Tensions boiled over in the Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire, with contact between Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. Denny Hamlin and non-playoff driver Ty Gibbs made contact exiting Turn 4 while battling for 11th, prompting insiders to question team leadership.Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota clipped Gibbs' No. 54 and sent him into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 143. Hamlin radioed his frustration and later admitted he’d made a mistake. Ty retired with too much damage to continue and declined to comment from the infield care center.On Inside the Race, former crew chief and current analyst Steve Letarte framed the situation bluntly:"I believe this is a major intersection for Joe Gibbs Racing because I can have an opinion, you can have an opinion. To be honest, Ty and Denny can have an opinion, but the only man's opinion that matters is going to be that man standing there in the red shirt, and that's Coach Gibbs because his name's on the door, his name's on his own damn shirt. His name's on the race car. Like, it's Coach Gibbs's race team."Letarte pointed out how unusual and delicate the dynamics are. Denny Hamlin is a veteran and a legitimate title candidate this season. Ty Gibbs is Joe Gibbs' grandson, who is not in the playoffs and is still searching for his first Cup win. That combination makes the fallout more than a driver spat, but a test of how Coach Gibbs balances team success, driver development, and family ties.Letarte added that it would send a message across the garage about how Joe Gibbs Racing manages internal conflicts:"I don't know if there's a better person to have to handle this situation, which is a positive. But he (Joe Gibbs) is standing next to a future Hall of Famer (Denny Hamlin) who's won 59 races who was frustrated with his junior driver. Let's remind everybody the junior driver's last name is Gibbs. So I think this is way more than Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs."Denny’s reaction on and off track was a mix of frustration and ownership. Ty Gibbs, meanwhile, stayed measured in public and told USA Network from the care center he was “excited to go race next week” and declined to elaborate on the crash.Joe Gibbs Racing leadership picks up the piecesTy Gibbs (54) towed as Denny Hamlin (11) drives past at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Source: GettyThe Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire belonged to Team Penske’s Fords, with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney controlling the front. For Joe Gibbs Racing, the results at Loudon weren’t disastrous: Christopher Bell (No. 20) ran to P6, Chase Briscoe (No. 19) P10, and Denny Hamlin (No. 11) P12 - all inside the top 12 and still in the playoff hunt. Ty Gibbs, forced into the garage after the crash, finished 35th.Joe Gibbs himself kept things short but pointed out who would sort it out."Those guys are the ones driving the cars. Those guys will get together on their own and figure it out. It’s hard for me, it’s not me, it’s the drivers. That’s how I’ve always looked at this," Gibbs told post race, via NASCAR.Competition director Chris Gabehart broke the incident from his view. He called the situation a tight, split-second mess."I think all of their viewpoints are going to be a little bit different. The 54 and the 20 were in a tight space, and Denny was behind that and probably saw that circumstance, and was confused by it. And then when they run the 54 back down, probably was looking for more of a break than he got... The hard part is the 54 is trying to win races and make a name for himself as well."He also acknowledged the conversation will repeat, but he also flagged the need to avoid an atmosphere where everyone simply “rolls over and plays nice,” because that won’t win titles.The playoff picture after New Hampshire shuffled slightly. Top-seed Denny Hamlin slipped to fifth in the playoff standings, 27 points above the cut line. Bell (+29) held fourth, while Briscoe (+12) dropped to eighth. Joe Gibbs Racing still looks like a major threat with three playoff drivers, as they head to Kansas, where the team will hope to avoid such intra-team accidents in the second race of the Round of 12.