HAMPTON, Ga. — Half a season after his promotion from being Denny Hamlin’s crew chief to competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart was back atop a pit box Saturday night at Atlanta.
But he wasn’t working with Hamlin.
Gabehart, who won 22 Cup races with Hamlin from 2019-24, served as the race strategist for Ty Gibbs at Atlanta. That meant talking to Gibbs on the radio and orchestrating strategy with crew chief Tyler Allen.
“Let’s call it unorthodox for this garage,” Gabehart told NBC Sports about the added duties he will have for an undetermined amount of time. “But the reality is that once (Joe Gibbs Racing) got three cars in the playoffs, when you look at it simply, we’ve got one left we’re trying to get in.”
Gibbs has had some opportunities to win recently.
He placed third at Michigan three weeks ago. He left the race frustrated with how much fuel he had to save at the end and wasn’t able to challenge Hamlin, who also saved fuel but won.
When Gibbs complained on the radio to Allen about giving that race away, Gabehart jumped on the team’s channel and said: “Hey, we didn’t give (anything) away. We had a great day. We did what we needed to do. We got a top five. Our other car won. It’s about big picture. All right? Take this and build.”
Gibbs was the main challenger to winner Shane van Gisbergen the following week at Mexico. That race turned when a caution came out at Lap 66, three laps after van Gisbergen pitted. Gibbs had yet to make his final stop. Pitting under that caution dropped Gibbs from the lead to 13th, behind those who had stopped under green.
Allen, in his second year as a crew chief and first in the Cup Series, told NBC Sports after the Mexico race that he felt he needed to stay out longer to have a tire advantage against van Gisbergen in the final laps.
“It’s super risky at a road course,” Allen said after that race about staying out longer. “If that caution doesn’t come, we have a really good shot to win. Unfortunately, it did and buried us back in about 15th and that was about all we could do.”
Gibbs couldn’t get through the field and finished 11th that day.
At Pocono, Gibbs finished 14th. He pitted five times in the race. Eight of the cars ahead of him pitted four or fewer times in that race.
Gibbs finished 14th on Saturday night. While he led 32 laps, he scored no stage points and fell a spot in the season standings to 24th.
“Tyler and his team has been doing a great job,” Gabehart said after Saturday night’s race at Atlanta. “They were a stone’s throw away from winning at Michigan. They were a caution away from contending for the win at Mexico. (Pocono), golly, strategies upside down and (Atlanta strategy was) upside down.
“Really, three out of the last four weeks we’ve been at least within shouting distance of a win with this car. It’s nothing about the job that this team has been doing. It’s taking all your resources that are available to you and trying to get the last car in the playoffs.”
Gibbs is 86 points from the playoff cutline with eight races left in the regular season. He all but needs to win to make the playoffs.
While being a strategist for the team, a key for Gabehart is to have that direct communication on the radio with Gibbs during a race. Also, as strategies change, he can quickly make a call instead of relaying it to Allen or someone else to tell Gibbs.
“The margin for winning and not winning in this sport is as tight as it’s ever been,” Gabehart said of talking on the radio to Gibbs as opposed to the crew chief. “It’s the smallest of things. One reason might be some instance that I can get through to (Gibbs) or a decision I made on the fly that may not be clear at first but results in an opportunity to win. That’s a nuance. Another nuance is Ty knows my history and resume, so maybe he’ll respond to that in a little bit different way.
“Another nuance is the tremendous opportunity, and I can speak this because I’ve lived this for the last half a year, that being able to zoom out just half a beat and look at your race team from just a little bit zoomed out perspective like Tyler is now getting to do, there’s a lot to see and learn from there, watching someone like myself do it vs. being in (it) yourself either as a crew chief, as he’s been for the last year and a half, or as an engineer.
“I think the truth is you can learn something from anything and you never know what might make the difference.”
With Gabehart more focused on trying to Gibbs in the playoffs, how does Gabehart not let that impact what he does for the organization’s other three teams, which are trying to score as many playoff points before the regular season ends?
“That’s ultimately up for me to manage,” Gabehart said. “The decision was made to spread me a little thinner … so that’s what we’ll do.”
With it less than a season since Gabehart last served as a crew chief, the abilities he honed atop the pit box remain fresh.
Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Atlanta winner Chase Elliott, says that he knows that Gabehart will make a positive impact on Gibbs and the team for however long he remains in the strategist role.
“I have a lot of respect for Chris, I’ve raced with Chris for a long time,” Gustafson said. “There’s guys that you work with in this garage that do things the right way and race really hard and give you everything they’ve got and are fair and respectful. Chris is one of those guys. … He’s really good at what he does.”
