Regardless of whether Denny Hamlin or Ty Gibbs were right in their dust-up in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff race at New Hampshire, race winner Ryan Blaney hopes that team owner Joe Gibbs doesn’t let anything fester between Hamlin and Ty, who is Joe’s grandson.
Advertisement
“It’s more beneficial to speak on it sooner than later because if you don’t speak on it sooner than later, things fester,” Blaney said in his post-victory press conference. “People have their own minds, like did he do it on purpose, whatever, and things can kind of build.”
That’s why when the entire Gibbs organization meets Monday for its weekly post-race debriefing, it will likely be beholden upon the elder Gibbs to discuss things, fix a problem if it exists and move on, Blaney said.
“I think the sooner you can get that stuff out in the open, just have a conversation with somebody, I think that’s always a better way to go about it,” Blaney said. “Everyone’s different, but that’s just my mindset on it.”
It’s rare that there’s ever conflict between the three Team Penske drivers – Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric – as well as Josh Berry, who drives for the Penske-affiliated Wood Brothers Racing. All four drivers made this year’s playoffs, but Berry was eliminated after the opening Round of 16 finale over a week ago at Bristol.
Roger Penske Makes Sure All His Drivers Know What’s Expected of Them
Now, it’s Blaney, Logano and Cindric moving forward – and it’s very unlikely that Berry will interfere, given he has no chance for a championship this season, although he still could win another race like he did earlier this year at Las Vegas.
That’s because everyone in the Penske/Wood camp knows what’s expected of them, disagreements are rare, and if an incident does creep up, team owner Roger Penske is usually quick to intercede and fix any animosity that may be lingering.
“When Joey and I are racing for the lead, we know what this is for, so we fully expect us to race hard, but race clean,” Blaney said, giving a couple of examples from Sunday’s race that involved him and Logano.
“Like I was never going to lay a bumper to Joey trying to get by him in stage 3 or stage 1, when he was leading, to get by him,” Blaney said.
“I didn’t want to do it that way — teammate or not, I didn’t want to do it that way, especially with a teammate, I’m not going to rough him up.
“But I fully expect to race hard. That’s what Roger expects of us, and that’s what Eddie and Len expect with the Wood Brothers. We’re going to go out there and race hard, but we’re going to do it in a fair way.”
Blaney’s win at New Hampshire underscored not just his speed but also the importance of harmony within a race team. While dust-ups like the Hamlin–Ty Gibbs clash can threaten chemistry at Joe Gibbs Racing, Blaney pointed to Penske’s clear expectations and swift conflict resolution as the standard.
