Joe Gibbs Racing moves Chris Gabehart to competition director; Chris Gayle to chief No. 11 team of Denny Hamlin

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Joe Gibbs Racing announced a pair of changes in advance of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Chris Gabehart, who has served as the crew chief of the No. 11 team for the past six seasons, will become the organization‘s competition director while Chris Gayle, who has been the crew chief for the No. 54 team for the past two seasons, will assume the crew chief role for Denny Hamlin.

Both Gabehart and Gayle have been mainstays at Joe Gibbs Racing for a number of years. This season, 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,” said Joe Gibbs, owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing. “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. 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.”

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Gabehart joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012 as a race engineer. He transitioned to a crew chief position with the team‘s NASCAR Xfinity Series program from 2016-2018. After three successful seasons where his teams earned nine victories with multiple drivers, Gabehart was promoted to be 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. In six seasons together, Gabehart and Hamlin claimed 22 victories, including a pair of Daytona 500s and the 2021 Southern 500.

“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,” said Gabehart. “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.”

Gayle‘s resume includes a pair of Cup Series victories, 37 Xfinity Series wins, and the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. He began his time with Joe Gibbs Racing as an engineer in 2003. In 2013, Gayle moved into a crew chief position with JGR‘s Xfinity Series team. After an impressive four-year stint from 2013-2016 where his teams claimed 20 victories, Gayle spent 2017 as a crew chief for Furniture Row Racing.

He rejoined 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. In 2021, the Little Rock, Arkansas native guided JGR‘s No. 54 Xfinity Series team to a whopping 10 wins with four different drivers. The next year, Gayle led Ty Gibbs to seven victories and the series championship before the duo moved to the Cup Series together in 2023. In 2024, Gayle oversaw the No. 54 team‘s growth in Gibbs‘ second season as they earned eight top-five finishes, 12 top-10s, two pole awards, and 417 laps led.

“Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” said Gayle. “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.”

The No. 54 crew chief will be announced at a later date.