Denny Hamlin will not compete in Sunday’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City following the birth of his son.

Ryan Truex will drive the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Hamlin’s place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez course. Truex, the younger brother of former Gibbs driver and Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., is the reserve driver for the company. He also does their simulator work. Sunday will be Truex’s first start in the series since 2014.

Truex has been on standby for Hamlin and with the race team for the last few weeks. He has been in the Gibbs program the last few seasons, which includes driving one of its Xfinity Series cars on a part-time basis.

Hamlin’s son was born on Wednesday, June 11.

“We are happy to announce the birth of our son,” Hamlin said. “Everyone is doing well. My main priority is to be here at home for [wife] Jordan and our family over the next few days when she is able to go home and we transition to life as a family of five. I appreciate everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, our partners, and our fans for the support over the last few weeks, and I look forward to being back at the track next weekend in Pocono.”

Gibbs will apply for a waiver from NASCAR so that Hamlin can remain playoff eligible. The birth of a child is listed as an acceptable reason to miss a race without forfeiting playoff points. Hamlin has three wins through the first 15 races of the season and is third in the championship points standings after last weekend’s race in Michigan.

The last Cup Series race Hamlin was not in the field for was in the spring of 2014 at Auto Club Speedway. Hamlin was not cleared to race because of a sinus infection that was causing vision problems.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs help. He has to get to Mexico City for Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The only problem is that the Prime Video analyst is having plane issues. Earnhardt revealed Wednesday that his planned flight to Mexico City “is in Singapore stuck in maintenance.” As a result, he’s seeking “alternative solutions.”

Now, Earnhardt still has time. In fact, drivers aren’t scheduled to head out to Mexico City until Thursday. But still, it creates a stressful situation as he goes about getting from the United States to Mexico. When he arrives, he’ll be on the call for the first NASCAR Cup Series race outside the U.S. in the modern era.

NASCAR set to race in Mexico City, several drivers have opportunity to secure playoff spot

This will be the 16th race of the regular season and just the second held on a road course. With just 11 races remaining until the postseason, Mexico City presents an opportunity for several road course experts to secure a spot in the 16-car field.

Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Mexico native Daniel Suárez come to mind. Of the four, only Buescher is currently occupying a playoff spot.

It’s a big moment for Suárez, who is competing in both Sunday’s Cup race and Saturday’s Xfinity race. Suárez competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series and now returns to race in his home country for the first time in 10 years.

“It’s very special,” Suárez told Kelly Crandall of ESPN. “Honestly, it’s very difficult to put into perspective for people. Only those who really know me very well understand how important and special this is for me.

“After a lot of work and sacrifices, I was able to make it in NASCAR Mexico, and at one point in my life, that was my goal — that was my ultimate goal. I was able to get there at an early age, which gave me hope to be able to do something in the United States.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman has been medically cleared to compete in Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico, Hendrick Motorsports said in a pre-race advance.

The Tucson, Arizona-native will indeed be driving his typical No. 48 Ally Financial Chevrolet in Sunday’s groundbreaking event for the NASCAR Cup Series, which will be the first non-exhibition event outside of the United States since 1958, and the first in Mexico.

In last Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Bowman was involved in a multi-car accident at Lap 67, which saw his Hendrick Motorsports machine get hooked up the racetrack viciously into the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier.

Bowman was able to climb from the battered No. 48 under his own power and was subsequently checked and released from the infield care center.

After being evaluated this week for back pain following his hard crash at Michigan, Bowman will compete in the event. However, Anthony Alfredo, who does the majority of the team’s simulation work, will be on standby in case Bowman needs a relief driver at any point this weekend.

When speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) earlier this week, Jeff Gordon, Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, spoke to whether or not Bowman would be able to compete in Sunday’s event in Mexico City, saying the organization “[felt] confident that [Bowman] would be in the car.”

The 32-year-old driver has a history of injuries, which have kept him sidelined from the NASCAR Cup Series for two multi-race stints over the last three seasons, most recently in 2023.

