Ryan Truex showed up at Nashville Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway knowing that he may get the opportunity to make his first NASCAR Cup Series start since September 2014, and that he might get the chance to do so for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team with which he won three Xfinity Series races as a part-time driver across the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
But Denny Hamlin, who was on baby watch with longtime partner Jordan Fish expecting the couple's third child, was able to run both races, and he performed exceptionally well, placing third at Nashville after winning a stage and then going on to win at Michigan.
Hamlin, however, made clear right after he won at Michigan that if the baby, already a week overdue at that point, continued to wait to make his arrival, he would be willing to skip this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the first ever Cup Series race in Mexico.
Denny Hamlin officially out at Mexico
On Thursday, Hamlin announced the birth of the baby boy, and he confirmed his decision to remain at his North Carolina home as he and his family aim to adjust to life as a family of five.
And so Truex, the younger brother of former Cup Series champion and former Hamlin teammate Martin Truex Jr., is set to get the opportunity to do what his brother did full-time from 2019 to 2024: compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race for the sport's premier Toyota team.
He is set to drive Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota in Sunday's 100-lap Viva Mexico 250 around the 15-turn, 2.429-mile (3.909-kilometer) road course in Mexico City, Mexico.
Ryan ran part-time for Coach Gibbs' team in the Xfinity Series from 2022 to 2024, but his current role with the organization is reserve driver. He does not have any more Xfinity Series starts planned this year, though he did compete in the 2025 season opener at Daytona International Speedway for Sam Hunt Racing.
While Truex hasn't competed in a Cup Series race since 2014, Hamlin hasn't missed one since 2014, March 2014 to be exact, when eye irritation kept him out of the car at Auto Club Speedway.
Truex did attempt to compete in the 2019 season-opening Daytona 500, but he failed to qualify and hasn't been involved in any sort of competitive Cup Series action since.
Hamlin has already been given a playoff waiver, which keeps him eligible for the playoffs and allows him to retain the 18 playoff points he has earned via his three race wins and three stage wins already this year. He will, however, score no points this weekend, meaning that he will likely drop from third place in the point standings.
Live coverage of Sunday afternoon's Viva Mexico 250 is set to be provided by Amazon Prime Video from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. This race is the fourth of five races on Prime's portion of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule, which is their first as a broadcast partner.