The story of Joe Gibbs Racing and the legacy they’ve built in NASCAR is nothing short of captivating. Since their debut in 1992, JGR has carved out a rich history, collecting seven drivers’ championships and 330 wins. Over the years, legends like Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart have all driven under the JGR banner. However, the team hasn’t claimed a championship title since 2019. And while Denny Hamlin has racked up an impressive 57 NASCAR Cup Series victories, a championship still eludes him. But this time, the team’s focus isn’t on titles or Hamlin’s legacy. Joe Gibbs has one clear goal: helping his grandson reach the final playoff round.

The 2025 season has seen a slow but steady resurgence from Ty Gibbs. He’s logged one top-10 and two top-five finishes so far. Despite 115 career starts in the Cup Series, a win still remains out of reach. To help change that, Joe Gibbs played his trump card—promoting former Denny Hamlin crew chief Chris Gabehart to competition director at JGR. During the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta, Gabehart wasn’t in Hamlin’s garage. Instead, he was atop the pit box, serving as strategist for the younger Gibbs.

Chris Gabehart promoted to competition director for JGR

The resume of Gabehart is nothing short of extraordinary. Before becoming the Competition Director of JGR, Gabehart acted as the crew chief for Hamlin. The Dynamic duo went on to achieve 22 NASCAR Cup races from 2019-24. However, this time Gibbs Sr. has promoted him to fulfill one purpose, that is to help his grandson to get into the playoffs with only 8 races remaining.

“But the reality is that once (Joe Gibbs Racing) got three cars in the playoffs, when you look at it simply, we’ve got one left we’re trying to get in,” Gabehart explains his goal to help Gibbs Jr. enter the playoffs as a strategist for NBC Sports.

But Gibbs Jr. has been maintaining steady momentum in his performances. The 23-year-old racer finished third at Michigan, with his teammate Denny Hamlin winning the race. Later, Gibbs came close to victory at the NASCAR Cup race in Mexico City. He was ahead of eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen until a caution was announced on Lap 66. Van Gisbergen, who had pitted three laps before the caution, gained the advantage, while Gibbs had no choice but to bring in his No. 54 Camry to keep it running.

Tyler Allen, Gibbs Jr.’s crew chief, told NBC that things might have turned out differently if Gibbs had stayed out longer without changing tires. However, he also acknowledged the risk involved, saying, “It’s super risky at a road course. If that caution doesn’t come, we have a really good shot to win. Unfortunately, it did and buried us back in about 15th, and that was about all we could do.”

JGR has undergone some major restructuring this year to improve its performance.

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JGR makes major changes with the crew

Ahead of the 2025 season, the Joe Gibbs Racing team decided to make some changes to emerge victorious in the 2025 season. The two main changes that happened are appointing Chris Gabehart as competition director, giving him the authority to supervise the performance of all four team members. And appointing Chris Gayle as Hamlin’s new crew chief. Initially, Hamlin felt disappointed in the sudden change, which meant the winning stint with Gabehart would be over.

However, Gayle was thrilled from the beginning to work with Hamlin. He noted, “Denny is obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer. 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.” He sounded confident after his appointment.

But as time passed by, Hamlin got a liking to the new crew chief and his methods. After his victory at Martinsville, Virginia, NASCAR Cup series race, he dedicated his win to his newly appointed crew chief, “Certainly, winning 10 years ago at that track, being that big of a gap. It’s not like we’ve been crap for the last 10 years. We’ve just always been right there on the cusp and just didn’t do it. It’s super gratifying from that standpoint. But this is probably one of the very few wins that I was more happy for my crew chief, Chris Gayle.” Do you think with Gabehart as strategist, Gibbs Jr. will win his first NASCAR Cup series race? Do let us know in the comments below.