After 14 years at Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart has moved on, the Associated Press's Jenna Fryer confirmed during the ongoing 23XI Racing & Front Row Motorsports v. NASCAR court case.
Gabehart most recently served as Joe Gibbs Racing's competition director in 2025 after serving as the crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team from 2019 to 2024.
Hamlin and Gabehart won 22 races together and advanced to three consecutive Championship 4s from 2019 to 2021, winning both the 2019 and 2020 Daytona 500s along the way. Gabehart was replaced as Hamlin's crew chief in 2025 by Chris Gayle.
During a break in court, I confirmed Chris Gabehart has left JGR. Denny Hamlin said he had no comment.
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) December 3, 2025
New Chris Gabehart landing spot rumored for 2026
The 44-year-old Louisville, Kentucky native joined the team in 2012 as an engineer on Kyle Busch's No. 18 Toyota in the Cup Series, and he first got his chance as a crew chief in 2016, when he was atop the pit box for Erik Jones and the No. 20 team in the Xfinity Series.
He served as a Cup Series crew chief for the first time when he replaced Mike Wheeler as Hamlin's crew chief for one race at Richmond Raceway in 2017. He missed just eight races during their six full seasons together.
Spire Motorsports is rumored to be Gabehart's new landing spot for 2026, according to Jayski. Spire Motorsports joined the Cup Series in 2019 and have made steady progress since then, and with the resources to do it, they are continuing to aim to compete with the sport's top teams on a more regular basis.
The team's 2026 driver lineup is set to consist of Michael McDowell, who joined the organization this past year, and Carson Hocevar, who joined the team in 2024, as well as newcomer Daniel Suarez, who spent the past five seasons with Trackhouse Racing. They have not yet confirmed crew chiefs for any of their three drivers.
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 15 with the 68th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, with Fox's live coverage set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET.