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Chris Gabehart, Denny Hamlin's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, spoke about what he thinks of Joe Gibbs' leadership style in a post-race press conference after Hamlin clinched victory at Richmond Speedway in the Toyota Owners 400.
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Joe Gibbs, who was previously a head football coach, encouraged hundreds of people on his team to think about themselves. Gabehart further chatted about the topic, saying:
“(Gibbs) allows, encourages the head coaches and the drivers to be selfish, to do what you think is right for your race team at all times.”
Hamlin's sole 2022 win came with a bit of help from his crew chief after a late call by Gabehart to pit Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota Camry 30 laps before the finish. The three JGR cars followed a different strategy and pitted only once in the final stage. Gabehart further backed the strategy and said:
“I think you can’t argue with the number of wins that have come from that mentality. But when it comes to covering all aspects of a race, to your point, when a strategy is split, that is not top of mind because we think more about what’s best for your car number than what’s best for the team.”
The result helped turn around a slow start to the season for Hamlin as he broke his win-less streak on one of his home tracks.
Denny Hamlin breaks young driver streak
41-year-old NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin drove his No. 11 Toyota Camry into victory lane at Richmond for the Toyota Owners 400. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver overturned a slow 2022 season with a timely strategy call that helped him win the race.
Interestingly, Hamlin unknowingly broke a streak by the younger generation in NASCAR that involved the last 12 winners to be under the age of 30.
Fox Sports tweeted about the record being broken, writing:
"Denny Hamlin wins one for the old guys."
See the tweet below:
NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend for the Food City Dirt Race, which goes live at 7:00 p.m. EST.
