Joe Gibbs reacts to Denny Hamlin-Ty Gibbs incident after wreck, post-race conversation

Denny Hamlin was frustrated with how Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs was racing him during Stage 2 of Sunday’s Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. On Lap 110, Hamlin decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.

Hamlin, running the inside lane going into Turn 1, dumped Gibbs and sent him crashing into the outside wall. Asked after the race about the incident involving two of his drivers, Joe Gibbs said it’s up to them to handle it.

Joe Gibbs talked with Denny Hamlin after the race. He says he will leave it up to the drivers to handle their issues. pic.twitter.com/y1Kz4SlIzv

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 21, 2025

“It’s always the drivers that have to handle that,” Gibbs told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “They’re the ones that got the wheel, so I think that’s always the case. That’s what we’ll do. … Those guys are all the ones driving the cars and so, those guys will get together on their own and figure it out.”

Ultimately, Hamlin felt that Gibbs, a non-playoff driver, was holding him up. He expected his teammate to help him out a little bit. Gibbs raced Hamlin hard, which the latter didn’t appreciate.

“Does Ty know we’re going for a championship? What the fu*k,” Hamlin said on his radio a lap before dumping Gibbs.

Not too much longer after the incident, Gibbs’ race was done. He delivered a message to Hamlin and the No. 11 team for next Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.

“Yeah, but we got wrecked there,” Gibbs said. “So, we’ll go see them next week.”

Denny Hamlin reacts to Ty Gibbs incident at New Hampshire

This will be something both drivers will have to work out this week. There’s some interesting dynamics at play, as Ty Gibbs is the grandson of Joe Gibbs. Chris Gabehart, JGR’s competition director, has been orchestrating strategy calls for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 team over the last couple of months. Gabehart served as Hamlin’s crew chief from 2019-2024.

Hamlin was seen talking to Gabehart and Joe Gibbs on pit road after the race. He preferred not to say much about the incident with Ty Gibbs.

“Well, it’s super unfortunate. He got spun there, and obviously, contact came from us,” Hamlin said. “But yeah, I don’t have any other comment other than that. Just had some contact into [Turn] 1, it was obviously a really rough race before that.”