Kevin Harvick backs crew chief Chris Gayle as Denny Hamlin looks ever-dangerous in NASCAR hunt

After a successful partnership with Chris Gabehart, Chris Gayle had big shoes to fill as Denny Hamlin’s new crew chief in 2025. After another victory, the team’s third of the season, Kevin Harvick believes the new connection for the No. 11 team has been a resounding success.

Gayle and Hamlin have combined to breathe new life into the veteran’s career. He was coming off a rough finish to the 2024 season, where the Virginia native sputtered out of the playoffs, but now he looks primed to make a championship run. Harvick is certainly confident after seeing a new side of Hamlin this season.

“I thought Chris Gayle’s comments were interesting after the race, because the pit crew didn’t have a great stop, on the last stop, but him, from a crew chief standpoint, it sounded like he was — that was a great confidence builder for him, being able to manage that race. That’s a typical Michigan race. You’ve got to manage the fuel. You’ve got to manage the strategy. All the things that go with that. That’s part of being able to win at Michigan,” Harvick stated, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.

“I think, for Chris Gayle, having that confidence booster of being able to do all that and put them in Victory Lane, with being on the right sequence and having the fuel right and all the things that he did on that particular day, huge confidence booster. We’ve seen him win it with the pit crew. Now, we’ve seen him win it with strategy. We’ve seen Denny just beat the field. So, the No. 11 car definitely is starting to gather that momentum that they need, but they’ve got to carry it all the way through.

“We have to get through the end of the summer with the same speed. We have to start the playoffs with the same speed, the same mentality. Remember last year, playoff started and it just completely unraveled. So, they’ve done a great job of rebuilding this scenario, and putting Chris Gayle in there. I think they didn’t have to rebuild much, with the team being the same, but I think so far it’s been successful.”

With three wins in the bank, Denny Hamlin could enter the playoffs as the season leader if he continues to find his way to Victory Lane. Every point matters, and the easiest way to get them is with wins — the long elusive championship is on the veteran’s mind. We’ll see if Chris Gayle can deliver it in 2025.