Chris Gayle speaks out after replacing Chris Gabehart as Denny Hamlin’s crew chief

Last week the shocking news came out that Denny Hamlin would be working with a new crew chief in the 2025 NASCAR season. Crew chief Chris Gabehart has taken on a new job as Competition Director at Joe Gibbs Racing. Chris Gayle will replace him on the 11 team.

Chris Gayle spent the last two seasons working with Ty Gibbs. The pair did not win a race.. They were able to win Rookie of the Year in 2023. They followed it up with two pole awards in 2024, including a playoff appearance.

This week Gayle has now spoken on his side of things. He understands that this isn’t necessarily ideal but he is determined to make the most of it.

“It absolutely is a great honor and a great opportunity for me. It just all came down last week when we knew that Chris Gabehart was moving to a competition director role, and it obviously opened up a position with the 11 team,” Gayle said of working with Denny Hamlin on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “And I think it really just came down to, who do we have, who can we get, and what makes our race teams the strongest overall?

“I think that if you look at Denny’s perspective, right, he’s been around a lot, he’s had that team he’s got a lot of years under his belt and he’s ready to compete, right? He’s got fewer years in front of him than what he has behind him so he doesn’t want to have to have a complete rebuild, right? You know moving me over to the 11 team and filling that role that Gabehart had, keeping the rest of the team intact allows that to happen. It allows some continuity to be there where I understand how JGR works, I understand the processes of the 11 team, the processes of JGR in general, and how all the tools work. So, hopefully, that will make it much more seamless than if we start from the outside.”

Denny Hamlin is going to be in a new era. Gabehart did a lot for his career. When Hamlin went winless in 2018, Gabehart stepped in and improved his performance.

Gayle is at Joe Gibbs Racing for a reason. They are very careful with how they promote those in the organization. Gabehart is a rising star in NASCAR. The promotion was going to have to come at some point.

There is a lot of change happening at Joe Gibbs Racing. Chase Briscoe is joining the organization. Ty Gibbs is stepping up on the Xfinity side of ownership. Hamlin is not a young driver anymore.

While Denny Hamlin is starting over with Chris Gayle, it isn’t bad news. A fresh perspective could be just what he needs to take that next step. Will Hamlin and Gayle have success together in 2025?