Veteran NASCAR Cup driver Denny Hamlin will be the first to admit that even though he speaks what’s on his mind, he also has a very laid-back personality.And it’s that laid-back attitude that has helped Hamlin and new crew chief Chris Gayle gel thus far this season, including Sunday’s win in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.It was Hamlin’s sixth career win at the .
526-mile paperclip-shaped track in his home state of Virginia, but it was also his first triumph there in 10 years, dating back to his win in the spring 2015 race there.The transition from Hamlin’s long-time crew chief, Chris Gabehart (who was promoted to Joe Gibbs Racing competition director), to Gayle has been an interesting change.“Chris has had a tough go at it,” Hamlin said of Gabehart after Sunday’s win.
“When we didn’t have a great weekend, social media people were out to get us and they think he’s been the problem for all these years, but it’s just not the case.”“So I’m really happy for (Gayle) because he’s had the tough task of having such young drivers his whole career. That is really hard to do.
It’s hard to put in who is the fastest thing and expecting a rookie to go out there, or somebody who’s real young, to get the most out of that, and then to have the race craft management through the whole race is really, really hard to do.”Among the young drivers Gayle has previously worked with are Erik Jones in Cup and Ty Gibbs in both Cup and Xfinity racing.“For .
