“I don’t think we’re on the same page”: Denny Hamlin makes feelings clear on JGR’s approach for playoff and non-playoff drivers

Denny Hamlin reflected on his clash with Ty Gibbs and outlined the terms between the playoff and non-playoff drivers within Joe Gibbs Racing. The two drivers were at the centre of a controversial incident that ended Gibbs' run in the 301-lap event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

During Sunday's (September 21) Mobil 1 301, Gibbs found himself on the receiving end of Hamlin's mistake over Turn 1. He got spun out and suffered a broken toe link as a result.

Hamlin believed Gibbs wasn't letting him through as a non-playoff driver should. Notably, Gibbs did cut in front of Hamlin multiple times before the incident.

On the latest episode of his podcast, Actions Detrimental, Hamlin discussed the current terms within the JGR camp on competing against teammates.

"I don't think we're on the same page. I have always went back to what is the last thing Joe has said when it comes to non-playoff cars and playoff cars. He has had this conversation multiple times with everyone in the room. But I think it probably needs to be said again. And so what I've heard is that if you're a non-playoff car, any break that you can cut your teammates, please do," he said. [ 36:38 onwards]

Joe Gibbs, meanwhile, has stepped away from the whole ordeal. He preferred to let Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs resolve the issue amongst themselves.

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"One day the roles would be reversed": Denny Hamlin sounds off on Ty Gibbs' mindset

Denny Hamlin went over Ty Gibbs' approach and how it'll hurt him in the long term. The JGR ace was confused by Gibbs' reasoning and suggested that one needs to give in to their teammates when they aren't chasing a title.

"These are your two teammates that need these points. I just didn't understand where the mindset was there and I still don't. But if you know it's possible Ty feels like he doesn't owe us anything and that's just a different mindset and it's okay to have, but you would think that one day the roles would be reversed and certainly he probably would be upset if we did not let him go," he said. (38:46 onwards)

Denny Hamlin also mentioned how he was 'clearly faster' than Gibbs and would have eventually passed him. On the same episode, he also called for JGR leadership to step in and establish clear boundaries going forward.

After the 301-lap event, the 44-year-old ended up outside the top 10 and slid to fifth place in the playoff standings. He's currently 27 points above the cutoff and trails his teammate, Christopher Bell.

Next up, Hamlin heads to Kansas Speedway for Round 5 of the playoffs. His previous outing on the track resulted in a second consecutive DNF due to a clutch failure after Texas Motor Speedway.