One of the most formidable driver/crew chief combinations in modern NASCAR Cup Series racing will be no more in 2025. On Friday morning, Joe Gibbs Racing announced the promotion of Chris Gabehart to Competition Director after six successful seasons as the crew chief for Denny Hamlin.
With Gabehart moving into his new role, Joe Gibbs Racing decided to reassign Chris Gayle, who had served as the crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 team over the last two seasons, to be Hamlin’s new crew chief for next season.
The team has yet to name a new crew chief for Gibbs, who is searching for his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory after making it into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in 2024. The team made the announcements via a post on social media on Friday morning.
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Joe Gibbs Racing has promoted Chris Gabehart to Competition Director.
Chris Gayle will become crew chief for @dennyhamlin and the 11 team.
Crew Chief for the 54 team will be announced at a later date. pic.twitter.com/iooRWcmzJb— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 22, 2024
While Friday’s announcement was a big personnel shakeup for Joe Gibbs Racing, team owner Joe Gibbs is hopeful that it will help turn things around for the team, which didn’t have any of its four cars in the Championship 4 in 2024.
“We have a lot of pride in the depth of talent we have throughout our organization,” said Gibbs in a team press release. “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 (Hamlin) over the past several years. While we are still in the process of finalizing the new crew chief for the 54 team, we believe all these moves ultimately make our team stronger as we prepare for 2025.”
Gabehart says he is committed to doing everything in his power with his new role of Competition Director to push Joe Gibbs Racing toward one of the best seasons in the organization’s rich history in 2025.
“I am very thankful for the opportunities that Joe Gibbs Racing has continued to provide me for my entire tenure here and cannot say enough about how much I have enjoyed and appreciated my time with Denny and the entire 11 team,” said Gabehart. “They have all taught me so much about not only how to race at the top of the NASCAR Cup Series, but also, how to lead a great group of talented professionals. In my next opportunity, I am as excited as I have ever been to work with all our talented drivers, crew chiefs, teams and partners to help focus all our efforts towards making 2025 one of the best seasons Joe Gibbs Racing has ever had.”
Gayle has some serious shoes to fill with the No. 11 team as Gabehart had piled up 22 trophies alongside Hamlin over the last six seasons, including three in 2024, and the duo made it into the Championship 4 three times. While the two have always had magic together, it feels like, since the adaptation of the NextGen car in 2022, the pairing has lost a fraction of a step.
The driver/crew chief had failed to make it into the Championship 4 in each of the last three seasons, and with Hamlin, 44, still searching for his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship, perhaps the time was right for a change.
While Gayle hasn’t had nearly the success Gabehart has enjoyed as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, the native of Little Rock, AR inherits one of the most solid teams in the garage to work with. Gayle is excited to be working with a future Hall of Fame driver in Hamlin this season.
“Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” said Gayle. “I’m looking forward to working with him and the guys on the No. 11 team. He and Gabehart have established an incredible culture that is a very good barometer for our other drivers and teams to strive to match. I have all the confidence in the world we can hit the ground running and continue the success that this group is accustomed to in 2025.”
Gayle picked up two NASCAR Cup Series wins as the crew chief for Erik Jones before being assigned the role of crew chief for Ty Gibbs in 2023.
Prior to moving to the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time crew chief in 2017, Gayle had piled up a total of 37 victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, including 17 in his two-year absence from the Cup Series in 2021 and 2022.
