Denny Hamlin cleared to run full race at Darlington

After running just 24 laps last week at Talladega, Denny Hamlin says he is fully healed and prepared to run the full 500 miles Saturday night at Darlington Raceway.

Hamlin missed four Sprint Cup races and only started the race last week at Talladega after suffering a compression fracture in his lower back in a March 24 crash at Auto Club Speedway.

With his back still not fully healed, he started last week’s race at Talladega and ran until the first caution period, when he climbed out of his car and turned it over to relief driver and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brian Vickers. Hamlin was credited with the points for the race, but Vickers was caught up in a crash on Lap 43 and finished 34th, earning just 10 points for the race. Hamlin has fallen to 31st in the standings while recovering from his injury.

He tweeted Wednesday, however, that he has been fully cleared by his doctors and plans to run the full race in Saturday’s Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington, a race that he won in 2010.