Denny Hamlin was left stunned and found it hard to accept his split from his crew chief Chris Gabehart, and it looks like Gabehart seemed to echo the sentiment. He recently shared his thoughts on the matter, acknowledging the difficulty of grappling with such a momentous change. But he emphasized the necessity of aligning with the team’s direction, without which, they would simply be two lone rangers.
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Baring his soul on SiriusXM NASCAR, Gabehart explained, “There’s no easy way for that to be approached…”
“You have to realize that for me that’s not just a conversation with Denny because Denny and I without this team would just be two guys out on a walk and we wouldn’t win anything. Car chiefs, engineers, mechanics, truck drivers, pit crew, I mean, we really became a very tight-knit group that leaned on each other a lot.”
He even admitted, “The conversation with Denny was a tough one and it’s still tough for me admittedly, to come off the box and realize that maybe I’ve called my last race.” Gabehart mentioned that it’s quite a shift for him to no longer focus on a single car number moving forward.
Regarding their partnership, he noted that both recognized that a day would arrive when Hamlin would pursue new horizons and Gabehart would have much more to offer beyond just overseeing a car number.
🗣️ Chris Gabehart (@CG1751) discusses his move from Crew Chief to Competition Director and having to break the news to @dennyhamlin.
💭 “(Denny’s) a true professional and I think he truly understands this will make all of us better.”
More → https://t.co/WGRTG5gVtL pic.twitter.com/RVAuruUnK9
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) November 22, 2024
Gabehart began his tenure at JGR in 2012 as a race engineer and by 2016, he had made the leap to a crew chief position in the Xfinity Series, marking three successful seasons. He ascended to the Cup Series in 2019, taking the helm of the #11 team. Gabehart is largely credited for reviving Hamlin’s career after his winless season a number of years ago.
They started their journey with a bang, capturing the Daytona 500 in their first race of the season and notching up five more victories, finishing fourth in the standings by year’s end.
Under Gabehart’s guidance, Hamlin consistently delivered, never dipping below P8 place in the driver standings, having secured a top-4 championship finish during their first three seasons together. Over the course of six seasons, the duo racked up 22 wins.
JGR president Dave Alpern shed light Gabehart’s shift away from the #11 team
Sportsnaut journalist Matt Weaver posted an update reporting on a SiriusXM NASCAR conversation with the JGR president, in which he relayed that since 2023, following Wally Brown’s departure from road duties, JGR had been looking to promote from within to fill the competition director slot. They set their sights on Gabehart.
Alpern emphasized that this move was not a reflection on the #11 team’s performance but was aimed at strengthening JGR as a whole. They believed Chris Gayle would mesh well with what Hamlin was accustomed to, stylistically. He underscored the strategy, noting, “It was important to announce the Gabehart part first because everything flows from that.”
Joe Gibbs also weighed in on the reshuffling, stating, “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.”
“Chris Gayle will bring his own perspective to the 11 team while also maintaining the consistency and continuity they have developed with Denny over the past several years.”
He expressed confidence that these changes would fortify the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team as they get ready for 2025.
