“Don’t Chase Three-Wide Middle”: Denny Hamlin’s Advice to Ty Gibbs After Yet Another Disappointing Finish for JGR Teammate

Ty Gibbs finished outside the top 10 once again on Sunday at Martinsville. The 13th-place finish he secured was his best result in the first seven races of the season. That tells how bad things have been for the 22-year-old. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, revealed in the post-race interview that he’d approached him before the race and asked for advice to turn things around.

Hamlin repeated his words to Gibbs for the press. He said, “My advice was just, ‘You’re not going to get it all back in one week.’ That is what I see most young guys try to do. If they make a mistake, they end up compounding it with multiple mistakes over and over and over. They just can’t get out of making mistakes.” So, what he wants the youngster to do instead is take things one step at a time.

To start, avoiding unnecessary wrecks is something he must practice. “Don’t chase three-wide middle if you don’t have to on lap 25,” Hamlin continued. “These races are really, really long… 30% of your competition will take themselves out every single week. If you have a 12th-place car, you will finish eighth as long as you don’t screw up because others in front of you will. Keep that in mind.”

Not panicking and keeping a calm mind in these situations is essential. Needless to say, Hamlin has overcome plenty of such bad stretches and still reigns strong as one of the best drivers in NASCAR history. He secured his career’s 55th victory on Sunday. And he did so in no ordinary fashion. He led 274 laps to completely dominate the Martinsville Speedway and his competitors.

The true reason behind Hamlin’s advice to Gibbs

Gibbs’ short temper is not a secret to anyone in NASCAR. Although he has toned himself down a lot in recent times, he is an aggressive driver by nature. He got into a situation with Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick during Sunday’s race. On Lap 298, Gibbs was racing in 11th place between Turn 1 and Turn 2. Reddick, in an attempt to pass, spun him out.

Gibbs yelled on his radio, “Just free this [expletive] thing up, please. It doesn’t roll the center at all. You better keep me away from that little [expletive] (Reddick) after this race, too.”

His crew later explained to him that Reddick was only trying to lift for him, and Austin Dillon had facilitated the contact, unaware of what was going on. It can be seen why Hamlin felt himself to be in a tricky situation after this.

He advised Gibbs that he must be mentally strong to let such contacts go and focus on the race. Hopefully, the young driver will heed the advice in the coming weekends and reach his true potential.