LOUDON, N.H. — Denny Hamlin indicated he would follow the lead of team leadership in handling any dispute following him turning Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs relatively early in the opening race of the second playoff round Sunday.
“I’ll let leadership quarterback it however they’d like to,” Hamlin said about the battle with the team owner’s grandson.
The team’s overall leader, Pro Football Hall of Fame football coach Joe Gibbs, indicated he wanted his grandson and Hamlin to handle any issues they have after the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“It’s always the drivers that have to handle that,” Joe Gibbs said. “They’re the ones that have got the wheel, and that’s always the case. So that’s what we’ll do.
“Those guys all are the ones driving the cars, and so those guys will get together on their own and figure it out.”
So where do they go from here? A frustrated Ty Gibbs left the infield medical center thinking ahead.
“We got wrecked there,” Ty Gibbs said. “We’ll go see him next week.”
The dynamic of teammates in motorsports creates these moments. They work together and share information during the week. They might even give each other a break on the track. But they know their owners don’t want them to wreck each other during an event.
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The Team Penske drivers executed that philosophy well with Ryan Blaney earning the victory with tough battles for the lead against Penske teammate Joey Logano and Josh Berry, who drives for Penske affiliate Wood Brothers Racing.
Both Blaney and Logano are in the playoffs — Blaney earned an automatic bid to the semifinal playoff round with the win — while Berry was knocked out of contention last week.
“I was never going to lay a bumper to Joey trying to get by him when he was leading,” Blaney said.
Denny Hamlin was not happy with teammate Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire.
“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 [Penske] expects of us, and that’s what Eddie and Len [Wood] 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.”
The JGR drivers weren’t able to avoid that. Hamlin said he made a mistake when he turned Gibbs, who is the only JGR driver who did not make the playoffs and therefore, even while still racing, can only compete for race wins and points but can’t compete for the championship.
“We made contact into [Turn] 1 — it was like a fourth or fifth time we made contact, but eventually he ended up getting spun,” Hamlin said. “I made a mistake into Turn 1. So I would have made a mistake with anybody in that position.
“I was trying to get by him. That was a task in itself.”
Hamlin wondered why Gibbs was racing him, a teammate, so tight for 11th place on the 110th lap of a 301-lap race when Hamlin in the grand scheme of things is trying to win a championship. The wreck ruined the day for Ty Gibbs — and JGR teammate Christopher Bell also was right behind as part of the battles. Hamlin, Bell and Chase Briscoe are the three JGR drivers still alive in the playoffs.
“Obviously us, the 20 [of Bell], the 19 [of Briscoe] are all trying to win a championship for their family,” Hamlin said. “So it’s crazy unfortunate why we’re racing the way we are.”
Hamlin and Ty Gibbs seemingly have a good relationship, with the 44-year-old Hamlin often mentoring the 22-year-old Gibbs. Hamlin has defended Gibbs at times when fans or media have been critical of the young driver.
“I definitely have more dialogue with him than any of the other teammates that I have,” Hamlin said. “But he’s just got so much to learn and certainly got a very high ceiling of talent.
“Just understanding down and distance seems to be the struggle.”
Gibbs has had his share of frustration. The 2022 Xfinity champion has made the playoffs in one of his first three seasons (last year) and is winless in 117 career Cup starts.
Joe Gibbs said having his grandson as one of the team’s drivers is a dynamic that they’ve dealt with for several years, and he wouldn’t give an opinion on the contact.
“It’s hard for me,” Gibbs said. “It’s not me. It’s the drivers. That’s the way I’ve always looked at this.”
Hamlin said he wouldn’t worry about payback.
“I certainly did not want to spin out a teammate, if anyone, but I was trying to get space to race and trying to get by the 54 [of Gibbs] and just got into him,” Hamlin said.
The veteran driver, winner of 59 Cup races while still seeking that first elusive title, indicated that directives on how to race will need to come from above.
“The 54 got back clear of me and the 20, and we ran him right back down, and then just couldn’t get any space to race once we were trying to pass,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know what the whole formula is, but I’m sure Joe and those guys will figure it out.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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