Denny Hamlin’s Former Crew Chief Joins Ty Gibbs as No. 54 Driver Chases Long-Awaited Maiden NASCAR Cup Win

In one of the more interesting moves in the 2025 NASCAR Cup season so far, Ty Gibbs will temporarily have two crew chiefs — well, technically, that is. The second crew chief will carry another designation, that’s all.

Tyler Allen will remain as Gibbs’ primary crew chief. And Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief — Chris Gabehart, who was promoted after last season to competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing — will sit alongside Allen on the pit box for an undetermined number of races.

Gabehart’s official title with Gibbs’ team for now is simply ‘Race Strategist’. His objective is simple: With eight regular-season races remaining, he will try and help Allen get the younger Gibbs into the 10-race NASCAR Cup playoffs.

“Let’s call it unorthodox for this garage,” Gabehart said. “But the reality is that once [Joe Gibbs Racing] got three cars in the playoffs, when you look at it simply, we’ve got one left we’re trying to get in.”

On paper, you would think Gibbs has had a bad year. He left Atlanta sitting in 24th place in the Cup standings. Gibbs is still seeking his first career Cup win, and has had just two top-fives and another top-10 finish in the first 18 events.

While a win would assure him a playoff berth, Gibbs right now is 37 points below the cutline heading to this Sunday’s street race in Chicago.

Numbers don’t provide a full picture of Gibbs’ 2025 campaign

There have been some recent bright spots for Gibbs: He finished a surprising third at Michigan — tied with Bristol for best showing thus far in 2025 — and challenged eventual winner Shane Van Gisbergen late at Mexico City before fading to an 11th-place finish.

The Michigan finish fried Gibbs like an egg. Saving fuel late allowed JGR teammate Hamlin to earn his 57th career Cup win, while Gibbs continues to chase victory No. 1.

The No. 54 Camry driver complained over the team radio that he felt the fuel strategy gave the race away. Gabehart quickly replied, “Hey, we didn’t give [anything] away. We had a great day. We did what we needed to do. We got a top-five. Our other car won. It’s about [the] big picture. All right? Take this and build.”

Gabehart back on the road again

Gabehart and Hamlin combined to win 22 races, as well as 90 top-fives, 120 top-10 finishes, and 11 poles. Like many crew chiefs in NASCAR, he got tired of the constant travel and pressure and received the well-deserved promotion after last season.

But guess what? He’s back on the road again — for now, at least. “It’s very different to be on a different box. But certainly, the rest of it was like a glove. You don’t, at least in this short [amount] of time, forget how to do it. You just have to learn all the people and circumstances, and the driver, and their tendencies, and the spotter,” said Gabehart.

“I can’t believe I didn’t call Tony [Hirschman, the spotter] ‘Lambert’ one time today. That’s a shock. So, it’s not easy and it’s not seamless, but it’s an attempt to put all of our resources into getting that fourth car in [the playoffs],” he added.

If some of his magic with Hamlin can rub off on Gibbs, Gabehart may be off the road again before he knows it.

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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