"A solid move" - Christopher Bell gives his verdict on JGR's internal shuffle involving Denny Hamlin's crew chief 

Christopher Bell recently shared his take on Denny Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gabehart, being assigned a new role for 2025. Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Gabehart would no longer serve as the crew chief of the #11 team, and instead would be the new Team Competition Director.

Denny Hamlin claimed he didn't see coming, while his teammate Christopher Bell had a positive perspective on it. Ahead of the NASCAR Awards in Charlotte last Friday, Bell was asked about his thoughts on the internal reshuffling at JGR involving Gabehart. He replied,

"I think it's going to be...it has the potential to help out all the teams. Chris Gabehart is an incredibly smart person. He was a huge asset to the #11 car and I think moving him to oversee the crew chiefs and be able to provide input, and knowledge, and keep all the teams in line, is a solid move. And I think it has potential to increase the performance of all the teams" [9:50].

Gabehart and Hamlin experienced a lot of success together, beginning with a Daytona 500 win in 2019. During their time together, the duo won 22 races and came close to winning the elusive championship for Hamlin on a few occasions.

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Denny Hamlin opened up on his thoughts on Chris Gabehart being replaced for Chris Gayle

When asked about no longer having Chris Gabehart as his crew chief for 2025, Denny Hamlin said he "certainly was shocked." However, Hamlin remarked that despite the sudden left turn, he has moved on from it.

He further described (via Nascar.com):

"There’s nothing I can do to change anything that happened, and JGR is doing what they feel is best for them and I totally understand that. And if all of our program gets better, the #11 car’s gonna run better as well, right? And I think that all of us, all the teams, knew that we needed to have better results than what we had at the end of the year. They feel like this is the change they need to [make] to get that and that the #11 team will benefit from those changes.”

While JGR decided to end a successful and long-standing partnership between Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart, the new crew chief of the #11 team isn't a stranger to the driver. Chris Gayle and Hamlin have worked together in 8 Xfinity Series races, with the duo winning one race in 2016 and also achieving a runner-up finish the same season.

Hamlin said that Gayle has been with JGR for two decades and naturally knows "all the tools" that the teams use. Denny Hamlin further added that he's made it pretty clear to his new crew chief to not treat him with kid gloves and to always remind him of where and what he needs to improve as a driver.

The veteran driver said that he needs that feedback, and as long as his new crew chief is comfortable with that, they'll have a successful relationship.