Last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, there was a chance that Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin would be called to the hospital for the birth of his third child, as longtime partner Jordan Fish is expecting the couple's first baby boy.
That would have meant Hamlin stepping aside from his regular duties behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota and handing over the reins during Sunday night's NASCAR Cup Series race to Joe Gibbs Racing reserve driver Ryan Truex.
Hamlin ended up running the entire 300-lap race around the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval, and he placed third after starting second.
But it was also determined over the weekend that Hamlin would no longer take part in the two-day Goodyear tire test at Iowa Speedway during the week. Teammate Chase Briscoe replaced him as Joe Gibbs Racing's (and Toyota's) representative, joining Austin Cindric from Team Penske and Ford and Kyle Busch from Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet.
A week after the Cracker Barrel 400, the baby has still not yet arrived, and Hamlin is once again on baby watch at Michigan International Speedway heading into Sunday afternoon's FireKeepers Casino 400.
Denny Hamlin Michigan replacement confirmed
And it has once again been confirmed that Truex is his replacement, in the event that he needs to be replaced.
Hamlin qualified third for Sunday's 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Brooklyn, Michigan oval, and if a driver change is made before the race, Truex would have to drop to the rear of the 36-car field.
Truex, the younger brother of former Cup Series champion and former Hamlin teammate Martin Truex Jr., has not competed in a Cup Series race since 2014, though he did run select Xfinity Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing from 2022 to 2024, winning three.
Truex attempted to compete in the 2019 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway but failed to qualify.
His lone national series start of the 2025 season thus far came at Daytona, where he competed for Sam Hunt Racing in the season opener.
Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon.