted and collapsed Sunday.

It brought an abrupt end to the interview, as a wobbly Hamlin staggered to a nearby golf cart with the assistance of team personnel. He then was whisked away to be given fluids and to rest, after which team officials insisted he was fine.

"The heat got to him a little bit, but he's OK," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "He's actually in pretty good shape. He's been working really hard at it, and I think it paid off.

"He'll need to get some fluids in him, and he'll be all right."

Hamlin stood off to the side for several minutes before even attempting to answer questions, taking sips from a water bottle and having a cold towel applied to the back of his neck.

He then answered three questions before nearly collapsing, with one of his answers being about his physical condition. "I didn't feel well [during the race]," Hamlin said. "It's just the heat, the long runs. So I'll try to get better. It really hit me when I got out of the car. I was just really dizzy and I knew I needed to sit down."

Crew chief Mike Ford said there were no signs of Hamlin faltering in the car during the event that went five laps over its scheduled 334-lap run of 500 miles because of a green-white-checkered finish. Temperatures inside the cockpit of the cars soared to well above 100 degrees as they reached the mid-80s outside -- not far removed from the all-time record of 89 degrees for the date in Fort Worth, which was set in 1978.

"It's a demanding racetrack. It's probably the hottest day we've had so far this year," Ford said. "You get a guy who gives you everything you've got, and he's going to be worn out. That's what you want at the end of the day.

"He ended the race strong. I had no indications that he was behind or faltering in the car at all. The indications that you would have weren't there. His lap times were very consistent. He was fast, obviously, because he was running in the top five. He was running fourth, and he made a charge for third with Kyle [Busch, before falling back to fifth]. So there were no indications at all that he was suffering inside the car during the race."

Newman too high

A great run by Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman in his No. 12 Dodge was tainted by NASCAR's announcement that his car was judged to be too high in post-race inspection. Spokesman Ramsey Poston said any penalties that Newman's team may face will be announced later in the week.

Newman finished fourth and jumped three spots, however temporarily, to eighth in the points standings. He was pleased to come back to grab fourth after at one point falling one lap down earlier in the race.

"But when you're 11th and going a lap down, that's not too shabby. We kept working on it and we made some good adjustments to make the car better and better all day long," Newman said.

Martin finishes eighth

Driving for the first time since the Atlanta race on March 9, Mark Martin jumped in the No. 8 Chevy for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and registered an eighth-place finish, his best in five starts this season. It was his second top-10 finish, bettering the 10th he posted in the third race of the season at Las Vegas and matching the eighth-place finish of rookie Aric Almirola in the car at Bristol on March 16.

Martin and Almirola are sharing the ride this season. Martin will race this Saturday at Phoenix and then give the car back to Almirola for the following race at Talladega on April 27.

"This was the first time I was ready to race since Atlanta," Martin said. "I certainly wasn't ready to go to Bristol or Martinsville. Everything is perfect with the schedule and with the team and the continuity. And Aric is doing great. He's had an eighth and now I've had an eighth, and we're feeling good about it. We're going to keep building it stronger."

The No. 8 car owned by Teresa Earnhardt of Dale Earnhardt Inc. moved up three spots into 19th in the owner points standings.

Junior struggles

After sitting on the pole for Sunday's race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had high hopes for ending his 68-race winless streak in points events. Alas, after leading three times for a total of 31 laps early, the handling went away in his No. 88 Chevrolet as the day wore on and he ultimately seemed fortunate to salvage a 12th-place finish.

Earnhardt still held on to the fourth spot in the driver points standings.