Joe Gibbs Racing team officials have confirmed Denny Hamlin's surgery earlier today at a Charlotte, North Carolina area hospital to repair the ACL in his left knee was successsful.

"Denny had his surgery this morning and everything went well," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "He will start rehab immediately and now we can concentrate on getting his knee back to the full strength. The doctors tell us it will improve with each passing week and that he cannot damage it by driving. We expect him to be in the car in Phoenix, but we're fortunate to have Casey Mears standing by in case he would need to come out of the car for any reason."

Dr. Patrick Connor of OrthoCarolina performed the procedure on the star NASCAR driver and expects him to make a full recovery.

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