UPDATE: NASCAR has granted Denny Hamlin a playoff waiver.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin made it official on Thursday after the birth of his and longtime partner Jordan Fish's third child: he will not be traveling to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to compete in Sunday afternoon's Viva Mexico 250 NASCAR race, the first ever Cup Series race in Mexico.
The baby boy's due date was nearly two weeks ago, so Hamlin spent the two races at Nashville Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway on baby watch. Ryan Truex was on standby as a would-be replacement, but Hamlin competed in both races.
He did quite well in both, winning a stage before recording a third place finish at Nashville and then winning at Michigan to collect his third win of the year, which is tied for the series lead. His 18 playoff points rank second, and he is up to third place in the point standings.
But because Hamlin has to miss this Sunday's 100-lap race around the 15-turn, 2.429-mile (3.909-kilometer) road course in Mexico City, Mexico, he needs a playoff waiver to retain his playoff eligibility.
Denny Hamlin expected to be granted a NASCAR playoff waiver
So as of this moment, because of how the playoff rule is written, Hamlin is technically no longer in the playoffs. However, that won't last long, nor should it.
There is little doubt that the driver of the No. 11 Toyota will be granted a playoff waiver, given NASCAR's past history. But perhaps more important, he is also expected to retain all 18 of the playoff points he has earned so far this season due to his three race wins and three stage wins.
NASCAR made a somewhat controversial offseason rule change in the fallout from Kyle Larson's ill-fated 2024 Memorial Day Double attempt, and while any driver who misses a race for anything other than a medical reason can still be granted a waiver, they are required to surrender all playoff points ahead of the playoffs, including any more they would have earned throughout the remainder of the regular season following their absence.
It basically means that, should the driver who was granted the waiver indeed qualify for the playoffs, he would start the playoffs in last place (16th) in the standings with 2,000 points (0 bonus points).
But the birth of a child is considered a medical reason for an absence, so the only thing Hamlin really has to worry about is the fact that he will score no points this weekend, which won't help him in the overall point standings.
His 18 playoff points, and the playoff eligibility he has already earned by winning three times this year at Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway, and Michigan, are all safe.
Truex, who hasn't competed in a Cup Series race since September 2014, is set to replace Hamlin this weekend as Hamlin misses his first start since March 2014.
Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the Viva Mexico 250 from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 15. This race is race number four of five on Prime's first ever portion of the NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule as a part of the new seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal.