<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Chase Briscoe was just one of the many key changes ahead of this season, joining Joe Gibbs Racing.<\/p>\n
The challenge for Hamlin last November was that as he entered the latter part of his Cup career, he was going to do so with a new crew chief. He and Gayle had to build a foundation quickly so Hamlin could excel on track.<\/p>\n
It meant some extra work for Hamlin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone of my age, I think the easy answer would say, well, you\u2019re an old dog, you\u2019re not going to learn new tricks, you\u2019re not going to want to listen to anyone to tell you to do it differently,\u201d Hamlin said last November of the challenge of a new crew chief relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve made it very clear to Chris Gayle that I do not want you treating me with kid gloves. You need to tell me when I need to improve in something or there\u2019s an area that I\u2019m weak in as a driver. I need that feedback. I think that as long as he\u2019s comfortable with that, we\u2019re going to have a successful relationship because I\u2019m very self-aware and I need someone to hold me accountable to be the best out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Stock cars return to the streets of downtown Chicago for the third consecutive year.<\/p>\n The process has worked but work remains.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I feel like myself and Denny have even come close to reaching the peak of the relationship? No,\u201d Gayle told NBC Sports last weekend at Atlanta. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s some me still growing into that position.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that Denny has done a great job of fully trusting me to \u2018(his) role is driving the car and (my) role is handling whatever happens to the car. But I think there\u2019s some communication stuff between us that can still be better from my end that you kind of grow and learn as you go along, like, oh if I had to do this over again, I should have communicated this, or we should have talked about this behind the scenes so we didn\u2019t have to communicate it then.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s still building, but I think that overall, the results have been good. I think that the results being good allows you to continue building the other stuff that not everybody sees without any sort of major panic or paranoia coming on that gets you behind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n