NASCAR Through the Gears: Denny Hamlin shocked, Chase Elliott not, and what’s a Hyak?

Over the decades, the annual NASCAR championship awards banquet took place in Daytona Beach, New York, Las Vegas and Nashville. From this year, they opted for convenience and held it last weekend in Charlotte, where most of the drivers and teams are based.

News was made over the weekend, others was made just beforebut the blow has been dealt since our last meeting here a week ago.

Let’s move up a gear and make up some ground…

First Gear: RFK is not immune to expansion; 23XI also adds a third wheel

Two two-car teams have officially announced their expansion plans for the 2025 season.

Ryan Preece, newly unemployed due to the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, will become Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher’s teammate at Roush Fenway Racing.

GREAT AMERICAN READING: Celebrate the iconic history of the Daytona 500 with a new book; preface by Richard Petty

Preece, a 34-year-old Connecticut native, has already raced three full-time seasons with JTG-Daugherty Racing (more on that group shortly) and the last two with Stewart-Haas. Jack Roush, the R of RFK Racing, hasn’t had a three-driver lineup since 2016. Remember that trio? Reply below.

Meanwhile, 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan took time out after legal proceedings to add Riley Herbst as that team’s third driver next season. Herbst won the Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix, his third victory in five full-time seasons in that series.

Why add a third team during ongoing litigation? Well, it’s not just a sport, but also a business, and Herbst brings with him the coveted Monster Energy sponsorship to a team already swimming in marketing leverage thanks to Jordan and another co-owner, Denny Hamlin .

Herbst comes from the family that owns the “Terrible Herbst” chain of nearly 200 gas stations in the West, primarily in Nevada. We believe there may be a business connection between Monster and Terrible Herbst. It’s the race, more often than not.

Oh, the Roush quiz. Jack’s final trio of 2016: Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. More on Biff below as well.

Second gear: Ho-hum, Chase Elliott wins NASCAR’s most popular driver award again. NMPA also honors Greg Biffle

The annual Elliott Family Award was presented to Chase for the seventh consecutive year.

Not really much drama here.

Officially, it is known as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award, given annually to the driver who garners the most fan votes at the end of the season. It is managed by the National Motorsports Press Association.

It was the 23rd combined victory for Chase and his father Bill, whose 16 victories are a record, but not by much. Between Bill and Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won it 15 times. Lee Petty won the first two years the award was given, in 1952-1953. Lee’s son, Richard, won it eight times.

The NMPA also awards this honor in other NASCAR series. This year, Justin Allgaier won in Xfinity and Rajah Caruth in Trucks.

The NMPA also administers the annual Myers Brothers Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to stock car racing. This year, the award was given to Greg Biffle, who has made an outstanding contribution to humanity.

Following the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Helen to western North Carolina and other areas, Biffle loaded his personal helicopter with supplies and made a steady path to the area, eventually becoming the face of “Operation Helidrop”.

Third Gear: Denny Hamlin receives a surprise

Denny Hamlin has a new crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, and to hear Hamlin tell it, he was blindsided by Chris Gabehart’s replacement. The duo has won 22 races together over the past six seasons.

It doesn’t seem like Denny is in favor of this decision.

“I was certainly shocked, that’s all I’ll say,” he told the assembled media at last weekend’s banquet in Charlotte. “The first days were a shock, but I continue”

Gabehart, who will become JGR’s competition director, will be replaced at the top of Hamlin’s box by Chris Gayle, JGR crew chief at Xfinity and Cup since 2013. He spent the last two seasons as crew chief of the Cup Series for Ty Gibbs.

Fourth Gear: JTG Daugherty gives way to Hyak, but what is a Hyak?

As promised above, an update on JTG Daugherty Racing.

Here we go.

Well, the signage is gone.

It’s now Hyak Motorsports. Rhyme with kayak. Gordon Smith became majority owner a year ago and takes his name from his company Hyak Maritime, a marine services company based in Oregon.

Hyak? It means “fast” in the Chinook lingo of the ancient Pacific Northwest.

JTG Daugherty has fielded a Cup Series team since 2009. Two of his three victories have come in the last two seasons, including the 2023 Daytona 500, with Ricky Stenhouse behind the wheel. It was a two-car team from 2017 to 2021, but only one car for the past three years.

Longtime co-owner and former NBA All-Star Brad Daugherty remains part of the ownership group, along with Ernie Cope and Mark Hughes.

— Email Ken Willis at [email protected]

This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Michael Jordan grows up, Denny Hamlin shocked, Chase Elliott again