Denny Hamlin’s ex-crew chief has one-word reaction to FOX’s latest IndyCar commercial featuring Josef Newgarden

Denny Hamlin’s old crew chief Chris Gabehart recently reacted to FOX’s promotion of its trailer for the 2025 IndyCar season. Featuring Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and a cameo from former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, the 45-second clip will be released during today’s Packers-Eagles game.

Starting in 2025, all 17 races of the season will air on FOX with the season-opener scheduled for August 31. Renowned NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck of The Athletic thought that the video stood for the efforts that FOX is putting in for its first year of covering IndyCar. He tweeted,

“This ad is further evidence Fox is really, really going all-out for its first year of IndyCar. This is a terrific attention-grabber and exposure.

Gabehart, who was recently promoted to Competition Director for Joe Gibbs Racing, agreed with Gluck’s statement. He commented,

“Yep.”

Besides its coverage of the 2025 IndyCar season, FOX will also air the first 12 races of the NASCAR Cup Series, including the non-point-paying Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium scheduled for February 2, and the historic All-Star Race scheduled for May 18.

2025 will also mark Denny Hamlin’s first year in the Cup Series with Chris Gayle as his new crew chief. Driver of the No. 11. Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin will start his engine without Gabehart atop the pit box for the first time since 2019.

On the NASCAR front, the Tampa native has won 54 races, including crown jewel events like the Coca-Cola 600, the Daytona 500, and the Southern 500. However, he has yet to bag his career’s first Cup Series title. Notably, Hamlin currently holds the record for the most wins in the Cup Series without winning a championship.

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Denny Hamlin went candid about parting ways with Chris Gabehart

Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart are arguably one of the most iconic driver-crew chief duos of all time. They won 22 races together and got propelled into the coveted Championship 4 on four occasions.

Therefore, when Joe Gibbs Racing announced during the NASCAR Awards ceremony that Gabehart was going to be replaced, Hamlin was shocked. But it seems like the man is moving on.

“There’s nothing I can do to change anything that happened, and JGR is doing what they feel is best for them and I totally understand that,” Hamlin said (via NASCAR). “And if all of our program gets better, the 11 car’s gonna run better as well, right?”

Last season, Hamlin finished eighth in points, picking three wins, 12 top-5s ,and 18 top-10s on the way. While he made the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, he failed to qualify for the Championship 4.

“I think that all of us, all the teams, knew that we needed to have better results than what we had at the end of the year,” Hamlin continued, recalling his 2024 season. “They feel like this is the change they need to [make] to get that and that the 11 team will benefit from those changes.”

Hamlin will turn 45 this year and given that most drivers retire in their mid or late 40s, he doesn’t have a lot of time left to win the ultimate honor. Therefore, the decision to separate him from his old crew chief might have seemed egregious to many.

However, Gayle has won 37 races at the Xfinity level with athletes like Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones, and two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch. Now the question is, how well will this newly formed pair work? Only time will tell.