A week ago at Nashville Superspeedway, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was on baby watch, and he might very well have been forced to miss his first NASCAR Cup Series race since 2014, as he made clear that the birth of his third child was his priority.
But Hamlin was able to run the 300-lap Cracker Barrel 400 around the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval in its entirety, and after starting second and winning a stage, he finished in third place.
Skip ahead one week, and Hamlin's first son has not yet been born, meaning that his status for this Sunday's FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway may also be in jeopardy.
Hamlin has already been replaced once this week, with Chase Briscoe filling in at Iowa Speedway as Joe Gibbs Racing's and Toyota's representative for the two-day Goodyear tire test. He was joined by Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Ford and Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet.
If Hamlin is replaced in Sunday's 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Brooklyn, Michigan oval, he would be replaced by Ryan Truex.
Ryan Truex in line to replace Denny Hamlin
Truex, who was Hamlin's backup driver last week as well, is a Joe Gibbs Racing reserve driver. He is the younger brother of former Cup Series champion and former Hamlin teammate Martin Truex Jr.
The 33-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native has not made a Cup Series start since 2014, though he did attempt to qualify for the 2019 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. He has competed for Joe Gibbs Racing before, however, as he ran part-time for the team in the Xfinity Series from 2022 to 2024.
He won three races during that stretch, two at Dover Motor Speedway and another at Daytona. His only national series start so far this season came at Daytona in the season opener, when he competed for Toyota's Sam Hunt Racing.
Given how much talk there was about Hamlin on baby watch last week, it's somewhat surprising that he finds himself in almost the exact same situation again seven days later. But the baby still has not arrived.
Perhaps a shock return to Joe Gibbs Racing for a national series event, and in the Cup Series, no less, could still come to fruition for Truex.
Should Hamlin miss Sunday's race, he would indeed be granted a playoff waiver, as the birth of a child is considered a medical circumstance. He would not score points in the race, but his absence would not count against his playoff eligibility, nor would it impact his playoff point total, which currently ranks third in the series at 13.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 is set to be shown live on Amazon Prime Video from Michigan International Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon.