Denny Hamlin to have new crew chief for 2025 NASCAR Cup season

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."