When Denny Hamlin will finally be named the champion of the Cup Series is a question that has hung over NASCAR for well over a decade now. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has come painfully close on multiple occasions and seen glory slip away through his fingers. Now that he has restarted his engine once again and picked up pace in Season 2024, Kevin Harvick strongly believes that it is Hamlin’s time to be champion.
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Analyzing races from the Fox Sports booth, Harvick is visibly in a lot of admiration for the way Hamlin has kicked off the ongoing season. Five races into the calendar, the driver has collected a win and contended for the lead in almost every single contest. The determination and confidence that he has been displaying is what has led Harvick to place his bets on him.
He expressed his optimism on the “Harvick Happy Hour” podcast and noted that Hamlin’s chemistry with his crew chief Chris Gabehart is the most pulling element that will lead to his maiden Cup Series title. He said, “I think Chris Gabehart is just one of those special guys that are just super detail-oriented,” and continued, “The way he talks and speaks to Denny and the way they discuss things is very straightforward.”
“I think that you know sometimes Denny can be one of those guys that doesn’t think you know what you’re talking about. If you show any weaknesses in what you’re talking about, he can get there and get something up on you. That is just not the case. You can see and hear the respect from Denny towards Chris.”
Gabehart and Hamlin have been working alongside each other since 2019. They collected various accolades in their time together and earned a reputation as one of the most cohesive driver-crew chief combos in the garage. Now that Harvick isn’t a competitor to them anymore, he has held no horses back in applauding the professionalism that the duo carries.
The most crucial factor in the relationship between Denny Hamlin and Gabehart that Harvick admires
Hamlin and Gabehart carry a level of trust in each other that any team would want in its driver-crew chief combo, Harvick believes. Mentioning that Hamlin would drive off a cliff if Gabehart instructed him to do so, he said, “They have 100% belief in each other.”
Continuing to throw heavy light on Gabehart, he named him alongside Rodney Childers and Cliff Daniels as a crew chief that he’d go to war with, and concluded that the way that Hamlin’s teammates have been running this year instills more confidence in him that the icon could finally get his hands on the ultimate trophy.
