Hamlin to stay in hospital after crash

The 27-year-old crashed out of the race on lap 99 when the right front tyre on his car blew after exiting turn four. His car's right-side smashed the barrier hard and Hamlin took some time before coming out of his stricken machine.

He was awake and alert after the impact but eventually had to be put on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital for observation as he complained of pain.

"The tyre went down and it was quite a shot," JD Gibbs said about Hamlin's incident. "He's got a little headache, so they're just going to watch him. It was a scary deal, but it's at least nice that he's alert and with it."

Hamlin was one of four drivers crashing during the race after tyre-related incidents. Before him David Reutimann's right rear tyre blew, while Brian Vickers' right front also came apart a few laps later. Mike Wallace had a similar incident with a right rear tyre, although in his case he was able to avoid crashing.

Earlier during the weekend Dale Earhardt Jr crashed during practice after the right rear tyre on his car blew up after only thirteen laps.

Goodyear's Rick Heinrich said they would investigate every incident separately at their facility in Ohio, while stating that a puncture had definitely caused Reutimann's right rear tyre to blow.

"There's a tremendous amount of car contact out there and that loosens things up and drops things on the track," Heinrich said. "There have been accidents. Can't say for sure in every case what happened, but we'll continue to look at it."

Hamlin is now at the bottom of the Chase standing following the crash and an update on his status is expected from the team on Monday.