Joe Gibbs Racing's next star? Brent Crews responds to Denny Hamlin

You know I don't want to leave them kind of in flux, they've got a great driver in Brent Cruz that's you know going to be going to be ready more than likely by the end of next year. So I don't know I mean it's it'd be hard. Denny Hamlin just named his future Joe Gibbs racing replacement and the teenager's reaction says everything. I swear to you that was wild. Those were Brent Cruz first words after hearing Denny Hamlin publicly call him the driver who could take over the legendary number 11 Toyota. The 18 year old never saw it coming. Hamlin who's expected to stay with Joe Gibbs racing through the 2027 season shocked NASCAR fans by saying he doesn't want to leave the team in flux because Brent Cruz will likely be ready by then. For Cruz this wasn't just praise, it came from the driver he grew up cheering for. He admitted he had a big old smile on his face and said he was grateful that Hamlin had been watching his progress. I did not expect him to say that whatsoever. I swear to you that was wild. I had a big old smile on my face when he did say it because I had no idea. But yeah that was really nice of Denny to say and I'm I'm very grateful that he's been watching and that's that's really cool. Denny was my favorite driver as a little kid. My favorite football player was Julio Jones and he was number 11 so automatically Denny was my favorite driver. So to think when I was five years old what I knew now I would I don't know what I would do but no it was super cool and obviously like that that's my dream that's everybody's dream especially from a young age but at the end of the day we have a long season left to go and a lot of races left to go and I still have a ton to learn. And honestly the numbers back up the hype. Cruz became the youngest champion in Trans Am TA2 history in 2023. He won six Arca Menards series races. He earned the 2024 Cars Late Model Stock Tour Rookie of the Year award and this season he's already posted seven top five finishes while sitting 11th in the championship standings. But despite all the Cup Series buzz Cruz isn't getting carried away. Instead of talking about replacing a future Hall of Famer he's staying focused on proving himself one race at a time. That's exactly why so many people inside the garage believe he's the real deal. A future superstar or is the pressure now bigger than ever. Do you think Brent Cruz is truly the right driver to replace Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing or is it still too early to crown NASCAR's next big star.