Denny Hamlin weighs Chris Gayle, Chris Gabehart impact on Martinsville win

Denny Hamlin has always been fast at Martinsville. But there’s a difference between competing for wins and actually getting to Victory Lane.

Hamlin got there in Sunday’s race, his first win at Martinsville since 2015. It was Hamlin’s first time racing at the short track with Chris Gayle as his crew chief, and his influence helped their effort, Hamlin said on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast.

“I certainly think that it’s got some influence,” Hamlin said. “I heard the engineers talking post-race that he did have quite a bit of influence on this setup and kind of looking at some of the parameters in which we look and approach a short track. Maybe he’s got a few things that he looks at and says, ‘When I’ve had success here, this has been the most important thing.’

“Every team over time when they find successes, they try to determine what made us best and each crew chief will say something different likely. I think no doubt he had quite a bit of fingerprints on it, and I think it was a total team effort from everyone on the 11 car to get us a car that in my mind, was as dominant as I’ve had there in quite some time.”

Denny Hamlin, Toyotas dominant at Martinsville

Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyotas were good; Hamlin was next level. The 44-year-old led 274-of-400 laps, winning his 55th Cup Series race. It was Hamlin’s first victory since last April at Dover, and it came in dominating fashion.

Chris Gabehart, Hamlin’s crew chief from 2019-2024, was named JGR’s director of competition ahead of the 2025 season. Gabehart and Hamlin had success together at Martinsville, even if they never quite finished one off. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that JGR placed three cars in the top 10 with Gabehart overseeing the entire team.

“To have it to where all your cars are up front and dominating, then it says that the general team approach is the right thing,” Hamlin said. “Now, did the 11, the 20 [Christopher Bell] and the 23 [Bubba Wallace] have the same setup? I don’t even think close, which tells you there’s something else we really seem to have hit that was better for all of us. I think there’s a lot of things that play into it, but it’s good to see all Toyotas running well because it tells you our box is maybe bigger than what we thought it was.”