At the tail-end of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, Bowman suffered a major impact at Texas Motor Speedway that caused a concussion, forcing him to leave the cockpit of the No. 48 for six events.

The following Spring, while competing in a sprint car race in West Burlington, Iowa, Bowman suffered a compression fracture to his vertebra in an accident with Conner Merrill, which forced him to sit out for three weeks.

Bowman, now cleared by medical professionals to compete, will get the opportunity to take on Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend in Mexico City, with two practice sessions on Friday (1:30 PM ET and 3:00 PM ET), qualifying on Saturday (Noon ET), and the race on Sunday (3:00 PM ET).

Coverage for all NASCAR Cup Series on-track sessions will take place on Prime Video.

NASCAR championship contender Denny Hamlin will miss Sunday’s Cup Series race in Mexico City following the birth of his son on Wednesday, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday. Ryan Truex, JGR’s reserve driver, will substitute to drive the No. 11 Toyota.

Hamlin’s fiancé Jordan Fish has been expecting the couple’s third child for the past 12 days and Hamlin has made it known he would miss a Cup race to be by Fish’s side. Truex was on standby last week at Michigan International Speedway, but Hamlin not only drove in the race, he won.

The Michigan win was Hamlin’s third on the season and 57th of his career, second-most among active drivers. The 44-year-old has made 406 consecutive starts, last missing a race in 2014 at California Speedway due to an object in his eye.

Truex has been lauded for his ability behind the scenes in serving as JGR’s reserve driver. These duties include full-time simulator testing that helps JGR refine chassis setups for a given track, though they do not include real-world testing of a car.

Truex last made a Cup start in 2014 and has 26 career starts at NASCAR’s top level, with a career-best finish of 20th. He is the younger brother of 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., who retired after last season and was a former teammate of Hamlin’s at JGR.

Because Hamlin is missing the Mexico City race, the first Cup points outside the continental United States since 1958, he will need NASCAR to grant him a waiver to maintain playoff eligibility. The expectation is that NASCAR will grant Hamlin a waiver, allowing him to compete for the Cup championship when the playoffs begin in September.

Good race for Hamlin to miss, great opportunity for Truex

NASCAR Cup Series drivers must start all 26 regular-season points races to be eligible for the playoffs unless they have a NASCAR-issued waiver; the policy was revamped this year to include the birth of a child as an example of a valid reason to be given a waiver.

That clearly made Hamlin’s decision to remain in the United States and skip the inaugural Mexico City race much easier, since his fiancé is still in the hospital as of Thursday, and they already have two children at home.

Travel to Mexico is also not as easy as simply flying his private jet to the racetrack, as he does every other week. Some teams who planned to take a charter flight to Mexico City on Thursday have been forced to scramble after a mechanical problem grounded their flight.

But in some ways, this is the best possible race for Hamlin to miss. He has struggled with his road racing and was unlikely to contend in Mexico (He is 1-for-57 in his Cup Series road racing career).

Meanwhile, it’s a golden opportunity for Ryan Truex, who has been training for this moment all season. As The Athletic wrote earlier this year, Truex is JGR’s reserve driver and is responsible for helping the teams with fine-tuning their setups in the Toyota simulator each week.

(Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

NASCAR Hall of Famer and Hendrick Motorsports co-owner and vice chairman Jeff Gordon will take on a pivotal role at the upcoming Viva Mexico 250.

The race, scheduled to be held in Mexico City at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, will mark the Cup Series’ first points-scoring race outside of the U.S. since 1958, with the Xfinity Series also traveling south of the border.

Ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race, Hendrick Motorsports announced that four-time champion Gordon has been awarded the title of “Official Commander,” with the 53-year-old set to give the command at the renowned Formula 1 circuit. It comes after he recently admitted his “terrifying experience” in the car with his kids. 

