Denny Hamlin readily admits, “I’m a pretty selfish person, truthfully.” Sure, the veteran NASCAR Cup star races for his team, Joe Gibbs Racing, his team members, and his sponsors, but when it comes to winning races, at the top of Hamlin’s list is winning for himself.
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But when it comes to this past Sunday’s win at Martinsville Speedway, which was Hamlin’s sixth career victory at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval and his first win there in 10 years, Hamlin said that memorable triumph was not for him but for someone else. Namely, his new crew chief this season, Chris Gayle.
While it was the 55th win of Hamlin’s career, Sunday’s win for Gayle atop the pit box was only his third Cup triumph as a crew chief – and his first since leading Erik Jones to victory lane at Darlington in 2019.
“It’s easy for me to say winning there after 10 years is what meant the most to me,” Hamlin told NASCAR Daily. “But truthfully, I said it right after the race, Chris Gayle (crew chief) has just gotten so much scrutiny over the last few years and I just wanted to win for him.”
Every win is emotional for the 44-year-old Hamlin, but Sunday’s carried more weight as it was a reaffirmation of Gayle’s leadership and strategizing.
“He’s had a tough go at it, and because a lot of it is, he’s had young drivers, really young drivers,” Hamlin said of Gayle. “He had to be crew chief, a mentor, he had to do all the other things to help young drivers, other than just concentrating on how can I make a car the fastest.”
“And sometimes when you have a young driver, you have to change the car to not make it as fast, but to make it more comfortable to them.”
Gayle is Hamlin’s seventh crew chief in 20 seasons
Gayle is the seventh regular crew chief that Hamlin has had in his 20-season NASCAR Cup career. Since Gayle took over for Chris Gabehart after last season – Gabehart was promoted to director of competition at JGR – he and Hamlin have meshed together quickly and strongly.
“I think it was very, very gratifying for me to win for Chris Gayle and to see that our relationship got off on the right foot,” Hamlin said. “For him to be the seventh crew chief I’ve won with, it’s just fantastic.”
“And it just feels good to be able to go there at a track where I used to dominate and turn back the clock.”
And speaking of clocks, Hamlin already earned Martinsville Speedway’s signature Grandfather’s Clocks for each of his previous five wins.
But it wouldn’t be a surprise if the sixth Grandfather’s Clock from this past Sunday’s win went to Gayle, someone Hamlin is hoping to win a lot more races going forward.
