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Joe Gibbs Racing announced Saturday Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will undergo surgery on Monday, March 29 to repair the ACL in his left knee.

With the series having a bye after Sunday’s race at Martinville Speedway, it is expected that Hamlin will not have to sit out any races.

Hamlin is expected to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Phoenix on April 10.

The surgery will be performed by Dr. Patrick Connor with OrthoCarolina. Hamlin injured the knee in January prior to the start of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

“When we first reviewed the situation we thought Denny couldn’t do any further damage to his knee if he waited to have surgery, but as the season progressed we determined that the best plan of action was to go ahead and have it repaired,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. “Hopefully this will take care of the situation and he should get stronger each week.”

Hamlin said he is not sure how long it will take to fully recover.

“From what the doctor told me and that’s really all I can go by, is that recovery for everyone is different,” Hamlin said. “Some people take right to it, some people it takes a little bit longer. Everyone is different. We’re going to do the cadaver graph so it’s going to be a false piece that they will add in there. It just depends on how your body handles it. Right now he says that I’ll be able to get in the car at Phoenix – there’s no doubt that I’ll be able to get in it. It’s just tolerance of pain is what’s going to be the limiting factor. I’m not going to do any further damage to it once it’s done. It’s going to be strictly pain limited.”

Hamlin, off to a slow start this season – he is 19th in points and has yet to log a top-10 finish – after many had believed that he could be the one to end Jimmie Johnson’s four-year championship reign, said he is not giving up on his goals.

“At least I know once it’s over with, every week I’m going to feel better and every day I’m going to feel better,” Hamlin said. “It’s definitely going to be more uplifting, I guess you could say, after we get it done and get it over with.

“It’s not going to change our goals. It’s really not. If we come up short come September when it comes Chase time and we don’t get it, then it has to do with a lot of performance over the course of the year, it’s not just about Phoenix and Texas and Richmond, all those tracks. It’s these first five races that we’ve struggled to get good finishes. But right now, I feel like our team is on an upswing. We’re going to come here on Sunday and we’re going to plan to win and we’ll see what happens after that.”

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