Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart will be partying ways, ending a six-year partnership in the NASCAR Cup Series. It’s no secret that Joe Gibbs Racing is in a transition period with new drivers coming up, but no one expected Gabehart would be next in line with these new changes. Gabehart and Hamlin together have claimed 22 Cup Series wins, including the two Daytona 500 and a Southern 500 triumph. However, the veteran driver hasn’t been able to cross the final hurdle and make it to the championship 4 in his last three attempts. And this is something the top brass at JGR want to change with the arrival of the new crew chief.

As it turns out, not only Denny Hamlin but Ty Gibbs will also have a new crew chief who will lead the charge of the team in 2025. JGR didn’t have to look far to find a new leader for the #11 team, but there’s no confirmation on who will lead the #54 team next year.

Chris Gabehart will remain with Joe Gibbs Racing despite being dropped as crew chief

Gabehart joined JGR as a race engineer in 2012. From here on, he transitioned to Xfinity Series in the role of crew chief. He partnered with Erik Jones and helped him win four races in 2016, which was his only full-time season as a crew chief. From there on, he led the charge for multiple teams and contributed a total of nine wins to JGR’s Xfinity program. This success saw him join forces with Denny Hamlin and the #11 team back in 2019.

The connection with Denny Hamlin was instant. JGR saw immediate success as Denny Hamlin made three consecutive appearances in the Championship 4. In their six years together, the Gabehart-Hamlin duo managed to rack up a tally of 22 races, including two Daytona 500s, And now he’s transitioning into a new role within the organization.

“Chris Gabehart will now be an asset across all four of our teams as competition director, and we thought it was important to have him transition into his new role immediately.” Team owner Joe Gibbs announced the new changes. However, Gabehart will remain with JGR and will now take on the new role of the competition director.

This indeed was a big call, and one would assume that Hamlin would’ve been consulted before making a change to his crew chief. But in reality, the veteran driver had no clue about this overhaul. “I got called into another 6 o’clock meeting. I’m never going to JGR at 6 o’clock. All these meetings are bad. It does (surprise), but again, they’ve got to do what’s best for the company. And I think they are looking for an improvement on the 54 and overall performance for all the team.”

Both Gabehart and Gayle have been an integral part of Joe Gibbs Racing and have been with the team for a long time. They led their respective teams to the playoffs, but some might believe they underdelivered. Denny Hamlin is now the senior driver in the team, and JGR wants to give him all the resources he needs to win the elusive championship trophy within a year or two.

Chris Gayle is eager to get going with the #11 team

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Gayle has been with Joe Gibbs Racing for more than two decades now. Just like Gabehart, he moved up the ranks after starting as an engineer. In 2013, he moved to the Xfinity Series program, where he bagged 20 wins in his four-year tenure. He then moved on to Furniture Row Racing in the Cup Series as the crew chief for Erik Jones in 2017.

The following year, both Gayle and Jones moved to JGR, where they clinched a Southern 500 win. However, Gayle’s biggest achievement so far has been the Xfinity Series title win with Ty Gibbs in 2022; they won seven races that year. So, it’s fair to say Denny Hamlin is paired with a veteran who’s proven himself at every stage of his career. But helping Hamlin win the Cup Series championship is indeed a huge undertaking.

Sharing his take on this new opportunity, Gayle added, “Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I’m looking forward to working with him and the guys on the No. 11 team. He and Gabehart have established an incredible culture that is a very good barometer for our other drivers and teams to strive to match. I have all the confidence in the world that we can hit the ground running and continue the success that this group is accustomed to in 2025.”

What do you make of this change at the Joe Gibbs Racing team, and will this lead to a positive change for the #11 team in 2025? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.