Joe Gibbs Racing has shaken up its crew lineup after the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The result is that Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs will both work with new crew chiefs in 2025.
Videos by FanBuzz
According to a press release from Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart will leave the No. 11 pit box and take on a new role in the organization. He will become the competition director.
Chris Gayle, who has spent the last two seasons guiding Gibbs, will move to the No. 11 pit box to work with Hamlin. Joe Gibbs Racing will announce Gibbs' new crew chief at a later date.
"We have a lot of pride in the depth of talent we have throughout our organization," said team owner Joe Gibbs in a statement. "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."
🚨 NEWS 🚨
Joe Gibbs Racing has promoted Chris Gabehart to Competition Director.
Â
Chris Gayle will become crew chief for @dennyhamlin and the 11 team.
Â
Crew Chief for the 54 team will be announced at a later date. pic.twitter.com/iooRWcmzJb— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 22, 2024
Gabehart, a former engineer and Xfinity Series crew chief, took over the No. 11 team in 2019. This partnership paid immediate dividends with six wins in 2019 and seven more in 2020. Hamlin and the No. 11 team celebrated back-to-back Daytona 500 wins.
Hamlin and Gabehart have won 22 races together while reaching the Championship 4 in three consecutive seasons. They finished fifth or better in points in five consecutive seasons.
Like Gabehart, Gayle started as an engineer before becoming the crew chief in the Xfinity Series. In this role, he won 37 races and the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. He also spent four seasons (2017-20) at the Cup level as the crew chief for Erik Jones.
Gayle returned to Cup in 2023 while continuing his partnership with Gibbs. The duo combined for 12 top-five finishes and 22 top-10s over two seasons. They reached the playoffs once.
Now, Gayle will remain in Cup while working with a driver intent on winning a championship in his remaining years.
"Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer," Gayle said in a statement. "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."
