“I can’t imagine”: Fans react as Denny Hamlin’s spotter remembers wife and son on their 25th death anniversary

For Denny Hamlin's spotter Chris Lambert, October 16 brought back an extremely tragic memory. Lambert lost his wife, Hailey, and son Austin in a gruesome car accident. Hailey was 20 at the time, while Austin was a toddler, just over a year old.

Lambert remembered his late wife and son in a recent post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He shared an old picture of the two and captioned it, saying:

"10/16/1999...25yrs 💔 Love you guys! ❤️"

Several fans reacted to Lambert's post, with one saying that they were not aware of the heart-touching story until then.

"Damn. I never knew this story until now. I can’t imagine."

Another fan wrote:

"Our hearts & prayers are with you. ❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️"

Here are a few more reactions to Lambert's post:

"Sorry for your loss Praying for you," a fan said.

"I'm sure this is always a hard day for you. Thinking of you, Chris," said another.

"Oh Chris, don’t know you but know the story. Just a fan/friend here. Hope you can feel the support and love from your followers. Wishing you peace ☮️," a fan added.

Denny Hamlin and Chris Lambert have been working together for years. Therefore, for Hamlin, Lambert is a lot more than just his spotter. The JGR driver, who is also a father of two girls, reflected on Lambert's loss, saying:

"As a parent, I just cannot imagine. It just puts into perspective, ‘You think you’ve got problems.’ Any small or big ask he has of me, I go above and beyond… for him."

Today, Lambert is married to Angela Lambert. The couple has two children together, Hunter and Cameron. The family of four, along with two bulldogs, Jagger and Millie, live in Concord, North Carolina.

Chris Lambert reflected on working with Denny Hamlin

Chris Lambert joined Denny Hamlin in 2012. Since then, the duo has visited the victory lane 37 times. Their most recent victory was at Dover Motor Speedway on April 28, 2024.

Speaking of his most memorable experience as a spotter in an older interview with NASCAR, Lambert said :

"First getting with Denny, getting with a top-tier driver and having success right out of the box with him. When you get in this sport, you obviously want to win a championship but there are certain races you want to win. The All-Star race, which we won last year, Daytona, Indy. Having that 500 ring and trophy at the house (is special)."

Denny Hamlin has won several crown jewel races like the Coca-Cola 600 in 2022, the Daytona 500 in 2016, 2019, and 2020, and the Southern 500 in 2010, 2017, and 2021. The Tampa, Florida native flaunts 54 wins in almost 20 years as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

However, the Lambert-Hamlin team is yet to win a championship title. This season, Hamlin delivered three wins, 10 top-5s, and 15 top-10s. He sits sixth in the Cup Series standings with 4015 points to his credit, eight points below the playoff cutline. Hamlin's next race is on October 20th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.