Steve Letarte weighs in on Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs incident: 'A real intersection for all of Joe Gibbs Racing'

In a New Hampshire race that didn’t have a ton of drama, there was a teammate interaction between Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs that will draw plenty of scrutiny. Ultimately, Hamlin spun out Gibbs after getting tired of the way he was racing.

On the radio in the laps leading up to the spin, Denny Hamlin was fuming. He was asking his team to talk to Ty Gibbs and get them on the same page. That didn’t happen.

So Hamlin eventually got into the back left bumper of Gibbs and spun him out on the track. Both drivers seemed reticent to discuss the issue in post-race interviews, leading to an interesting discussion by the USA broadcast crew involving Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.

How will the incident be handled behind closed doors? That’s a key question.

“I think it really comes down to the owner,” Letarte said. “I think coach has to decide. I think it’s as simple as that. We can talk about Denny Hamlin, we can talk about Ty Gibbs, Jeff and I can give our opinions. Our opinions don’t matter. The opinion that matters is the man who has his name on the building, it’s as simple as that.

“It’s the same for Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, you could go up and down the owners. They’re the ones invested, they’re paying the bills, they’re the guys. They hire who drives their racecars.”

Denny Hamlin was clear that he was sick of “some teammate bulls**t” on the track on Sunday. The two raced side by side for a few laps before the spin.

Ultimately, Hamlin dumped Gibbs, whether intentional or not. At the very least, it seemed clear he was trying to ship Gibbs up the track.

Letarte further weighed in on the issue. He provided a voice of reason.

“I have some opinion, I think it’s important that this has been laid out (in terms of strategy),” he said. “I think that a driver back in 10th, 11th, 12th probably should concede to a playoff driver if he is much faster. But that’s my opinion. I don’t own the race team.

“What I want here is I want coach, the Super Bowl championship coach, he’s called coach for a reason. This is what owners need,” Letarte said. “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.”

The incident between Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs could cause further friction in the Joe Gibbs Racing team or it could be quashed quickly. That’s up to the drivers and the team.

How much Joe Gibbs gets involved remains to be seen. And there are other considerations, Letarte pointed out.

“What makes it more complicated because it’s coach Gibbs talking about grandson Ty Gibbs,” Letarte said. “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.”