Few Answers After Chaotic Hamlin-Gibbs Run-In At Loudon

LOUDON, N.H. – Sunday’s Mobil 1 301 exploded with intrigue a third of the way through, when Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs tangled in a dramatic stage-two incident at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But while most onlookers – and reporters – expected vitriol from one or both drivers at the ‘Magic Mile’, there were little, if any, answers following the checkered flag.

Backing up to the moment itself, the early portion of the second stage saw Gibbs fighting hard to keep 11th place, fending off first another teammate in Christopher Bell and then Hamlin once the latter passed Bell and put himself in position to scrap with Gibbs.

Once he got to Gibbs’ inside on lap 109, Hamlin muscled the third-generation young gun out of the groove in turns three and four, then added a shot to the left rear in turn one on lap 110 for good measure.

The end result of the second contact was Gibbs spinning into the outside wall, suffering significant damage that forced his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota to be towed by a wrecker for repairs.

It was an incident that had been simmering for nearly 30 laps, with Hamlin furious over the radio to crew chief Chris Gayle before he finally got to Gibbs to force the issue.

“This is some teammate [expletive],” Hamlin said.

Following the contact that sent Gibbs around, Hamlin had more to unleash.

“What the [expletive] is he doing?” the 20-year Cup Series veteran asked.

Gibbs later returned to the race, albeit 10 laps down, but later made additional contact with the outside wall that resulted in a broken right-rear toe link and a DNF in 35th place.

He made a mandatory trip to the infield care center before completing his media obligations, but it was clear Gibbs was dodging the questions posed to him by both TV and print reporters.

“It's unfortunate,” Gibbs told NBC Sports in his broadcast interview. “But I’m excited to go race next week, and looking forward to it.”

Pressed by veteran pit reporter Kim Coon on if someone needed to have a discussion with him, like Hamlin had alluded to on his radio, Gibbs again dismissed the inquiry.

“Yeah, we’ll have a good race next week,” Gibbs said flatly. “Looking forward to it.”

It carried shades of Kyle Busch’s memorable, “Everything’s great,” media scrum from Phoenix Raceway in 2017, one week after a pit-road scuffle with Joey Logano at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway where Busch threw a punch at Logano following that race.

Following a 12th-place finish by race’s end, Hamlin at least had a bit to say regarding his mindset in the moment of the battle with Gibbs. But, still, it wasn’t overly expansive.

“I certainly did not want to spin out a teammate, if anyone,” Hamlin said. “But I was trying to get space to race and try[ing] to get by the [No.] 54 and got into him.

“We made contact into [turn] one,” Hamlin added. “It was the fourth or fifth time that we made contact, but eventually he ended up getting spun.”

What does Hamlin think needs to be done to keep further situations from potentially hindering his pursuit of a Cup Series championship?

“I’ll let leadership quarterback it however they’d like to,” Hamlin noted. “Obviously us, the [No.] 19, the [No.] 20, are all trying to win a championship for their family. It’s crazy unfortunate why we’re racing the way we are.”

Following the race, team owner Joe Gibbs – also Ty Gibbs’ grandfather – told reporters that he wasn’t going to get in the middle of the situation.

“Those guys are the ones driving the cars,” said the Hall of Fame NFL head coach and 2020 NASCAR Hall of Famer. “Those guys will get together on their own and figure it out.”

Hamlin admitted he “made a mistake” in regard to the contact and that it likely would have ended the same no matter who else had been in that position in front of him.

“I made a mistake into turn one,” Hamlin said, adding that he’s not worried about potential retaliation from Ty Gibbs. “I would have made a mistake with anybody in that position.”

Do any of those post-race comments offer clarity on what’s to come? From the outside looking in, no.

But what is clear is that Sunday marked an important moment for Joe Gibbs Racing, illustrated by comments from former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief and now NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte during the New Hampshire post-race show.

“I think that a driver back in 10th, 11th, 12th place should probably concede to a playoff driver if he is much faster, but that’s my opinion. I don’t own the race team,” Letarte said. “When an owner is really tested is this moment right here. … This is an intersection, a crossroaads.

“What makes it more complicated is that it’s Coach Gibbs talking about grandson Ty Gibbs. You cannot take those layers off the onion,” he continued. “Those are real. Those connections are real. … I think it’s a real turning point for all of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Added fellow analyst and former driver Jeff Burton, “Dealing with this today is a today issue, but it bleeds into next year, and the year after, and the year after. This will define how [Joe Gibbs Racing] does things going forward.”

Next for Joe Gibbs Racing and the NASCAR Cup Series field as a whole is Kansas Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 airs Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.