[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag] will have a new crew chief at [autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag] for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. On Friday morning, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Chris Gabehart was promoted to Competition Director as Chris Gayle, the now former crew chief for Ty Gibbs, takes his place on top of the No. 11 pit box starting in 2025.
With NASCAR assembled in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the banquet, Hamlin was asked by Claire B. Lang, through Alan Cavanna, about the change at Joe Gibbs Racing, and he was just as shocked as everyone else when he received the news.
“I got called into another six o’clock meeting; I’m never going to [Joe Gibbs Racing] at six o’clock ever again,” Hamlin joked. “All those meetings are bad…It does [surprise me], but again, they’ve gotta do what’s best for the company. And I think that they’re looking for an improvement on performance from the No. 54. And they’re looking for an overall performance for all the teams. Because we certainly haven’t won the amount of races as an organization as we should.”
It certainly was a shocking development, as Hamlin and Gabehart have been together since 2019 with over 20 victories on the No. 11 team. At 44 years old, Hamlin must start over with Gayle, who has only guided him through select NASCAR Xfinity Series events. This is the end of an era for Hamlin, but he hopes for even more success in 2025.
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