Denny Hamlin's crew chief adds to Mark Martin's statement on state of NASCAR

Chris Gabehart, crew chief of Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin, took to social media on Friday to respond to Mark Martin's claim that there's no longer any ethics in racing. The Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief added that the lack of ethics go beyond racing and can apply to other aspects in today's world.

Martin posted to his personal X account following the finish of Friday night's Truck Series race at the Martinsville Speedway. The race saw Christian Eckes execute a bump-and-run pass on Taylor Gray for the lead with under five laps to go, moving the latter out of the racing groove and allowing him to go on and win to secure himself a spot in the Championship 4.

The NASCAR Hall of Famer felt the move was uncalled for, writing:

"Ethics are gone in racing."

Gabehart chimed in on the 40-time Cup Series winner's post by saying ethics are non-existent not just in racing. The crew chief raised concerns about ethics in life in general, insinuating that there's a good chance kids who celebrated Halloween on Thursday night didn't do so in a proper manner.

"Not just in racing, I'm afraid. How many unguarded candy bowls do you think got entirely dumped into a kid's bag last night in America?" wrote Denny Hamlin's crew chief Chris Gabehart.

An X user offered a rebuttal to Gabehart's statement on kids being unethical on Halloween, stating that homeowners shift responsibility onto a candy bowl to leave outside their door for the kids to take rather than the traditional meet-and-greet that Halloween's Trick-or-treating is usually done. Gabehart responded by saying:

"Nice. The problem is highlighted in my example and yours."

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Chris Gabehart's driver, Denny Hamlin, enters Martinsville below the Championship 4 cutline

Denny Hamlin, who's been partnered with Chris Gabehart as his crew chief since 2019, is seeking his first Cup Series championship in his 19th full-time season. However, the Virginia native enters the final race of the Round of 8 below the cutoff by 18 points to advance to the Championship 4 race next week at Phoenix.

The 54-time Cup Series race winner narrowly missed out on securing a Championship 4 spot last Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hamlin led with two laps to go in the 267-lap event until he was passed by Ryan Blaney for the lead. On the last lap, Tyler Reddick passed both Hamlin and Blaney for the victory. The win secured Reddick a spot in the Championship 4 in his #45 23XI Racing Toyota, a car Hamlin co-owns with retired NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Hamlin has won five times at the Martinsville Speedway but will need to do it the hard way on Sunday as he'll start from the rear following a practice crash on Saturday.