NASCAR insiders react to surprising Denny Hamlin crew chief change
Denny Hamlin‘s team will look different for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as Chris Gayle will be his crew chief instead of Chris Gabehart. On The Teardown podcast, NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic shared their reactions to Joe Gibbs Racing changing Hamlin’s crew chief.
“Pretty surprising,” Gluck said. “You would think that Denny would have way more heads up or way more say at this point in his career with all he’s sort of earned and done. For him to be blindsided, it sounds like is kind of… He said it was a shock.”
“I was really shocked,” Bianchi added. “When I heard the news, I was like, ‘Wow, okay.’ The relationship between Denny and Chris is phenomenal. There’s a lot to break down here honestly. I went back last year to our anonymous poll we did with the playoff drivers, and I looked at it. Eight of the 16 drivers picked Chris Gabehart as a crew chief they wanted, which I thought was remarkable.
“…Easily, easily one of the most, if not the most respected and almost revered crew chief in the garage. Really smart, knows how to build fast race cars, great strategist, great motivator. He is almost a perfect crew chief in a lot of ways.”
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Bianchi also said he understood why Denny Hamlin would be upset by this move because he’s getting older and doesn’t have a lot of time to get his first Cup Series title.
When Hamlin learned the news, he said Joe Gibbs Racing did what was best for the organization. “It does, but again, they’ve gotta do what’s best for the company. And I think that they’re looking for an improvement on performance from the 54,” Hamlin told reporters ahead of the NASCAR Awards. “And they’re looking for an overall performance for all the teams. Because we certainly haven’t won the amount of races as an organization as we should.”
Gayle joins Hamlin’s No. 11 team after spending the last two seasons being the crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 car. Gabehart was Hamlin’s crew chief for the last six seasons, and the two had a lot of success together, winning 22 races and reaching the Championship 4 for three consecutive seasons.