Ty Gibbs dodged questions about how he and teammate Denny Hamlin raced each other Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which ended with Gibbs wrecked in Turn 2.
The incident happened on lap 110, but it had been building for laps between the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates as Gibbs defended the 11th position first from teammate Christopher Bell and then Hamlin. Hamlin ran Gibbs up the track in Turns 3 and 4 on lap 109, then hit the No. 54 of Gibbs in Turns 1 and 2 on the following lap.
“It’s unfortunate,” Gibbs told NBC Sports. “But I’m excited to go race next week, and looking forward to it.”
Gibbs was then asked if someone needed to talk to him, as Hamlin had said over his No. 11 team’s radio after the incident. That, too, was dismissed by Gibbs.
“Yeah, we’ll have a good race next week,” Gibbs said. “Looking forward to it.”
Hamlin had been unable to get around Gibbs about 10 laps before the contact, which led to frustration being heard across the in-car radio. When he lost the 12th position to Bell around lap 98, after again not being able to get around Gibbs, Hamlin radioed, “Does Ty know we’re racing for a championship? What the [expletive]?”
Hamlin regained the position from Bell and caught Gibbs again around lap 107. Again, the battle amounted to no pass for the position.
“This is some teammate [expletive],” Hamlin said.
Contact on lap 110 set off this reaction on Hamlin’s team radio:
Hamlin: “What the [expletive] is he doing?”
Chris Gayle: “Is the right front OK? That’s all I’m curious about right now.”
Hamlin: “Yes.”
Silence followed for a bit before Hamlin was asked about the balance of his race car.
Hamlin: “The balance is OK.”
Asked what he needed for adjustments ahead of the pit stop, Hamlin replied by saying: “Are they afraid to talk to him? That’s what I feel like. They’re just scared of him.”
Gayle: “I don’t know the answer to that right now. I’m just focused on trying to get the [No.] 11 the best finish. We’ll talk about it after (indiscernible).”
The crash resulted in Gibbs hitting the wall and coming to a halt on the racetrack. The only thing he said on the radio at one point was, “Game on.”
Gibbs needed repairs before he returned to the race nine laps down, and after he was able to overtake other drivers who had fallen out of the race before he bounced the right rear off the wall and caused more suspension damage. That incident brought an end to his afternoon.