The trust between a driver and crew chief is paramount to success in NASCAR. Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart know that. It’s no secret that Gabehart helped revive Denny’s career when he joined the 11 team.
Drivers feel like they know everything. Or at least, when they are in the car during the moment they tend to feel that way. However, the crew chiefs and teams are able to take in all kinds of data
Fresh off his win at Dover, Denny Hamlin talked about his crew chief and the trust he has in him. Even when he doesn’t think it’s the right call, he listens to what Gabehart tells him to do, and he does it.
“He always says [it’s my choice] in the end,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “He says, ‘Listen, you’re in the car, you felt what you felt. You did the restart so you make the right call. My job is just to give you what my opinion is and what the numbers say.’ So, I think that’s why our relationship works as good as it does is that we trust each other to make the call.
“When he says ‘pit’ and in my mind I’m disagreeing with him, it doesn’t matter my job is to pit. Because he’s convicted in that ruling whatever it is. I realized when I sat out during my back issues in 2013, these crew chiefs have much more at their fingertips and they see the much bigger picture more than we do inside that car.”
Together, Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart are one of the best pairings in the Cup Series. This season the two have won three races, four including the Busch Light Clash. Could this be the season the 11 team wins the championship?
Denny Hamlin off to a hot start in 2024
Having three wins in the first eleven races of the season is impressive. In fact, Denny Hamlin has only done it one other time in his career. It was quite the season for him, too. Really, the season everything slipped away at the end of the year.
During the 2010 season, Hamlin won at Martinsville, Texas, and Darlington in the first eleven races of the season. However, there are more similarities between 2010 and 2024. Right now, Denny is on a bit of a checkers or wreckers mentality. His wins are his only top-5s of the season.
So far in 2024, Hamlin has three wins, a top-10, and an average finishing position of 14.18 after eleven races. Back in 2010, Hamlin had three wins, a top-5, and an average finishing position of 13.9 in that same timeframe. The DNF this year at Talladega brought down his average, so you could argue he has been better this year than he was then.
That 2010 season ended with eight wins and heartbreak as Jimmie Johnson came in to snag the title in the end. This season is looking a lot like that one, and that means we are in store for more wins from Denny Hamlin. Will he finish the job this time around?
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