Denny Hamlin will have a new crew chief in 2025, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday morning.
Chris Gabehart, who won 22 races in six seasons at Hamlin’s crew chief, will become the competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Chris Gayle, who has been Ty Gibbs’ crew chief the past three seasons (one in Xfinity and the past two in Cup), will become Hamlin’s crew chief.
No crew chief has been announced for Gibbs.
The move comes after Joe Gibbs Racing failed to put a driver in the Championship 4 for the first time since the format debuted in 2014. Also, Joe Gibbs Racing went winless in the final 18 Cup races of the season. The team’s last win was by Christopher Bell at New Hampshire on June 23, 2024.
“We have a lot of pride in the depth of talent we have throughout our organization,” said Joe Gibbs, owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing, in a statement from the team. “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 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 has been with Joe Gibbs Racing since 2012. He joined the organization as an engineer. He was a crew chief in the Xfinity Series from 2016-18 and had been Hamlin’s crew chief since 2019.
“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,” Gabehart said in a statement from the team. “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 first joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2003 as an engineer. He became a crew chief in the Xfinity Series in 2013. He spent 2017 as a crew chief for Furniture Row Racing. He rejoined JGR in 2018 as Cup crew chief for Erik Jones. Gayle led the No. 54 Xfinity Series team to 10 wins with four different drivers. He partnered with Ty Gibbs in 2022 and moved up to Cup with the driver in 2023.
“Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Gayle said in a statement from the team. “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.”
