"Got hot under the collar": Denny Hamlin displays regret over New Hampshire clash with Ty Gibbs

Denny Hamlin admitted that he went 'too far' during his controversial shunt with Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire last weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran expressed remorse and suggested that he should've taken a different approach to the situation.

Hamlin and Gibbs had some intra-team drama at the Mobil 1 301. As a non-playoff driver, Gibbs left no room for Hamlin to pass through, and the No.11 driver laid a bumper on his teammate to clear his path.

The contact, however, ended the day for Gibbs and caused a heated back-and-forth between the two drivers. Hamlin complained about the whole ordeal on his team radio and later took to his podcast to continue his criticism. He argued that Gibbs should've backed off and supported his title-contending teammates.

However, the JGR ace seems to have softened his stance now. In a press conference at Kansas Speedway, Hamlin said (via YouTube/Frontstretch),

"I definitely got hot under the collar. It, it went, you know, too far on my end and certainly there was things that I wish I could have done a little differently." [0:20 onwards]

Denny Hamlin has also revealed 'productive' team meetings to sort out the issue, but chose to remain guarded on the specifics. On the racing front, the 44-year-old locked a front row start at Kansas alongside polesitter and JGR teammate, Chase Briscoe.

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Denny Hamlin comments on potential return to full-season points format

The Athletic's Jeff Gluck recently reported that NASCAR's playoff committee is looking into the 36-race championship format as an alternative for the current elimination-style playoffs. Gluck maintained that NASCAR is still likely to run a modified playoff format, but noted how the classic points system looks like a real option now.

Denny Hamlin has been vocal about his critique of the current system. He advocated for a larger sample size to determine a champion instead of a single-race title decider.

When asked about NASCAR's recent development, Hamlin said (via aforementioned source),

"I've told those in the industry, um, what my preference would be, and it is a balance of full season and playoffs because I think that you need a little bit of both to make everyone happy. But obviously the bigger the sample size, the truer the champion's going to feel." [5:29 onwards]

"There certainly needs to be an element there that keeps it exciting all the way to the year end and certainly if you run it 36 races there's an opportunity for it to be exciting naturally in that way without resets and cut offs and things like that," Denny Hamlin added.

Detractors of the classic points system cite that fans might not tune in if the championship battle is wrapped up in advance. In contrast, IndyCar's recent season finale was its third-most-viewed race of the season, despite Alex Palou running away with the title weeks earlier.