Why Denny Hamlin chose the name Jameson Drew for his newborn son

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin recently became a father for the third time. He announced the news via a joint Instagram post with his fiancée, Jordan Fish, on June 19, 2025. Having missed out on the Mexico City race, Hamlin will return to NASCAR with the upcoming Pocono Raceway event, and during a pre-race interview, he revealed the story behind naming his son Jameson Drew Hamlin.

The oldest driver on the grid and Fish met decades ago and have been together for 15 years. The couple were blessed with two daughters, Taylor in 2013 and Molly in 2017, before they faced a rough patch in 2021. However, they soon made up and announced their engagement in January 2024.

Following the birth of Denny Hamlin's first son on June 11, 2025, he told Cup Scene he chose his son's name as a tribute to the key figures who helped him in his career. Hamlin further explained:

"The name—um—obviously I'm James, so that's James' son, Jameson. And so, and Drew—we wanted to keep JD because, obviously, JD Gibbs is a big, big part of my getting here to the Cup Series. James Dean was the car owner I drove for in late models that got me the equipment to win all those races to get seen by JD. I'm JD, and so we're just keeping it going." [11:20 onwards]

The #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver will compete in The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM, scheduled for Sunday, June 22, 2025. Notably, Denny Hamlin has secured the pole position for the 160-lap race with a best time of 52.144 seconds and a top speed of 172.599 mph. He was 0.083 seconds faster than Chris Buescher in the qualifying session.

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Denny Hamlin gets an official playoff waiver from NASCAR despite missing the Mexico City race

According to the Stock Car Racing Association's rule book, drivers must compete in every race to be eligible for the playoffs. However, Denny Hamlin was granted an official playoff waiver after missing the Mexico City race, as his absence was considered to be due to medical reasons.

The NASCAR Viva Mexico 250 marked the first absence of the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver since 2014. He has competed in the past 406 consecutive races and aims for his 58th win at Pocono Raceway.

Additionally, Denny Hamlin marked his 700th start at Nashville Superspeedway and bagged a win at Michigan Speedway the next week. He also became the 10th driver to win on their 701st start in the history of stock car racing. Recalling reaching the milestone, Hamlin stated on the Actions Detrimental podcast:

"Usually by this time, the performance starts to go away... your performance is tailing off, and I just don't feel that way. I feel as strong as ever and I really wanted to win on 700. Will I be around to see 800? I don't think so. I think that that's probably closing. I don't know. We'll see. I've got to stay at this current level. The minute I feel like it's slipping, I'm out of here." (56:29 onwards)

With 494 points to his name, Denny Hamlin currently ranks fifth in the Cup Series points table. He has secured three wins, eight top-ten finishes, and seven top-five finishes in 15 starts this season. Additionally, he has led 455 laps with an average start of 11.733.