Denny Hamlin explains how he reacted to watching Mexico City race at home

Last week, Denny Hamlin stayed in the United States after the birth of his son, Jameson, instead of going to Mexico City. That is always a hard decision to make for a NASCAR driver.

Back in the seat this weekend for Pocono, Denny Hamlin is hoping to pick up where he left off in Michigan. However, he spent last weekend watching everyone else have fun while he sat at home and cared for his newborn and fiancée.

Ahead of qualifying, Hamlin was asked about missing Mexico City. He did have a bit of an emotional roller coaster watching it all on TV.

“It wasn’t weird on Sunday. Friday, I had bad FOMO [Fear of Missing Out],” Hamlin said. “It was, right when practice was starting my heart started racing and I was like, ‘Oh.’ I knew, my body knew, my head knew that I was missing it, and then by the time I got to Sunday I had been content with being at home for the weekend.

“But yeah. Jameson’s doing good, mom’s doing good. So, yeah, just glad that we were able to have that opportunity to see that weekend through.”

Denny Hamlin missed the first-ever Cup Series race in Mexico City. But he had a once-in-a-lifetime moment welcoming his son into the world last week. There will always be another race, but this is likely Hamlin’s last child, and his first boy. I think he made the right decision to care for his kids and partner last weekend.

Denny Hamlin looking for 8th Pocono win

If he had to miss a race, it is nice that it wasn’t Pocono. Denny Hamlin is at his best at Pocono, and this weekend should not be much different. Seven career wins in the Cup Series at Pocono, Hamlin has his eyes on Victory Lane again.

With the speed we saw from Hamlin at Charlotte, Nashville, and Michigan, it isn’t hard to imagine him running up front again this weekend. The track is going to be hot and that could make this track slick and even more difficult to handle than normal.

There is a lot of talk about how many wins Hamlin has left in his career. We might be asking ourselves how many more he has left this season if he can pull off another win at Pocono this weekend.

While Denny Hamlin is back and refreshed after a weekend off, there is an entire field of drivers hoping to take him down. His own driver, Tyler Reddick, will be searching for his first win of the season. We’ll see how it all plays out in qualifying today and the race tomorrow.