LOUDON, N.H. — Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs battled both on the race track and via their team radios Sunday. Contact between the two drivers on-track following tense racing resulted in Hamlin sending Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota into the wall, a flurry of profanities on the scanner and lingering questions on how the team moves forward following the Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The high from JGR’s sweep of winning the opening three postseason races was a distant memory as tensions boiled over in Stage 2 between title hopeful Hamlin and Gibbs, who did not qualify for the postseason this year.
Battling for 11th at Lap 110, the Toyota drivers made contact exiting Turn 4, before Hamlin, a four-time winner this season and championship contender, sent Gibbs spinning into the Turn 1 wall. The incident came after several laps of tight racing between the two and fellow JGR driver Christopher Bell, as Hamlin and Bell were attempting to pass Gibbs for position with what appeared to be quicker cars.
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Frustrations tipped in real time for Hamlin as he keyed up to his team on the radio, questioning the decisions made by his young teammate in the laps before their contact.
“Does Ty know we‘re going for a championship? What the [expletive]?” Hamlin radioed to his team. “Are they afraid to talk to him? That‘s what I feel like — they‘re scared of him.”
Gibbs and his No. 54 Camry rested in the bottom lane of the track while waiting for a tow back to the garage. The team assessed the damage and returned to the track briefly before Gibbs hit the wall again, and the No. 54 crew determined the car was too beaten to continue, ending Gibbs‘ race early.
The 22-year-old is the lone driver under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner not competing for the Bill France Cup after failing to make the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Speaking with USA Network from the infield care center, Gibbs — who radioed “game on” after his car came to a rest — brushed off questions specific to the incident.
“It‘s unfortunate, but I‘m excited to go race next week,” he said. “I‘m looking forward to it. We‘ll have a good race next week.”
Hamlin expressed his frustrations after the race, noting that he made a mistake in initiating contact and wanted to step back and let others handle the fallout moving ahead.
“Well, I made a mistake in Turn 1. I would have made a mistake with anybody in that position,” Hamlin said on pit road. “I was trying to get by him; that was a task in itself.
“I’ll let leadership kind of quarterback it, however they’d like to. Obviously, us, [Bell and Chase Briscoe], are all trying to win a championship for their family. So it’s crazy unfortunate why we’re racing the way we are.”
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Team owner Joe Gibbs, still carrying the moniker of “Coach” from his days as a Super Bowl-winning football coach, spoke briefly after the race and indicated he plans to let the drivers handle their issues.
“Those guys are the ones driving the cars,” Joe Gibbs said. “Those guys will get together on their own and figure it out. It‘s hard for me. It‘s not me, it‘s the drivers. That‘s how I‘ve always looked at this.”
Competition director Chris Gabehart also falls under the leadership and is tasked with overseeing all four cars in the operation.
Hamlin‘s former crew chief, known for his ability to “rally the troops” when times are tough, will once again attempt to mend fences before the team treks to Kansas Speedway next weekend.
“I think all of their viewpoints are going to be a little bit different,” Gabehart said. “The 54 (of Gibbs) and the 20 (of Bell) were in a tight space, and Denny was behind that and probably saw that circumstance and was confused by it. And then when they run the 54 back down, you know, [Hamlin] probably was looking for more of a break than he got. That’s what I would guess. That’s what I saw.
“The hard part is the 54 is trying to win races and make a name for himself as well. So everybody needs more space than they have.”
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When asked how the upcoming conversation will play out, Gabehart is hopeful that it will promote unity, where each driver can thrive in their own environment.
“This is the type of conversation that when you run well, you’re fortunate enough to have to have every so often,” Gabehart continued. “We’ll have to have that conversation again. But, you know, I think there’s a reasonable etiquette to follow, where everybody can get what they need out of it.
“But at the same time, you can’t create an atmosphere where everybody just has to roll over and play nice all the time either, or you won’t hang as many banners as Joe Gibbs Racing has hung over the years.”
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