Kevin Harvick suggests Ty Gibbs incident could 'derail' Denny Hamlin 2025 NASCAR championship chase

Kevin Harvick watched on as Denny Hamlin got into a bit of a tiff with Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire. The No. 11 Toyota wheelman was fed up with his teammate racing him hard, and the No. 54 Toyota was subsequently sent into the wall.

That’s been the major story during the fallout from last weekend’s race, and Harvick doesn’t like that it’s overtaken Hamlin’s attention. He believes it could end up being the moment that derails his chase for his first NASCAR Cup Series title.

“Here’s the question that I have: is that the moment that derails Denny Hamlin’s 2025 championship?” Harvick asked, via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “That decision now is a decision that you’re going to have to talk about next week. It’s a decision that will divide the shop. It shows a lot about the people around him (that you don’t respect them). When you make decisions like that, it could be the moment that derails Denny Hamlin’s championship chase for 2025.

“We go back and look at moments like this through the years—what derails championships— that move right there, for 11th or 12th, could put him in position to possibly lose another championship.”

Harvick’s concerns are real, and could certainly come to fruition. His co-host in Mamba Smith tried to make sense of the veteran wheelman’s frustration with Gibbs, but he doesn’t believe Hamlin’s decision was worth the guff he’s received.

“It came early in the race too. It wasn’t toward the end; it was right in the first part of the race. How do you walk into the JGR shop with all the employees and explain that you just ruined one of the cars everyone worked for? Granted they were racing hard, but Carson Hocevar’s done way more to deserve something like that,” Smith added.

“I think Denny Hamlin is like the Dallas Cowboys of NASCAR. He’s the show, the lights, he gives great quotes. When he wins, it’s fireworks, and when he loses, sometimes it’s also fireworks. But the one thing that they talk about is that the Cowboys don’t win championships. They win a lot of games throughout the season. Denny Hamlin wins a lot of races throughout this he’s one. He’s on his way to eclipse 60. He’s a walking Hall of Famer. But there’s always a collapse when it comes to the championship.”

Of course, Hamlin could quiet all the noise by winning his first title, despite the drama with Gibbs. He’s in a good spot at the moment, but that could always change as the races dwindle. We’ll see what he has in store for this weekend’s race at Kansas.