“I won’t take any more crap from my teammate.” These words are not exactly becoming of a potential proprietor of Joe Gibbs’ NASCAR enterprise. Valued at roughly $230 million, Joe Gibbs Racing has five Cup Series championships to its name. Legendary racers Bobby Labonte (2000), Tony Stewart (2002, 2005), and Kyle Busch (2015, 2019) clinched these titles. However, the six-year drab streak is getting more unbearable for the team – although Ty Gibbs does not seem so bothered.

The Mobil 1 301 race unfolded at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Team Penske in the spotlight. But while Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano dominated the laps, the in-house drama of JGR spilled out and grabbed the limelight as well. The consequences involved a scrutiny-filled debate, mainly pointed at Ty Gibbs.

No bed of roses for Ty Gibbs

Well, a fight within a NASCAR Cup Series team usually does not last long. The same may be the case at JGR, but the conflict that broke out on lap 111 in Sunday’s race speaks of deeper issues. In a recent episode of ‘The Teardown,’ Jordan Bianchi dug out Ty Gibbs’ past instance of ignoring his team’s needs during the 2022 Xfinity Series title run. He said, “When you step back and look at it from a 30,000-foot perspective, this is emblematic of the issues within Joe Gibbs Racing and particularly the issues with the 54 team and its driver…You can go back to the Xfinity Series race a few years ago at Martinsville, where Ty Gibbs has put himself before the team. You know, he crashes his teammate, Brandon Jones, to win that race when he didn’t need to do it.”

Three years after wrecking Brandon Jones, Ty Gibbs has apparently not learned his lesson. Despite every track position being precious for his playoff teammates, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs did not give room. Although both Hamlin and Bell have thick cushions above the playoff cutline, Bianchi stressed that Gibbs needs to be more mature for his grandfather’s organization. He continued, “To me, this is an instance where if you’re going to be that driver, the leader of a team who’s going to carry this organization forward for the next 20 years, which is what Gibbs wants him to be, then you need to look at the bigger picture and step back…That seems to be escaping from Ty Gibbs a little bit in this situation.” 

Ty Gibbs won the In-Season Tournament this year, beating Ty Dillon after a string of solid finishes. But despite 2025 being his third full-time Cup Series season, the No. 54 Toyota driver has not won a race yet. Hence, that feeling of desperation seeped into his drive, as Jeff Gluck pointed out. “It’s obviously a tough situation in that Ty Gibbs has been fast lately, and he’s out there thinking, Hey, man, I got to go. I want to go win my first race and all that stuff.”

However, Gluck agreed with Bianchi in that Ty Gibbs needs to grow up. After all, Joe Gibbs is approaching his senior years, and somebody would need to take over the reins of the organization. Gluck continued, “He’s got to have the more holistic view of the whole company and what’s good for the whole company. You don’t just roll over for him. But to hold them up in the way he did and race them as hard as he did, um, I think it’s a bridge too far.”

While Ty Gibbs is clearly receiving the lion’s share of the scrutiny, Denny Hamlin is not outside of it, either. However, the latter tried to soothe things after the race.

Stressing his allegiance

Denny Hamlin is indeed passionate about finally achieving his elusive Cup Series title. For 19 long years, the Cup Series veteran has awaited the season when he would finally hoist the Bill France trophy. However, during the same time period, Hamlin has also been a steadfast driver for Joe Gibbs’ enterprise. He has clinched 59 trophies for the stellar team, being just one trophy shy of 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick’s tally. That is why he regretted ending the New Hampshire conflict with his teammate on an aggressive note.

After Ty Gibbs did not respond to Denny Hamlin’s warning bumps, the latter used his No. 11 Toyota to spin out the No. 54 into the outside wall. This wreck eventually eliminated Gibbs with a broken toe link after a failure in repairs. Yet Hamlin said post-race that whatever he did was not intentional, considering the bond he shares with Gibbs. “I have probably had more dialogue with him than any other teammate I have,” Hamlin said.

“But yeah, he’s got so much to learn, and certainly, a very high ceiling of talent, but understanding down in the distance seems to be the struggle…I certainly did not want to spin out a teammate,” Hamlin said. “I was trying to get space to race, trying to get by the 54, and just got into it.”

Evidently, the JGR fiasco has created widespread ripples across the garage. Let’s wait and see when Ty Gibbs makes up with his teammates and improves his reputation.