Denny Hamlin has finally found some stability in his Cup Series campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing this season. Having already won four races, including his career’s first three-peat, which he achieved with his eighth win at the Pocono Raceway earlier, Hamlin is on a roll, and to think about it, his performance only began peaking when the team made a late call for his new crew chief towards the end of the 2024 season. And now that he is well gelled up working with Chris Gayle, Hamlin is not looking forward to any late changes.

“I can assure you this is my last one [crew chief],” Hamlin said after his victory at Pocono. “I will quit if they want to have another November 10th at 10 p.m. meeting. I am out, you can forget it.”

Right after the 2024 season’s final race at Phoenix came to an end on the 10 of November, JGR called in a meeting to discuss the future for Chris Gabehart, who was working with the #11 team as the crew chief at the time. In a decision that seemed to have been made in a hurry, the team decided to replace him with Chris Gayle, and subsequently, Hamlin had a new crew chief.

He admitted to being “shocked by the decision.” Yet it was under Gayle that Hamlin came closest to winning a Cup Series championship. The pair suffered heartbreak in the 2025 title race, with Hamlin losing to Kyle Larson on a final overtime restart. Ironically, it was Hamlin’s own decision to override Gayle and take four tires on pit road that cost him track position, allowing Larson to get ahead after a faster stop. It was heartbreaking for the JGR star.

This year, however, with the reinstatement of the Chase format, Denny Hamlin already looks like one of the strongest contenders for the championship. He currently sits second in the standings, chasing down Tyler Reddick, who built a sizeable lead early in the season by winning five of the first nine races. That advantage has now been cut to just 19 points. Hamlin has managed to follow Reddick up, winning four races so far, and averaging a 7.8-place finish so far in the season, the best that he has ever been in his entire Cup Series career.

This format, paired with the performance Hamlin has been pulling off with Gayle, makes it quite apparent why he would not be accommodating to any of the abrupt or uncharacteristic changes that Joe Gibbs Racing might consider making.

Building a strong relationship with a new crew chief is rarely easy, and when Gayle’s appointment was announced so abruptly in November 2024, Hamlin was understandably less than thrilled. But nearly two years later, the picture looks very different.

Having worked with seven crew chiefs throughout his Cup Series career, Hamlin now appears to have found the stability he was looking for and seems determined to see things through with Gayle.

Denny Hamlin is feeling more confident than ever

Hamlin has been one of the most consistent drivers in recent years, having gained massive experience, marking his presence on the field since 2005. However, he still never managed to win the championship, despite becoming the ninth driver with the most Cup Series wins. It almost seemed that the universe was against Hamlin to win the title when he lost the final battle last year at Phoenix.

Despite all the setbacks, however, Hamlin has managed to unleash a new level of domination this season.

“I would certainly say it’s the best we’ve been,” Hamlin said after winning at Pocono. “We come to the racetrack every week knowing we have a great shot to win. The team’s doing an amazing job giving me exactly what I need in the car every single week. That’s why we’re winning.”

The performance that the Toyota cars have managed to deliver at the top of the field this year has also helped Denny Hamlin and his co-owned team, 23XI Racing, to establish a strong dominance in this year’s championship. Moreover, the Chase format is only helping him further, prioritizing consistency over single-race wins.

And the value that Chris Gayle brings to the entire #11 team is the cherry on top of the cake for Hamlin. So, it’s quite understandable that he threatens to leave the team if they were to make any other abrupt changes.