Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin and longtime partner Jordan Fish are expecting their third child on Sunday, and if their first baby boy arrives during the NASCAR Cup Series race window, Hamlin has confirmed that the birth of the child is the priority and that he is willing to miss the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Ryan Truex has been confirmed as his replacement, should Hamlin not be able to compete in this 300-lap race around the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval.
But if Truex ends up getting behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota, that brings another question to the forefront: would Hamlin be eligible for a playoff waiver?
Denny Hamlin playoff status in question if he misses Nashville
Over the offseason, NASCAR made their playoff waiver rules much stricter. This change was made after Kyle Larson missed last year's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in IndyCar's rain-delayed Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Medical waivers can still be granted, but any waiver granted for anything other than a medical reason will only be granted if the driver's playoff points are wiped off the board completely.
This includes playoff points already earned, and playoff points earned throughout the remainder of the regular season, ensuring that any driver granted a non-medical playoff waiver starts the playoffs with 2,000 points (zero playoff points), regardless of their regular season success.
Hamlin has already technically locked himself into this year's playoffs with two wins at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, and he has also won two stages, giving him 12 total stage points, third most in the series. He sits in sixth place in the point standings, and a sixth place regular season finish would give him five more playoff points.
Are he and his playoff points safe?
He would have no issue getting a waiver if he were to miss the Cracker Barrel 400 for the birth of his child, according to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass.
The birth of a child is considered by NASCAR to be a "medical reason" when it comes to missing a race, meaning that Hamlin's, or any other driver's, absence for this reason would not impact their playoff seeding. It would merely result in them scoring zero points in the race they miss, which is already implied.
This point could end up being moot for this weekend if Hamlin ends up competing anyway; no confirmation has been made, one way or the other, at this time.
Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the Cracker Barrel 400 from Nashville Superspeedway starting at 7:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 1.