Ty Gibbs Hailed As “Calculated and Smart” to Not Take the Bait from Media Over Denny Hamlin Question

After Sunday’s dust-up between Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs, opinions in the garage and grandstands were split. Some fans argued that racing is every man for himself, teammates or not, and defended Gibbs’ choice not to roll over for Hamlin and Christopher Bell in Stage 2. Others sided with Hamlin, stressing that both he and Bell are chasing playoff points that could punch their ticket to the next round.

What most agreed on, though, was that Gibbs handled himself well by keeping the matter out of the media spotlight.

After Hamlin spun him for refusing to give way, Gibbs fired back with a terse “Game on.” He returned to the track but soon headed to the garage with a broken toe link. Yet both drivers kept their lips sealed when facing reporters.

Asked directly about the spin, Gibbs sidestepped the subject. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but I’m excited to go race next week and I’m looking forward to it.” When pressed on Hamlin’s stance that someone in the organization needed to have a word with him, Gibbs doubled down with, “Yeah, we’ll have a good race next week. I’m looking forward to it.”

Hamlin admitted the contact came from his car but framed it as “unfortunate,” a choice of words many saw as placing the blame squarely back on Gibbs. His and Gibbs’s silence, however, drew commentary from the press. An Amazon Prime host and TNT reporter, Danielle Trotta, wrote on X, “If someone told Ty Gibbs to dodge reporter questions w a canned answer, they gave him bad advice.”

Fans quickly rallied to Gibbs’ defense, applauding his restraint. One wrote, “Looking for clicks? Let them hash it out tomorrow during the competition meeting instead of through the media.” Another chimed in, “Surely you didn’t think he was gonna trash his teammate on a microphone.”

 

A third fan added, “Having heard many drivers, including Ty, fly off with f bombs and things that put sponsors in tough spots, his response was calculated and smart. So when he dumps Denny it will be just a racing incident and not retaliation.”

One supporter even recalled Kyle Busch’s infamous stonewall scrum interview from Las Vegas eight years ago, when asked about his altercation with Joey Logano back then. Busch repeated only, “Everything’s great…cant wait to get back to the race car next week….everything’s great……..” and nothing more.

Hamlin, though, had his say on his Actions Detrimental podcast. He made clear that in moments that were so crucial, he did not expect his own teammate to be the hardest car on the track to pass.