After many weeks of frustrating waits and pit issues, Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 crew were finally able to find the victory lane under the lights of the Bristol Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing star and his team have been under the spotlight for their problems since the beginning of the current season. After entering the playoffs, they had hoped to hit the nail on the head at Darlington, but it was huge amiss with Denny finishing at a lowly P25 due to a phantom loose wheel.

Once again, in Kansas last week, they’d hoped for the same but had to settle for P2 behind 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Finally securing their spot in the 2nd round of the playoffs with the win at Bristol, Denny sat down with NASCAR reporters Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi to chat about his victorious evening and talked of his chemistry with his crew chief.

Jordan Bianchi questions the Denny Hamlin-Chris Gabehart relationship

Chris Gabehart has run the garages of NASCAR teams for many years now. However, his origins in the shop date back to 2007, when he happened to meet the father of Kyle Busch, Tom. The meeting led him to jump aboard Kyle Busch Motorsports as an engineer and kickstarted the illustrious journey with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) that was to come.

After joining JGR in 2016, it took him 3 more years to captain the team of star racer Denny Hamlin. Igniting their partnership with a win at the 2019 Daytona 500, they went on to bring many trophies to their cabinets. Getting into the 2023 season, for the duo that had won it all, only a championship was in the unknown. Parachuting towards the landing spot, they’ve come a decent way thus far and stand strong for the ultimate contention at Phoenix Raceway.

Discussing race night, Jordan Bianchi questioned their relationship on the podcast ‘The Teardown’ and said, “You and Chris, though, just like click. Like why is it though? I mean there’s something there where you guys are just… you guys are completely different, I think in a lot of respects. But you guys are on the same page.”

With Jeff Gluck acknowledging and finishing his counterpart’s question by saying, “…all the time!”, Denny revealed an interesting revelation behind the duo’s working relationship.

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No. 11 discloses the “fiery” chemistry that he shares with his crew chief

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Working with someone for years and sharing all the highs and lows brings a level of trust that can never be broken. From firing hot at the Michigan Speedway to finishing cold at the Sonoma Raceway, his best and worst tracks in recent times, Denny has had Chris by his side as they made Joe Gibbs’ team the big fish in NASCAR.

Answering Jordan’s question, Denny acknowledged their differences and disclosed what made them click through all these years. He said, “We’re different, but we are very similar too. Like I mean, on weeks like Kansas or Darlington. I mean I am pissed but I’m like, ‘Damn it! I’m a competitor’ and he feels it like I feel it. I hate a crew chief that sugarcoats a bunch of s**t. (…) He don’t want to console me. It’s… we work in that way. We’re competitors, we’re fiery competitors.”

Despite making it through to the next round, Joe Gibbs’s star driver was met with a chorus of boos at the end of his night in Bristol. The recent sentiment among NASCAR fans when it comes to him hasn’t been the most positive. But Denny has been least bothered about it, as he continues to give more reason for him to be called the villain.

And Chris’s words from the pre-Bristol talk sure seem to have resonated well with him. The chief had said, “No race owes you a thing. This sport owes you nothing. In fact, it will take from you far more than it gives to you. So you just have to do it for the love of the game.”

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Now that the first round of the playoffs is in the bag, four of the original 16 drivers have been pushed out. As we race towards the Phoenix Raceway, the next challenge in line will be at the Texas Motor Speedway. The wait will be for another week before our cowboys with race cars duel one another at the Wild West!