“Does Ty know we are going for a championship? What the f*ck?” Fumed Danny Hamlin over the radio. The playoff intensity boiled over at New Hampshire as Hamlin and Christopher Bell, both firmly in the title hunt, found themselves battling not only the field but also their own teammate, Ty Gibbs. He didn’t just make life difficult; he went toe-to-toe with Bell, making contact before defiantly telling the team that he “won’t take any more crap” from his teammate. The drama only escalated when Hamlin got his shot at the No. 54, aggressively shoving Gibbs up the track before finally spinning him into the outside wall. Hamlin didn’t mince words afterward, questioning whether Joe Gibbs Racing was too afraid to confront the young driver.
Gibbs, for his part, brushed off the chaos with a sharp “Game on” before returning to the track, only to brush the wall again exiting Turn 2. Outside the car center, he kept his comments short, avoiding the fallout and insisting he was focused on next week. But inside JGR, the fallout will be far harder to sidestep, especially given that Ty is not just another driver; he is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs. And now long-time NASCAR broadcaster Steve Letarte is calling on the ‘Coach’ to make the right choice while handling the feud between the two drivers.
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Steve Letarte calls on Joe Gibbs to be “really tested” as team owner amid JGR feud
Ty Gibbs isn’t a stranger to controversy with his own teammates. Back in the 2022 Xfinity Series, he sparked outrage when he wrecked Brandon Jones, his Joe Gibbs Racing stablemate, costing Jones a shot at the championship 4. That backlash was fearless, but Gibbs brushed it off in his post-race comments, showing a little remorse for the move. And now in his 3rd full-time Cup season, Gibbs is still searching for his first victory. Just last week at Bristol, he looked poised to change the narrative, leading more than 200 laps before a costly mistake on pit road under green erased his shot at the win. And now it’s like déjà vu for the youngster.
Steve Letarte, though, urged a broader perspective, pointing to the responsibility that now falls on team owner Joe Gibbs. He explained, “What I want here is I want the coach, the Super Bowl championship coach, he’s called coach for a reason. This is what owners need. Everyone always asks, what’s an owner do? Well, he raises money, and he hires the right people, but when an owner is really tested is this moment right here. Because I agree with Jeff, this is an intersection.”
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Both Denny Hamlin and Gibbs downplayed the dust-up in their post-race comments, dodging direct answers and leaving more questions than clarity. That silence only fueled speculation, as USA Network’s Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte dissected the incident on air. Hamlin’s frustration was playing after running side-by-side with Gibbs for several laps before the spin. Whether Hamlin intentionally dumped the No. 54 or tried to muscle him higher on the track, the result was the same: one of the organization’s own cars in the wall.
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Letarte added, “What makes it more complicated because it’s coach Gibbs talking about grandson, Ty Gibbs. You cannot take those layers off the onion. Those are real. Those connections are real. So it’ll be interesting to see if Denny and Ty … and just as important for (Christopher) Bell and (Chase) Briscoe. So I think it’s a real turning point or a real intersection for all of Joe Gibbs Racing.”
The incident, Steve and Burton argue, marks a turning point for JGR. It could escalate into lasting friction between the teammates, or it could be smoothed over quickly with strong leadership. The deciding factor will be how Joe Gibbs chooses to get there and whether he can balance being both a coach and a grandfather.