Denny Hamlin’s former right-hand man has a unique approach to the Martinsville option tire debate

Should NASCAR drivers be allowed to choose between prime and option tires when racing at Martinsville Speedway? Just recently, Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief, Chris Gabehart, made his thoughts known via X.

It all happened in response to a comment by Jeff Gluck on the latest episode of The Teardown podcast. While speaking with co-host and fellow journalist at The Athletic, Jordan Bianchi, Gluck felt that Sunday’s (March 30) race at the Virginian paper clip could have been “a lot more entertaining” if the drivers were given option tires.

“You see a race like today, okay, you had this softer tire but we didn’t necessarily see the passing. I get why drivers don’t want to introduce that element of randomness or weird strategy or weird timing into it but for the rest of us I’m kind of like, man, this race would have been a hell of lot more entertaining today if you had different tire compounds,” Gluck said.

For the record, the option tire officially debuted in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race. Unlike the prime tires, these are softer and have been designed to provide short-run grip, thus wearing faster.

However, Chris Gabehart had something else on his mind. He commented on Gluck’s post:

“I think, instead, we should make all the cars 100% identical and see if the drivers can overcome the natural laws of physics. I'll wait…”

Gabehart currently serves as the Director of Competition at Joe Gibbs Racing. Following his move to the role ahead of the 2025 season, JGR hired Chris Gayle as the new crew chief for Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 team. Gayle worked with the No. 54 team for the past two seasons.

Denny Hamlin reflects on his maiden win with Chris Gayle as crew chief

Denny Hamlin won the race at Martinsville, marking his first victory of the season and his 55th overall. Furthermore, he snapped an agonizing 10-year winless streak at the half-mile short track en route to the victory lane.

It was also Hamlin’s first win in the NASCAR Cup Series with Chris Gayle atop the pit box. Reflecting on the same during an interview with NASCAR Daily, the veteran racer said:

“Winning there after 10 years is what meant the most to me, but truthfully, I said it right after the race: Chris Gayle. I think he’s just gotten just so much scrutiny over the last few years, and I just wanted to win for him.”

Gayle last won a Cup Series race in 2018 when he was calling races for Erik Jones. His most recent win came with Ty Gibbs in 2022. But that was in the Xfinity Series.

For both Gayle and Hamlin, next up is the Goodyear 400 race at Darlington Raceway. Fans can watch it live on Fox Sports (April 6 from 3 pm ET onwards) or listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.