Denny Hamlin reacts to first race with new crew chief Chris Gayle

Denny Hamlin has a new crew chief in Chris Gayle ahead of a pivotal 2025 crusade, as Joe Gibbs Racing moved his former shot-caller Chris Gabehart into a more prominent role, which represented a surprising turn of events last offseason.

Over the past few seasons, Hamlin and Gabehart had grown into one of the best driver-crew chief tandems in the NASCAR Cup Series, if not the best. As Hamlin continues to chase a long elusive championship in the twilight of his career, the move shocked many pundits and fans alike, but Gayle seems to be up to the challenge.

There was seemingly no kinks to work out during their first opportunity to showcase their new partnership over the weekend, as the Cup Series brought The Clash to Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday evening. Hamlin won his heat race, and raced near the front all night. It was certainly encouraging, as the veteran alluded to on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast.

“I’ve got a new crew chief this year with Chris Gayle. It’s a good warm up for us,” Hamlin said, regarding this first go-round with Gayle at The Clash over the weekend. “Even though, you could argue the practice time we actually got probably was as much or more than we’d get on normal weekend, it still felt like an abbreviated weekend. So, not a lot of adjustments you can do to the car. You know, basically you practice a few laps, you pull in, jack it up, twist a few things here and there, and you go back out.

“So, your bed’s pretty much made before you get to the racetrack on your major set-up things. But yeah, the communication, you know — I can only speak to ours, but it was it was good. Chris is a quiet guy, and I’m a quiet guy, but I think we were pretty straightforward in the questions that he asked, and the feedback that I gave. So obviously, it’s a good start.

“I told him after the heat race that I was like, ‘Man, I think you might be the fourth crew chief in a row now that I’ve won my first race with.’ You know, you can count them however you might want to count them, through Clash(s) or heat races or Daytona 500s or whatever. But early in the season, you know, a win with the new guys.”

All told, Chris Gayle could represent the exact change Denny Hamlin needed to get over the hump and win his first career NASCAR Cup Series title. Time will tell if their partnership is as successful moving forward, but we’ll likely have a better idea of where they stand in a couple of weeks, after getting to truly put some time together.