The 2025 Cup Series finale shattered the dreams that Denny Hamlin had been building up for twenty years. A bad tire strategy near the end of the race resulted in him not being able to make up enough positions to secure his maiden championship and the person who gave the final order to execute this strategy was his crew chief, Chris Gayle.
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Any driver in Hamlin’s position would have likely developed a grudge with Gayle. But he has been a complete gentleman and a professional. He revealed in his post-race interview at Las Vegas on Sunday that he has not spoken to Gayle about the decision even once since the finale. Both of them just let each other be, and things are as good as ever now.
Hamlin said, “I know that he felt horrible. Not that it was his fault. Maybe I could have done something. I mean, that was just a moment that certainly he wishes he could have back, and I wish I could have back. But yeah, we both went through it for some time.
“By the time I got back to him, he was certainly in a better spot. And we never talked about it,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver added.
Hamlin is someone who likes to have his professional relationships separate from his personal ones. So, he really does not mind Gayle and him maintaining boundaries. It was only a couple of weeks before the ongoing season began that they both got back in touch with each other and prepared for the challenges that lay ahead.
Why Hamlin doesn’t blame Gayle for losing the championship
A caution came out very close to the finish during the finale in Phoenix and it set up an overtime restart. It is no secret that track positions are extremely important at that track, considering how difficult it is to make passes there. So, teams had to decide whether to stay out or pit. Gayle made the call to pit for four fresh tires on the No.11 Toyota Camry XSE.
Hamlin, too, believed that this was the right call. He continued his interview, “When he called it, I looked at the code, and I said, ‘Okay, sounds good.’ I believed in it, too. So, I would have been just as guilty. You know what I mean? It wasn’t like I was going, ‘Oh, shit, are you sure?’ If I had thought that it was the absolute wrong call, I would have questioned it.”
The assumption they made was that most teams would make a call similar to theirs. But that’s not what happened. Several drivers, including some championship contenders, chose to stay out or change only two tires. This left Hamlin farther behind the restarting order than he anticipated. From there, it became impossible for him to make up enough positions before the checkered flag waved.
While heartbreaking, Hamlin is clear that he cannot be living in a world of ifs and buts. He has moved past the issue, and so has Gayle. All their focus is on reaching that spot again in 2026 and hopefully making the right call this time.
