The outbreak between Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire cuts deeper than the usual teammate tensions. This isn’t just two drivers butting heads; it’s the team’s ace against the owner’s grandson. And as former crew chief Steve Letarte pointed out, Joe Gibbs may find himself at a crossroads in deciding where the blame lies.
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On NASCAR’s Inside the Race, Letarte told Adam Alexander and Alex Weaver that context matters. The clash didn’t come while racing for the win or even a top-five. Both cars were scrapping outside the top 10 in Stage 2, battling through Turns 3 and 4 and into Turn 1 before the wreck unfolded.
But since Gibbs was not willing to give Hamlin a pass despite being out of the playoffs, the #11 driver drove his Toyota Camry door-to-door with the No. 54, forced him up the track, then slid into him entering the corner.
“I will say I believe this is a major intersection for Joe Gibbs Racing. Because to be honest… the only man’s opinion that matters is going to be that man standing there in the red shirt, and that’s Coach Gibbs,” Letarte said.
“Because his name’s on the door, his name’s on his own damn shirt. His name’s on the race car. Like, it’s Coach Gibbs’s race team. So, I think his reaction to this and his managing this is going to be a major intersection for the organization…”
Also, Gibbs will stand next to a future Hall of Famer who’s won 59 races, who was frustrated with his junior driver, and that junior driver’s last name is Gibbs. So this is way more than Danny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs.
Letarte added that from a PR standpoint, the team caught a break because neither driver spoke out publicly. Still, he believed Ty Gibbs bore some responsibility since the fight was for a position outside the top 10.
If it had been for third, fourth, or fifth, and possibly a shot at the win, Gibbs would have been justified in running his car as hard as possible. But on a day when things weren’t falling his way, he needed to see the bigger picture. Instead, he tangled with Hamlin, who was simply trying to pick up playoff points while fighting for 11th in the second stage of the race.