Responding to the announcement, Gordon took to social media where he wrote, “Can’t wait to give the command for @NASCAR ’s first ever Cup Series race at #NASCARMexico.”

Once the green flag has flown, Gordon will watch on as Kyle Larson, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman all battle it out for supremacy around the 2.42-mile track.

For Larson, a series-high fourth win this year is on the line, having previously won at Homestead-Miami, Bristol, and Kansas City. As for series-leader Byron, he’ll be aiming to record just his second win of the season, having won the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row in February.

For Chase Elliott, Mexico City represents an opportunity to clinch his first top-three finish of the season, having finished fourth twice through the first 15 races. Meanwhile, the fact that Bowman will be racing at all is something of a miracle after his brutal wreck at Michigan, which saw him go nose-first into the wall.

Thankfully, while Bowman admitted in an interview with Amazon Prime that the incident “hurt, a lot,” Gordon has since told Danielle Trotta that while the 32-year-old is “very sore,” there is “no reason to believe he won’t be in the car at Mexico City.”

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That being said, while all four of Hendrick Motorsports’ stars are good to go for the highly anticipated race, whether or not they will make it seems to be another question. Whilst aboard his flight bound for Mexico City, Xfinity Series star Ryan Ellis revealed on social media, “Plane attempted takeoff, plane made a small boom, we are headed back.” As a result, Ellis and the rest of the passengers were “back in Charlotte,” as per a follow-up post.

Fellow Xfinity Series driver Austin Green also provided an update on social media, posting, “Engine blew up going down the runway to Mexico City. Hope we can all make it in time for practice tomorrow.”

Along with this flight, it seems another also experienced an issue, with reporter Matt Weaver stating that “NASCAR tells us here in Mexico that they are aware and that industry personnel are being placed on different planes to Mexico City.” Subsequently, Weaver added, “Those on the plane that had the engine issue right before takeoff have been sent home or back to their race shops.”

Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that his office is again partnering with Pocono Raceway for its annual Drug Take Back event during NASCAR race weekend at the track from June 20 to 22 for “The Great American Getaway 400.” 

Attendees on any of the three event days can bring unused and outdated prescription medications to the track and safely dispose of them at the Office of Attorney General’s station outside the main entrance at the raceway, under the flag pole.

Those who drop off prescription drugs will be given a voucher to return to the Pocono Raceway on Tuesday, July 8, to drive their own vehicle around “The Tricky Triangle.”

“The opioid epidemic continues to plague communities across Pennsylvania, and I have made prevention, deterrence, and treatment as top priorities for my office,” Attorney General Sunday said. “This take back event is the perfect opportunity to dispose of potentially dangerous medication in a safe way that keeps the drugs out of the wrong hands. I am thankful for the continued partnership with the Pocono Raceway on this proactive measure that can save lives.”

Since 2017, the Office of Attorney General’s statewide Drug Take Back program has collected and destroyed nearly 400 tons of prescription drugs.

“Pocono Raceway is a proud partner of the Office of Attorney General and remains focused on doing our small part to help our guests dispose of unused and expired prescription medications in a safe manner,” Ben May, Pocono Raceway President, said. “We encourage everyone visiting Pocono Raceway between June 20-22nd to visit the Office of Attorney General’s booth – next to our large American flag behind the grandstands – to safely dispose of your medications.”

Representatives from the Office of Attorney General will also host a table on Saturday, June 21, at Kids’ Day, where activities and swag will be available to youth and their families.

In 2022, the Office of Attorney General released a special report on fentanyl becoming the dominant opioid in Pennsylvania that is increasingly found in counterfeit pills. The report notes that just one fentanyl-laced counterfeit pill is enough to cause an overdose.

Pocono Raceway Drug Take Back Weekend is the only large-scale drug take back program of its kind in Pennsylvania. It hopes to provide an example for other large venues and sports teams and show how important it is to take part in these initiatives to combat the opioid epidemic and keep the Commonwealth safe.

Pocono Raceway PR