Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and his fiancée Jordan Fisher have been on baby watch for the past two weeks. Hamlin has announced that if the baby (a boy) has not arrived by the time he needs to leave for the race in Mexico City this weekend, he will not go.
Hamlin said, “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. I think that that’s the proper thing to do. But really, just letting her (Fish) call the shots. I think that’s the best thing. 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-(birth) and all those things. Just going to make sure I spend the proper time with her, and obviously the racing will come second this week.”
The haulers left Michigan International Speedway after the race on Sunday and headed for Mexico. The haulers will arrive at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Wednesday morning to begin preparations for the road course race on Sunday; but the drivers need to be at the track for practice on Friday afternoon. And Mexico City is on a mountain over 7,000 feet above sea level which creates more issues for anyone not used to breathing in the thinner air.
Hamlin has had driver Ryan Truex on standby to take over the driving duties for the past two weeks in case Hamlin needed to leave for the birth of his first son. Truex will drive the car in Mexico City if Hamlin does not make the trip.
The Viva Mexico 250 on Sunday is the first time that the NASCAR Cup Series has raced outside of the United States since 1958.
If Hamlin does not make the trip to Mexico City and run in the race, he will have to petition NASCAR for a waiver in order to qualify to participate in the playoffs which requires drivers to run every race to qualify. Currently Hamlin sits third in the point standings behind Kyle Larson and William Byron.
After some controversy over awarding waivers for non-racing incidents, NASCAR revamped the waiver rules this year; but missing a race for the birth of a child is among the reasons a driver could miss a race for a non-racing event and still earn a waiver.