Denny Hamlin said he had no clue Joe Gibbs Racing was going to name his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, as competition director.
There was no input, no advance dialogue, and just a called meeting where Hamlin was told that he would be paired with Chris Gayle in 2025 — who is coming off a stint with Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 car.
“I certainly was shocked by it,” Hamlin said on Friday prior to the NASCAR Awards banquet in Downtown Charlotte.
Hamlin said he was informed the week after the season ended on November 10 at Phoenix Raceway.
“They’ve got to do what’s best for the company,” Hamlin said. “I think they’re looking for an improvement (in),performance on the 54, and they’re looking for an overall performance for all the team because we certainly hadn’t won the amount of races as an organization that we should.”
Hamlin joked that he doesn’t want to be called into a 6 p.m. meeting ever again, a reference to the one called in August where he and Gabehart were informed of a massive NASCAR penalty over an engine seal infraction that arguably derailed their pathway to the final four.
From an overall standpoint, only two of the Joe Gibbs Racing teams won races this past season, three each for Hamlin and Bell and none since August.
Speaking to the changes on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Friday, team president Dave Alpern said there was an urgency behind the changes after how the season unfolded in the second half.
“I can tell you, we were in here before dawn on Monday having meetings to get all this figured out, because we felt like we needed to get (a competition director) in place,” Alpern said, “but it’s also true that the season added to the urgency. But again, this was a strategic move that we needed to make.
“We’re always doing things that we believe will strengthen the entire team, including the 11 car.”
Alpern made an analogy that it was like promoting a successful to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator.
“I would argue it would mean that the quarterback is going to get better because the whole offense is gonna get better,” Alpern said. “That’s very similar to what we just did.”
In his new role, Gabehart will oversee all four cars and will also hire the crew chief take will take over for Gayle at the 54 team. Gibbs also hasn’t had a true competition director since 2023 when Wally Brown asked to get off the road and take an in-shop role moving forward.
Alpern said they asked Gabehart the week after the season ended and the veteran crew chief determined that jobs like this do not come around often, and accepted it. That is when they notified Hamlin.
“Anytime JGR has an employee for 20 years, they believe in him,” Hamlin said. “He probably knows me more than I know him, truthfully. The teams obviously all work together very closely, and when we debrief every Monday, and I’m giving advice on where we should steer the ship, he’s taking notes. So, I think it probably will bear quicker results than if I had to start over with someone younger and fresher.”
Hamlin and Gabehart won 22 races in six seasons together and made the final four three times.
“Denny was just the drivr that happened to have the crew chief that was a rising star in out sport,” Alpern said.
Hamlin ultimately expressed gratitude. He thought Gabehart would ‘be my final crew chief but I guess he’s my second to last now.’
“I’m certainly very grateful for everything that he helped build with the 11 car and the success that we had,” Hamlin said. “I’m happy for him and his promotion. I’m happy for JGR and hopefully what it will bring to everyone else.”