Ty Gibbs reacts to surprise crew chief change at Joe Gibbs Racing with Denny Hamlin

As part of today’s shocking crew chief swap at Joe Gibbs Racing, Ty Gibbs is out a crew chief. So, how is he handling this change? Chris Gabehart is now the competition director. Chris Gayle has moved from the 54 to the 11 for the 2025 NASCAR season.

After how much success Gabehart and Hamlin have had, it is a surprise move. Perhaps Joe Gibbs believes that Gabehart can help improve the performance of all the JGR teams and drivers in his new role.

Ty Gibbs just finished up his second full-time season in the Cup Series. It appears he is taking the change in stride and looks forward to having a new crew chief.

“I think we maybe hit a plateau, for sure. But I don’t think – nothing was off,” Gibbs told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports at the NASCAR Awards. “I think that we still have a great relationship and we worked really hard this year and I know they work extremely hard. Stuff changes, I think my grandfather won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks.

“So, I think stuff changes and it’s healthy and I think that will kind of all work its way when Gabehart is going to do this deal. So, I’m hopefully excited for the future and hopefully we run really great next year and win a lot of races.”

Ty Gibbs on whether he and crew chief Chris Gayle hit a plateau. Gayle will move to crew chief Denny Hamlin next year while Hamlin crew chief Chris Gabehart moves to competition director. A crew chief for Gibbs has not been determined. pic.twitter.com/Dd2k4IsHBs

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 22, 2024

This season, Ty Gibbs started off hot. Then he cooled off in the summer with a rare top-5 here and there. Between Atlanta and COTA, he rallied off five straight top-10s, he had 12 total on the year. Gibbs earned his first two career pole awards this season as well.

So, has he hit a plateau with Chris Gayle? You could argue that. Then again, JGR had engine issues and other mechanical problems that led to less-than-stellar results at times this season.

Ty Gibbs getting new crew chief, Denny Hamlin shocked

At 22 years old, Ty Gibbs has another two decades in the Cup Series if he so chooses. Let’s just be honest about it, he is the grandson of Joe Gibbs and he is pretty damn good at this stock car thing.

So, for him, this isn’t major. He has only had one crew chief at JGR and it wasn’t a particularly deep connection. It isn’t like Gibbs has been with Gayle since his ARCA days. The two had some success together, now they’re moving in different directions.

As for Denny Hamlin, this is a major move. He is 44 years old, he might have thought he had found the last crew chief he would ever have in Chris Gabehart. Now he has Gayle coming in and that could take time to develop a relationship between the two.

Ty Gibbs doesn’t seem bothered. He is going to head into next year with his focus on winning the first Cup Series race of his career and making the playoffs. Who his crew chief will be remains to be seen.