On Thursday, Denny Hamlin revealed that he won’t be participating in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race scheduled for Mexico City. Instead, he plans to support his fiancée Jordan during the arrival of their baby boy born on June 11. Following his victory last week at Michigan, where he secured one of his three wins this season—the highest number achieved so far—Hamlin will step away from racing the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for about a week.
Ryan Truex, the sibling of 2017 Cup series winner Martin Truex Jr., and currently serving as the backup driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, will step into Hamlin’s No. 11 car this weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in place of Hamlin. Meanwhile, Hamlin’s squad plans to seek a dispensation from NASCAR so they can stay competitive in the playoffs. According to NASCAR regulations, full-time racers have the option to request a waiver should they be unable to participate in a race due to an injury or approved personal circumstances like having a baby.
I’m thrilled to share the news about the arrival of our baby boy,” Hamlin stated. “Everyone is healthy and doing great.” He added, “For now, my top focus will be being present at home with Jordan and our growing family over the coming days as she recovers and we adjust to becoming a family of five.
Over the last two weeks, Hamlin has been anticipating the arrival of the baby, and he was closely monitoring the situation.
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It would be extremely challenging for him to visit Mexico if his son wasn’t born before a specific deadline, as he mentioned the logistical challenges and complexities associated with international travel that would complicate frequent trips between his home and the racecourse.
“It’s different when you’re in Michigan; you take a one-and-a-half-hour flight, breeze through without any customs, and land directly at the airport. That’s not the case in Mexico,” Hamlin stated. “That’s why I definitely cannot depart until after we have our baby.”
Mexico City will be the inaugural Cup race where Hamlin won’t compete since March 2014, due to a sinus infection affecting his eyesight during a race at Fontana. Following this period, he maintained an impressive run of 406 successive starts until now. This sequence is set to conclude on Sunday shortly after Hamlin completed his milestone 700th career Cup start at Nashville roughly two weeks back.
For Truex, this weekend’s race in Mexico City will be his first Cup start since 2014. That year, he competed primarily for BK Racing, achieving a top-finish of 20th place at Pocono. With three victories in the Xfinity Series under his belt, Truex made his last attempt at a Cup race during the 2019 Daytona 500, where he was unable to secure a qualifying spot while racing for team owner Tommy Baldwin.
Currently, Hamlin ranks third in the Cup Series regular-season rankings. He has secured victories at Martinsville, Darlington, and Michigan, along with achieving seven top-five finishes and eight top-ten placements across fifteen events this season. Throughout his career, Hamlin has climbed to eleventh place on NASCAR’s all-time wins chart. His fifty-seventh victory at Michigan brought him within striking distance of tying Kevin Harvick for tenth position—only three more wins separate them. As Hamlin persists in chasing his inaugural Cup title, each race brings him closer to etching his name deeper into racing history.
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