“Those were my guys, man,” Chris Gabehart emotionally said on Sunday. It has been almost five months since the NASCAR veteran switched from his revered No. 11 crew chief role to the competition director of Joe Gibbs Racing. But not for an instant has Gabehart forgotten how it feels to coach Denny Hamlin and the rest of his team in this short period. The evidence of that was clearly visible at Martinsville Speedway.

Together, Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart have 22 NASCAR Cup Series race victories. That included a sparkling streak of 13 race wins across the 2019 and 2020 seasons. So Gabehart naturally knows the JGR team inside out – and his supreme awareness proved Hamlin’s skepticism wrong.

Denny Hamlin eats humble pie 

Well, technically speaking, he made his detractors eat humble pie as well. Over the off-season, Denny Hamlin went through several challenges. His long-time sponsor FedEx left the No. 11 Toyota colors after two decades – and Mavis Tires left as well, quietly. Then Hamlin and Michael Jordan launched a lawsuit against NASCAR – wading through several legal battles that are continuing till present. But the most important blow was probably Chris Gayle replacing Chris Gabehart’s crew chief duties. Despite these setbacks, Hamlin proved his detractors wrong and broke a 31-race winless skid at the Cook Out 400 race. But along with that, Gabehart himself made Hamlin eat humble pie.

Shortly before the race, Chris Gabehart was recorded sharing a fist bump with Denny Hamlin. The latter said shortly after: “Liar.” He broached that topic in the post-race presser: “He says, ‘When I get these feelings that we’re going to be in Victory Lane – I got that feeling today.’ I said, ‘Oh jeez, here we go again. I’ve heard this before.’ I don’t know what your win percentage is, but I think it’s pretty low on your feelings.” 

The Next-Gen era introduced a kind of parity that bridged the gap of talents on the racing field. Since 2022, Kyle Larson has the most wins (13) and Christopher Bell won a three-peat race victory this year for the first time since 2019. So Hamlin emphasized how difficult it is to predict victories: “In the 2019-20 time, whenever he would say, I got that feeling, I pretty much knew that he had a bullet of a race car that he built. We were probably going to win that race that weekend as long as I didn’t screw it up. But in the Next-Gen era, it’s just really hard to get that gap. So I don’t know what he saw yesterday.”

Eventually, however, Chris Gabehart’s prediction was absolutely right. After all, the former No. 11 crew chief is too drawn to his team. Denny Hamlin continued: “When we finished our debrief after practice, I said, ‘I think we’re going to race pretty good tomorrow. And he’s like, ‘Yeah, I think so too.’ And we did not have the best car…We never win when he has those feelings, but we did today.” 

While Denny Hamlin tipped his hat to Chris Gabehart, the latter did the same. He acknowledged Denny Hamlin’s indomitable presence in the series.

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An unwavering flame of glory

Well, Denny Hamlin is currently the oldest active Cup Series driver in the sport. Over two decades, he has achieved great heights for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Hamlin’s latest victory set new records as well. His 55th Cup race win tied him with Rusty Wallace for 11th on the all-time win list at Martinsville Speedway. What is more, it marked his 6th win at the track, where he last won a decade ago in 2015. The Cook Out 400 success also fetched the 15th Cup race win for JGR, which now ranks third on the half-mile track’s all-time win list behind Hendrick Motorsports and Petty Enterprises. So although Hamlin has yet to fetch his first Cup Series championship, the work he has done so far has been extraordinary.

Chris Gabehart emphasized as much recently. He also highlighted how Denny Hamlin survived all the Cup Series car alterations throughout these years. The 43-year-old said, “He’s been in the sport for 20 years. How many generations of cars and tires and aero packages? And that is so much to have to evolve in. … Evolve or die. And he’s clearly done it as well as anybody.” Gabehart also lauded the No. 11 team overall: “[He’s] like all these guys that are at the front of this garage every week. They’re intense. They want to win. And Denny Hamlin is willing to kind of do whatever it takes to win in terms of evolving.”

Evidently, Denny Hamlin’s dynamic with his previous crew chief is still intact and going strong. Let us see what further trophies the No. 11 team fetches this season!