Fantasy NASCAR Racing

along with his win he also finished second and fourth.  Overall his drivers posted five wins, 17 Top 5's and 18 Top 10's.  Also in 2017 he made his first start as a Cup crew chief.  It came as he led Denny Hamlin when his regular crew chief had to serve a once race suspension and Gabehart filled in. The duo finished fifth at Richmond.  For 2018 Gabehart was paired with Brandon Jones full time running the Xfinity series events.  Jones had a best finish of second; but did make the Chase via points. He advanced through the first round; but was eliminated at the end of round two. For 2019, Gabehart was again united with Hamlin at the Cup level.  He led the efforts of Hamlin full time as they look to get back on the winning track as they both went win less in 2018.  The duo come out of the gate running as they won the season opening Daytona 500.  They added a second win at Texas and others at Bristol and Pocono prior to the Chase beginning.  Hamlin ran well in the Chase and advanced through the first two rounds easily.  The third round Hamlin run into problems and finished in 28th at the Fall Texas race.  It put him behind the eight ball needing a win the race at Phoenix to advance to the championship race the following week at Miami.   Hamlin and Gabehart's crew performed well as Hamlin led 143 of the 312 laps that day grabbing the checkered flag and making it into the Championship race.  His team mates Martin Truex and Kyle Busch also make the final four.  At Miami Hamlin won the pole and had high hopes of claiming his first Cup Championship. But he only led two laps the entire race and didn't have a car fast enough to keep up with Busch and Truex.  Hamlin ended up finishing the race in 11th place; fourth in the 2019 points.  Hamlin did claim six wins in 2019 so it was a fairly successful season.  In 2020, Gabehart and Hamlin had a good season.  They started the year backing up their win in the 2019 Daytona 500; by making a pass in the final few feet to win in it 2020.  Then racing resumed after the coronavirus outbreak; they paired up again to win right away at Darlington.  At Charlotte in the Coke 600 Hamlin had some weight fall off the car during the pace laps.  NASCAR seemed to run an extra couple pace laps to give Hamlin a shot to get it replaced and back in the field before the green flew.  But after a few extra pace laps they started the race with Hamlin in the garage still scrambling to get the weight replaced.  When he got on the track he was several laps down and it ruined his race.  He ended up finishing 29th; but the biggest penalty was Gabehart was suspended for four races due to the weight falling off.  Hamlin ran well with Sam McAulay at the helm posting a second and a fifth in those four races.  The first race that Gabehart returned the hooked up and put the car in victory lane at Homestead.  Three weeks later he won again at Pocono.  Three of the next four races they finished second; before claiming another win at Kansas.  With so many wins in the regular season; it was thought they would coast into the final race of the playoffs and race for the Championship.  They struggle a bit the first round but did manage to advance.  In the second round Hamlin won at Talladega which locked them into the third round.  They managed to barely point their way into the Championship race at Phoenix.  Gabehart missed the setup for the race and Hamlin was competitive but never managed to lead a lap.  The other three drivers in the hunt for the Championship just had better cars.  Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were great on short runs; while Chase Elliott was great on long runs. Hamlin finished fourth in the race and fourth in points for the year. 2021 saw Gabehart and Hamlin had a decent season when it was all said and done.  Hamlin run in the front many races, but just couldn’t break through and get a win.  Through the first 26 races he had 13 Top 5 finishes.  When the race started he immediately won at Darlington.  Followed that with a second place finish.  When round two of the Chase started; he won the first race again. They managed to make it into the final race to run for the Championship.  He looked to have a good short run car.  As luck would have it a late race yellow flew and it appeared Hamlin might have a chance to get his first Championship.  But when the green flag flew, it was clear the race would be between Kyle Larson and Martin Truex to see who won the Championship.  Hamlin finished third in the race, and third in the points.  2022 saw Gabehart and Hamlin together again.  The year got off to a miserable start.  First, he crashed out at Daytona, and things really didn't improve much. He had one finish better than 15th in the first six races.  But a risky pit call at Richmond paid off, as Gabehart was able to put Hamlin in the winners circle.  Except for that one instance things were not good.  Runs of 18th or worse saw the team very happy they had a win; for without a win they were not going to make the Chase.  At Kansas, Hamlin left the pits too soon and the crew wasn't finished putting on the tires.  A wheel fell off and NASCAR handed Gabehart got the customary four race suspension penalty.  The next race was the Coke 600 and Sam McAulay was called on to fill in for Gabehart.  Hamlin ran outside the top ten most of the entire race; but a crash on the next to last lap gave them a chance to throw a hail mary.  Once again a slick pit call got Hamlin out up front and when the green flag fell on lap 405; Hamlin grabbed the lead.  A massive pileup happened that lap and we were back under yellow. Extending the race even further.  Kyle Busch got by Hamlin to take the white flag; but Hamlin run him high and against the wall to take the lead and get the win.  When the Chase started Hamlin and Gabehart was ready to compete for the Championship.  A great run in the Southern 500 saw him finish second.  The next race he again finished second and he easily advanced to the round of twelve.  He posted good finishes in that round and advanced to the round of eight.  In that round he finished fifth and seventh.  Going into the final semi-final race he just needed to finish ahead of Ross Chastain to make it into the Championship four.  On the final lap Hamlin was running fourth, several spots ahead of Chastain and looked to be able to cruise into the Championship.  But heading into the final turn Chastain made a move you had to see to believe.  Instead of accepting his fate and not making the finals; Chastain pulled the car into high gear as they entered turn three and floored it.  He went flying around the outside of multiple cars and even passed Hamlin before the crossed the start finish line; eliminating Hamlin from making the finals.  All Hamlin could do was stand with his jaw on the ground wondering 'what just happened'.  Hamlin and Gabehart were together again in 2023, trying to get Denny that first elusive Championship.  The duo didn’t have anything special going on as the season progressed.  Through the first ten races they only one top five finish.  Then at Dover they finished fifth, and grabbed the first win the next week at Kansas.  At Pocono they had a great run and won again.  As the playoffs started, they had issues at Darlington; but came back to finish second at Kansas and then win at Bristol.  In the Round of 12 they finished fifth at Texas, and third at Talladega which helped to save them when they finished 37th on the Roval at Charlotte.  In the Round of 8 they had a mechanical issue which caused them to crash out of the event; leaving him in a must win situation at Martinsville.  He managed to finish third, but that wasn’t good enough for him to advance.  They will be back together again at JGR in 2024.  So far for his career Gabehart has led his drivers to 19 wins.  Major wins include the Daytona 500 (2019 and 2020); and Southern 500 in 2021.