New dad Denny Hamlin gets a mulligan

The longtime theory (around here, anyway) said NASCAR babies are always born on a Tuesday.

The modern miracles of obstetrics, glove-in-glove with the racing schedule, always managed to make that happen. Tuesday was the safest day for such things in order to avoid conflicting with last weekend’s or the coming weekend’s race. Can’t have it on Monday, because that becomes race day in the case of a Sunday rainout.

Well, it turns out, Denny Hamlin and longtime girlfriend/partner/fiancé (and I mean LONG time, as in 17 years) Jordan Fish only missed it by one day. Their third child, a boy, was born last Wednesday. Could Denny have hopped on the jet Friday and done his duties in Mexico City?

Yep.

But did it make more sense to stay home and help with all that goes into prepping for a fifth family member? In this case, absolutely. Listen, if they’d been racing in, say, Darlington or Richmond or certainly Charlotte, I’m guessing Denny would’ve baked a couple of casseroles, loaded the fridge with juice and milk, and gone to work.

But even though this was just one time zone to the west and a few blocks to the south, Mexico City is still international travel, and international travel can bring unforeseen obstacles. Great opportunistic call by Denny.

His reward? The best imaginable. He gets to remain in the top spot on our weekly NASCAR Power Rankings. Ask any father of a newborn, Denny will be absolutely ITCHING to get to Pocono this weekend. So don’t be surprised if he stays up top for at least another week.

1. Denny Hamlin

Misses a race, stays at No. 1? Call it the “new dad” mulligan. Can only burn it once during the year.

2. Christopher Bell

He’s a closer runner-up here than he was in Mexico City this past Sunday.

3. Kyle Larson

Went halfway to South America to run half a race.

4. William Byron

Sounds odd, but he hasn’t won in over four months. Needed to be pointed out.

5. Ross Chastain

He’ll get back on that top-10 train at Pocono this week.

6. Chase Elliott

Did you see him on that third-place podium? Whew, looked like a teenager at family-picture time.

7. Ryan Blaney

Raise your hand if you’re the most recent Cup winner at Pocono …

8. Joey Logano

Also won at Pocono — 13 years ago!

9. Chris Buescher

For what it’s worth, his hometown (Prosper, Texas) produced TWO Olympic male figure skaters: Todd Eldredge and Ronald Kauffman.

10. Chase Briscoe

While Shane van Gisbergen lost his lunch in Mexico, Chase lost his streak of three straight poles.