"Of course, it’s heated": Joe Gibbs Racing's competition director breaks down heated exchange with Ty Gibbs over team radio

Things got heated between Ty Gibbs and Chris Gabehart during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. Gibbs could only salvage a disappointing P33 finish, marking his third consecutive finish outside of the top 20.

With 34 laps to go, Gibbs was struggling to find rear grip on his No. 54 JGR Toyota Camry. Gabehart, director of competition and race strategist at Joe Gibbs Racing, assured Gibbs that the team would take care of it the next time he pitted and urged the driver to finish the cycle.

But it wasn’t enough for Ty Gibbs.

“We’re f****d right now, so we’ve got to do something different,” he yelled on his team’s radio.

Gabehart did not seem to like the way Gibbs assessed the situation. He responded blatantly,

“Well, I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding of that from inside the car…so you can call the strategy if you want or we can keep rolling. But I (would) do the best I could to go as fast as I can.”

However, later on, Gabehart explained why things went the way as heard on the No. 54 radio.

“Of course, it’s heated. It’s a hot day, and the driver’s working his butt off in there and doesn’t know the details of who’s on what for strategy,” Gabehart said. “There was a caution that fell there early in Stage 2 that really split the field a lot of different ways. So for drivers, that’s always the most confusing time because they don’t know how to measure their car against whom and what’s the next play in the playbook.”

Ty Gibbs ended his day with his worst performance since COTA in March. Currently, he sits 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 493 points, four top-fives and six top-10s to his name. He is the only driver from the JGR camp left to make the playoffs.

Ty Gibbs takes over the ownership of the No. 54 Xfinity Series car in 2025

Back in October 2024, it was announced that Ty Gibbs, the grandson of team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, would become a team owner in 2025. The news came after Joe Gibbs Racing hired Taylor Gray to drive the No. 54 Toyota GR Supra full time in the Xfinity Series.

As reported by journalist Joseph Srigley on X, Ty Gibbs hinted at the news through one of his Instagram stories. Gray was paired with seven-time race-winning crew chief Tyler Allen.

“I am very thankful for this opportunity,” Gray said in a statement. “I feel like I have learned a lot in the races I have ran this year, and we can build on that next season. Being able to work with Tyler and these guys for a few races has been a great head start on next season and getting that chemistry going, so I’m really excited about what we can do running together full-time.”

23 races into the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Taylor Gray and the No. 54 team sit ninth in the driver standings with 624 points to his name. Although winless, Gray has amassed six top-fives and 11 top-10s in all.

Next up for the driver is the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled for Friday, August 22, the 100-lap event will be televised on CW (7:30 pm ET) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.