Ryan Truex will be trackside this weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, ready to serve as a relief driver for Denny Hamlin should Hamlin’s fiancé, Jordan, go into labor with their third child.
— NASCAR News Wire —
AND: Hamlin’s longtime partner Jordan Fish is expecting to give birth to the couple’s third child – their first boy – at any moment. Her due date is June 1, the same date as Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville.
The No. 11 team planned for Hamlin to get through practice and qualifying on Saturday with driver Ryan Truex on standby. The New Jersey native hasn’t started a race at the Cup level since a 23-race stint in 2014. He has just a single national series start this year, finishing 17th with Sam Hunt Racing at Daytona International Speedway.
“Oh yeah,” Hamlin said on if it’s a real possibility that he misses the Nashville race. “[Fish is] due tomorrow. I can’t miss it. I’ve got to be there for her, and that’s the biggest priority. I just wish she could hang on a little bit longer.
“I didn’t put a time on it. I think that there’s probably an eight-hour window that I don’t think it would be possible for me to do both.”
Hamlin isn’t intending to make the trip back to North Carolina following practice and qualifying and will remain in Nashville on Saturday evening.
— NASCAR.com —