NASCAR drivers head to Mexico on Thursday so they can take part in the inaugural Cup Series race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. It's possible that Denny Hamlin will not be in this group as he chooses to be present for the birth of his third child.
Hamlin made the announcement on Tuesday during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "On Track." He told hosts Larry McReynolds and Danielle Trotta that fiancée Jordan Fish has not yet given birth to their first son. This puts him up against the timeline for when he will have to leave for Mexico.
"I said from the very beginning, if she hasn't had it by the time I need to leave for Mexico, then I'm not going to go to Mexico," Hamlin said. "I think that that's the proper thing to do, but (I'm) really just letting her call the shots. Yeah. I think that's the best thing.
"And when her body and her mind says that it's time, then that's what we'll do. And ultimately, I need to be there for her during post and all those things. So just going to make sure I spend the proper time with her, and obviously, the racing will come second this week."
If the timing of the birth forces Hamlin to miss the trip to Mexico City, he and Joe Gibbs Racing will have to request a waiver to keep him eligible for the playoffs. This should not be an issue as NASCAR considers the birth of a child to be an acceptable reason for a driver to miss a race.
Hamlin has been on baby watch for the past two weeks, and Joe Gibbs Racing has been prepared for him to miss time. He was ready to fly home from Nashville Superspeedway on May 31 and June 1, but he did not need to make the trip.
One week later, he was ready to leave Michigan International Speedway if Fish went into labor. This did not happen, so Hamlin stayed at the 2-mile track and won his third race of the season.
Ryan Truex, the official Joe Gibbs Racing reserve driver, was on hand at both tracks to take over the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE. This will happen once again as the series heads to Mexico City. Truex will climb into the No. 11 Toyota if Hamlin is not able to make the trip south of the border.
This would mark Truex's first road course start in the Cup Series since Watkins Glen International in 2014 when he drove for BK Racing.