NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft was surprised when Joe Gibbs Racing announced that it would part ways with Chris Gabehart starting from the 2026 season. Gabehart, the former JGR Joe Gibbs Racing director of competition, was an excellent resource for the championship-winning Cup Series team.Gabehart’s tenure at JGR started back in 2012. After working as an engineer and then a crew chief in the Xfinity (now the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) Series, Gabehart was paired with NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin.In the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft said that losing Chris Gabehart was a concern for Joe Gibbs Racing.“This is, I would say, a concern,” Kraft explained. “It’s hard to imagine how you let this guy walk out the door. You know, he was so integrated in everything. The analytics side of everything…you know what I mean?”When Gabehart was removed from Hamlin’s No. 11 team ahead of the 2025 season, many were shocked. 36 races and a whole year later, the man is now set to leave Joe Gibbs Racing altogether.According to rumors, Chris Gabehart could join Spire Motorsports for the 2026 season. Denny Hamlin will be back in his JGR Camry in 2026, starting with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 1, 2026.However, his first points race of the season is the 58th running of the annual Daytona 500, which is scheduled for February 15, 2026. Fans can watch the crown jewel event live on FOX Sports (2:30 pm ET onwards) or listen to exclusive updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.“The first few days were a shock”- when Denny Hamlin revealed the aftermath of losing Chris GabehartDenny Hamlin won three of the first 11 points races in 2024, making it one of his strongest seasons in the NextGen era. Still, the NASCAR Cup Series remained elusive to the Tampa, Florida, native. In fact, he is the longest-tenured driver in the NASCAR Cup Series without a championship.Despite the heartbreak, Hamlin started preparing for the 2025 season, during which he would earn his 60th career victory. Joe Gibbs Racing promoted Hamlin’s long-time crew chief, Chris Gabehart, to a managerial role, tabbing former Xfinity Series crew chief, Chris Gayle, to assume Gabehart’s previous role. Hamlin shared his thoughts about the same and said,“The first few days was a shock, but I’m moving on,” Hamlin told NASCAR.com. “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. And if all of our program gets better, the 11 car’s gonna run better as well, right?”“And 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. They feel like this is the change they need to (make) to get that and that the 11 team will benefit from those changes.”Denny Hamlin and Chris Gabehart amassed a total of 22 race wins between 2019 and 2024. Together, they also won back-to-back Daytona 500s in 2019 and 2020 and never finished lower than eighth in championship standings.