CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 22: Denny Hamlin speaks with the media prior to the NASCAR Awards and Champion Celebration at Charlotte Convention Center on November 22, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hamlin 'shocked' to learn No. 11 team will get new crew chief

The Associated Press

1 year ago

Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images Sport / Getty

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin said he was “shocked” to learn that he'll have a new crew chief in 2025.

Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Chris Gayle will serve as the crew chief for Hamlin’s No. 11 team, with Chris Gabehart being promoted to competition director. Gayle has served as crew chief for JGR's No. 54 team for the past two seasons.

The new crew chief for the No. 54 team will be announced at a later date.

Hamlin said he didn't ask for a change of crew chief and appeared to be still digesting the news as he addressed reporters at the Charlotte Convention Center ahead of Friday night's NASCAR awards ceremony.

“They have to do what is best for the company,” Hamlin said. “I think they are looking for improvements on the 54 and they are looking for an overall improvement from all of the teams because we haven't had the amount of races as an organization as we should have.”

Hamlin said he has liked what he's heard about Gayle's style and thinks he'll “add a new flavor” to the No. 11 team.

“I think it was a the easiest choice since he has been a part of the program already,” Hamlin said.

Both Gabehart and Gayle have been mainstays at JGR for a number of years, and both led their teams to the Cup Series Playoffs and top-15 finishes in the overall point standings.

“We have a lot of pride in the depth of talent we have throughout our organization,” JGR owner and founder Joe Gibbs said. “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."

Gayle has won two Cup Series races, 37 Xfinity Series wins and the 2022 Xfinity Series championship since joining JGR as an engineer in 2003.

Gayle moved into a crew chief position in 2013 with JGR’s Xfinity Series team. In four seasons, his teams won 20 races. He spent 2017 as a crew chief for Furniture Row Racing before rejoining JGR in 2018 in the Cup Series with Erik Jones. He led the young driver to his first career win in 2018 and followed that up with a Southern 500 victory in 2019.

Gayle guided JGR’s No. 54 Xfinity Series team and won 10 races with four different drivers.

Gayle also led Ty Gibbs to seven victories and the series championship before they moved to the Cup Series in 2023. Last season, Gayle oversaw the No. 54 team’s growth in Gibbs’ second season, earning eight top-five finishes, 12 top-10s and two pole awards while leading 417 laps.

Gayle said he is looking forward to working with Hamlin, whom he called “a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

“He and Gabehart have established an incredible culture that is a very good barometer for our other drivers and teams to strive to match,” Gayle said. "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.”

Gabehart joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012 as a race engineer before transitioning to crew chief with the team’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program from 2016-18.

He spent three seasons there, earning nine victories with multiple drivers.

Gabehart was promoted to be the crew chief of the No. 11 team in 2019. The Hamlin-Gabehart combination proved to be a threat immediately by winning the 2019 Daytona 500 on the way to three consecutive Championship 4 appearances. Gabehart and Hamlin won 22 races in six years, including two Daytona 500s.

“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. “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.”

Bullish on Bullins

RFK Racing announced that veteran crew chief Jeremy Bullins has joined the organization, reuniting with driver/co-owner Brad Keselowski to lead the No. 6 team beginning in 2025.

Bullins, who has been a part of 31 wins, joins RFK after a decade-plus stint in the Cup Series with Wood Brothers Racing and Team Penske, working with drivers Ryan Blaney, Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Harrison Burton.

“I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to work with BK again, this time in the iconic No. 6 car with RFK,” Bullins said. “We were able to accomplish a lot as a team previously, but we had a couple of unfinished goals like a Daytona 500 win and a championship together and I’m ecstatic we get the opportunity to compete together again."

He most recently led the No. 21 team, earning the organization’s famed 100th victory at Daytona this summer.

Previously, he was paired with Cindric and the No. 2 team, which came on the heels of Keselowski’s departure from Team Penske at the end of the 2021 campaign. Together, Bullins and Keselowski finished second in the 2020 points standings, and won five races in the Cup Series in the 2020-21 seasons.

23XI Racing expands to 3 cars

The 23XI Racing team will have three Cup Series cars in 2025.

It’s newest driver will be Riley Herbst, who recently concluded the Xfinity Series season driving the No. 98 car. Herbst will drive the No. 35 Toyota Camry for the team co-owned by Michael Jordan.

Herbst joins veteran teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick in the 23XI racing stable.

Herbst has 175 starts in the Xfinity Series since 2018 with three career wins and playoff appearances in four of his five full-time seasons. His first career win came in the fall race last season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track.

“Having worked with Riley in the past, we have watched his growth over the last several seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Tyler Gibbs, general manager of Toyota Racing Development. “We look forward to Riley rejoining the Toyota family and supporting him to achieve his goals next year and into the future.”