Hamlin trying new treatment to avoid back surgery

Denny Hamlin is trying a new treatment on his injured back in an effort to avoid offseason surgery. Painkiller injections in his spine the past two weeks have helped, but he won't know until the season ends if he's made enough progress to skip surgery.

"These last two weeks, I've gotten some treatment done, and I've felt as good as I did before the accident," he said. "Now, the 10 races before that, I felt horrible. I had to get out of the car at Richmond during practice because I just couldn't handle it anymore, and there's been several instances where it was really, really bad. But this is hopefully going to buy me enough time to get healthy. That's the problem, there's just not enough time in our schedule to recover fully from an injury."

Hamlin had persistent back trouble even before he suffered a compression fracture in a March accident that sidelined him for more than a month. With eight races left in the season, beginning Sunday at Dover, Hamlin said he needs time out of the car to rest and let his back heal. Associated Press