"It's a big loss": Dale Earnhardt Jr. finds Chris Gabehart leaving Joe Gibbs a major blow while assessing NASCAR Silly Season

On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, former NASCAR star driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked about Joe Gibbs Racing’s “big loss.” Amid the ongoing lawsuit against the governing body, JGR competition director Chris Gabehart departed from the team.

During the break in the antitrust trial, stock car journalist Jenna Fryer confirmed the news on Wednesday. However, the Cup Series team hasn’t made any announcement on the same. Before being promoted to competition director, Gabehart worked with veteran Denny Hamlin and crew-chiefed his #11 Toyota Camry.

Hamlin’s former crew chief helped him clinch 22 wins from 2019 to 2024. Later, Gabehart acted as the crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the #54 team this season. Reflecting on that, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed it to be a “big loss” for Joe Gibbs Racing and explained [10:00 onward]:

“It's a big loss for JGR, and it kind of makes you wonder, um, you know, what the general temperature is, I guess with when a guy like that's going to leave the building. It appeared that he had a position, you know; he had been elevated out of the way from the crew chief position from Denny Hamlin into the director of competition, which is a very critical, important role.”

“And I thought, man, this guy is perfect for this. Um, and and they will be well they'll be well positioned with him in that role. Um, so it's hard to imagine how he got away or what would have been the result or the cause, I guess, of the departure,” he concluded.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also addressed rumors of Chris Gabehart moving to Spire Motorsports in the 2026 season. However, no party has confirmed the news of the former Joe Gibbs Racing competition director’s future in the series.

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“Not meant to be”: Joe Gibbs Racing driver expressed his feelings on Phoenix heartbreak

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin had a dominating season this year. Despite that, he fell one spot short of clinching his maiden Cup Series championship title. Following that, in a post-race interview, Hamlin shared his views on the Phoenix race.

During the interaction, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver expressed his disappointment with not winning the title. He also addressed his last pit call to change four tires and told NASCAR reporter Dave Burns:

“Yeah, nothing I can do differently. Prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend. My team gave me a fantastic car. Just didn’t work out. I was just praying for no caution. Had one there. What can you do? Just not meant to be."

“We took four tires. I thought that definitely was the right call. Just so many cars took two there. Obviously put us back. Team did a fantastic job. They prepared a championship car. Just didn’t happen. I’ll try (to win a title again). I got a couple more shots at it," he added.

Denny Hamlin also dominated the Championship 4 race, leading 208 laps. However, it was not enough to crown him the 2025 champion. Later, in the final moments of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson took the lead and claimed his second title.