Las Vegas last Sunday saw the smell of gasoline disappear after wrapping up the first race of the Round of 8. Now, all eyes turn to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the next showdown. Teams across the garage are fine-tuning plans, leaning on non-playoff drivers to shield their title contenders in the pack. And amid these strategy sessions, Joe Gibbs Racing stands apart, not for seamless teamwork, but for a fresh scar from Loudon two weeks back.

Denny Hamlin had dumped teammate Ty Gibbs into the wall when the latter refused to give way to a championship-chasing Hamlin. This time, though Hamlin is already locked for the finale, the pressure falls on Gibbs again to back Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, both eyeing a Final 4 spot. Gibbs carries a rep for racing solo, but whispers suggest he’s rethinking that edge for Talladega’s chaos.

Ty Gibbs lays out his dual-track mindset

Ty Gibbs recently opened up about navigating Talladega’s demands. “Yeah, you know, there’s definitely got to be aware of where they’re at, and see how you can help, but also what puts yourself in a better direction,” he told host Peter Stratta. It’s a measured take from the 22-year-old, who’s logged 114 Cup starts since his 2022 debut without a victory.

.@TyGibbs talks how he may help his Toyota teammates in tomorrow’s race#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/V3eoBHI9DI

— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) October 18, 2025

Gibbs knows the track’s drafting game rewards alliances, where a well-timed push can vault Bell or Briscoe past rivals like Ryan Blaney, who’s 31 points back. Still, with his own winless streak dragging into year three, Gibbs aims to blend support with smart risks, staying glued to the lead pack early, then lending a draft when it counts, all without fading to the rear.

This team balance got tested hard at New Hampshire on September 21, the Round of 12 opener. Gibbs, not in playoff contention, raced aggressively against Hamlin and Bell for mid-pack spots, leading to repeated bumps. Hamlin, chasing stage points, finally hooked Gibbs’ No. 54 into the wall on lap 110, ending his day.

“Absolutely. I definitely got hot under the collar, and it went too far on my end. There were things I wish I could have done a little bit differently,” Hamlin later admitted after a tense JGR drivers’ meeting. The 44-year-old veteran, mentoring the team owner’s grandson, owned the lapse but pointed to Gibbs’ greenhorn fire.

Gibbs, when asked about the incident right after the race, fired back coolly: “I’m excited to go race next week and looking forward to it.” And after some time, their sit-down smoothed edges, as Gibbs reflected later, “I grew up around all these guys, and I appreciated him [Hamlin] a lot. I want the best for my team as well. So I think we figured a lot of things out.”

With Hamlin safe at the top of the points, Gibbs’ role sharpens: play wingman to Bell (+20) and Briscoe (+15) by blocking challengers in the draft, maybe snagging a stage sweep to pad their buffers. “Yeah, just get hammered down and see where it takes us,” Gibbs added in the interview, eyeing his first checkered cup while helping with pushes to the Toyotas.

It’s a hard ethical question: prioritize the team’s Final 4 push, or gun for glory and risk the pileup? Either way, his words signal growth from Loudon’s fallout, turning internal friction into fuel.

As Gibbs plots that push-pull, the bigger puzzle at Talladega boils down to every driver’s call on aggression.

Weighing wrecks and points in the draft

Talladega‘s restrictor-plate frenzy turns stage points into things of great value, but chasing them means flirting with disaster. Drivers like Bell, hovering +20 above the line, must decide when to surge for the +10-point stage win versus hanging back to dodge the inevitable crash.

Historical big ones here, like the 27-car melee in 2003’s Aaron’s 499, have flipped entire playoff fields, hospitalizing drivers and shredding contention. Non-playoff allies like Gibbs add layers, offering bump drafts to front-run teammates without burning their own fuel early.

Kyle Larson, sitting second, captured the bind perfectly: “There is risk that comes with that. Hopefully, we have executed well enough that we’re near the front, but it is hard weighing those options, and it is hard to win from outside the top 10 to 15. Hopefully, we’re just in that group all day.” His Hendrick crew preps for survival first, knowing a mid-stage fender-bender could erase weeks of grinding.

Below the line, Ryan Blaney sees upside in the mayhem: “But looking at Talladega, a lot of things can happen that can benefit or hurt you or benefit your competitors or hurt them. Why I say it’s not a must-win yet is … a couple of guys get torn up early who are in the playoffs, and you can go have a big day. Big point swings can happen at these types of racetracks.”

Blaney’s Team Penske squad eyes those swings and is just looking to finish the day with a good position without adding the ninth DNF to their long list. The No. 12 team betting on chaos to close its -31 gap without forcing a Hail Mary win shows the threatening nature of the track, where the script of team planning can flip in split seconds.