{"id":121784,"date":"2025-08-05T20:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/121784\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T20:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T20:30:13","slug":"nascar-insider-speculates-on-denny-hamlin-replacement-at-joe-gibbs-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/121784\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR insider speculates on Denny Hamlin replacement at Joe Gibbs Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this summer, Denny Hamlin<\/a>\u00a0agreed to a contract extension with\u00a0Joe Gibbs Racing. He\u2019ll continue to pilot the No. 11 Toyota for his longtime team, with at least two more seasons after 2025 coming up.<\/p>\n

Beyond that? It\u2019s likely Hamlin will retire, or race part-time with his 23XI Racing team, although nothing is official. Where does that leave the No. 11 team at JGR? Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic is wondering<\/a> the same thing, as he evaluated what he\u2019s hearing regarding NASCAR\u2019s free agency in the Cup Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though Denny Hamlin was on an expiring contract, it was no shock that Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing announced last month a contract extension that keeps him with the only team he\u2019s ever known through the 2027 season,\u201d Bianchi wrote<\/a>. \u201cSo why are Hamlin and JGR on this list? Because Hamlin made it clear he expects this to be his final contract, and the possibility he retires in two years is very real. Thus begins the process for JGR to begin identifying Hamlin\u2019s eventual replacement and then implementing that succession plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

In trying to find potential options, Bianchi noted that Toyota prospect Brent Crews could see his timeline line up with Hamlin\u2019s contract. However, there should be a bevy of options, as the ride will be a coveted one when it becomes available. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news for JGR is that it has ample runway and doesn\u2019t need to be in a rush,\u201d Bianchi added<\/a>. \u201cIt also helps that Toyota has several promising young drivers in its pipeline \u2014 most notably Brent Crews \u2014 should it choose to go this route. <\/p>\n

\u201cJGR is also an elite organization, making it a destination spot for any talented driver who wants to contend for championships. And as noted above, several big-name drivers have contracts coming up for renewal over the next couple of years. Inside the garage, the talk is already ramping up over who may be driving the No. 11 Toyota in 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his Cup Series career, Hamlin has won 58 races for JGR, including three Daytona 500 victories. The one area he\u2019s fallen short is in his chase for a championship, but some added time with the No. 11 team might help him get there.<\/p>\n

Whoever does replace him in the No. 11 will have some giant shoes to fill. Let the speculation run wild, because until it\u2019s official, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess who will follow Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this summer, Denny Hamlin\u00a0agreed to a contract extension with\u00a0Joe Gibbs Racing. He\u2019ll continue to pilot the No.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":121785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1406,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-121784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-nascar","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114978057399090543","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}