Denny Hamlin was preparing for Sunday’s Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship yesterday when he got a scary, teeth-jarring reminder that one little misstep on the track can cause serious damage.

Hamlin says he had just come into the first turn when the rear of his car clipped the wall at over 200 miles an hour and he overcorrected.

“It was the first time I really had some dizziness after a hit,” said Hamlin. “Usually I’m sore or your jaw hurts from clenching your jaw. This is the first time I really got dizzy.”

During an interview after he was checked and cleared by medical staff, Hamlin was asked if he considered holding back the fact that he was dizzy, as it could have seriously hurt his chances to run in the race on Sunday, which he’ll enter as third.

“Not really, because the medical staff can’t do their job unless I tell them exactly what’s going on,” he said. “They might as well not even be here if I’m gonna tell them stories and give a false sense of security to them….I knew that I was fine, I just had my bell rung.”