Denny Hamlin didn’t ask for a crew chief change for his No. 11 workforce and didn’t see it coming when Joe Gibbs Racing made that call.
“I actually was shocked by it,” Hamlin mentioned Friday earlier than the NASCAR Awards banquet.
Hamlin was knowledgeable the week after the season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10 that he would have a brand new workforce chief starting in 2025. He didn’t specify the day however mentioned it was early within the week.
The information was made public earlier at present that Chris Gabehart (pictured at proper, above, with Hamlin) has been promoted from the crew chief position to competitors director with the group and Hamlin will work with Chris Gayle.
Hamlin joked that he would by no means attend a 6:00pm assembly at JGR once more as a result of it all the time brings unhealthy information. This reference goes again to August, when he was knowledgeable in a gathering with Toyota that the producer’s engine infraction would end in a penalty from NASCAR.
“They’ve received to do what’s finest for the corporate,” Hamlin mentioned. “I feel they’re on the lookout for an enchancment [in] efficiency on the [No.] 54, they usually’re on the lookout for an total efficiency for all of the workforce as a result of we actually hadn’t gained the quantity of races as a company that we should always.”
Ty Gibbs is winless via two seasons on the Cup Sequence degree. He earned his first postseason berth in 2024 and completed fifteenth within the standings.
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers mixed for six victories. Nevertheless, these victories got here from Christopher Bell (three) and Hamlin (three). Martin Truex Jr. was winless in his last season as a full-time driver.
The group went winless via the ultimate 18 races of the season.
Hamlin and Gabehart gained 22 races collectively of their six seasons collectively, together with two triumphs within the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500. The workforce additionally certified for a Championship 4 berth in three consecutive seasons, 2019-21. An eighth-place end within the 2024 championship standings was the one time the duo didn’t finish the yr within the high 5.
“I’m actually very grateful for every part that he helped construct with the [No.] 11 automotive and the success that we had,” Hamlin mentioned. “I’m pleased for him and his promotion. I’m pleased for JGR and hopefully what it’ll deliver to everybody else.”
Gayle strikes to the No. 11 workforce from the No. 54 crew. He was paired with Ty Gibbs for the final two Cup Sequence seasons however has labored with Hamlin earlier than within the Xfinity Sequence. Throughout his tenure in that storage, Gayle labored with numerous Gibbs drivers, with Hamlin driving certainly one of his race vehicles in eight races between 2015 and 2021. They gained as soon as collectively, however Hamlin doesn’t know Gayle that nicely.
“However anytime JGR has an worker for 20 years, they consider in him,” Hamlin mentioned. “He in all probability is aware of me greater than I do know him, in truth. The groups clearly all work collectively very intently, and once we debrief each Monday, and I’m giving recommendation on the place we should always steer the ship, he’s taking notes. So, I feel it in all probability will bear faster outcomes than if I needed to begin over with somebody youthful and brisker.”
Gayle would be the sixth crew chief Hamlin has labored with in his profession, which works into its twentieth season in 2025. Hamlin gained races with every of his earlier 5 crew chiefs; probably the most wins got here in his pairing with Gabehart.
“I’m motivated,” Hamlin mentioned of the longer term. “I’m actually motivated at this level. It’s simply human nature. When [Bill] Belichick and [Tom] Brady break up, it was like, ‘Effectively, who was it? Was it him? Or was it you?’ So, I feel you’re all the time going to have that motivation of wanting to indicate it was you.”
