Hamlin: 'Too hot under collar' with Gibbs wreck

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Cooler heads person prevailed wrong Joe Gibbs Racing pursuing past week's run-in betwixt teammates Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs, who Hamlin wrecked erstwhile Gibbs wouldn't get retired of his mode astatine New Hampshire.

Hamlin is successful the playoffs and racing for an elusive archetypal Cup Series championship, portion Gibbs, the grandson of squad proprietor Joe Gibbs, is not eligible to contention for the title. After the 2 had on-track contact, Hamlin asked connected his squad vigor if the enactment was excessively frightened to springiness the 22-year-old squad orders.

Hamlin said Saturday, a time earlier the mediate contention astatine Kansas Speedway successful the circular of 12, that each sides had an accidental to talk their caput successful this week's contention meeting. The three-time Daytona 500 champion declined to elaborate different than admitting that, by moving Gibbs retired of his way, "I decidedly got excessively blistery nether the collar, and it went excessively acold connected my end."

"There are things I should person done differently," helium said.

JGR teammate Christopher Bell said the connection was wide and didn't adjacent request to beryllium spoken arsenic to however the Toyota drivers should beryllium racing each different astatine this clip of the year. There are six races remaining to crown the Cup champion.

"We shouldn't wreck each other. That was precise wide and blatantly incorrect and hopefully doesn't hap again," Bell said. "I deliberation it already was wide to america before, and we conscionable request to respect each other."

JGR operator Chase Briscoe, meanwhile, won his seventh rod of the twelvemonth to pb the tract to greenish Sunday astatine Kansas. He volition commencement alongside Hamlin. Briscoe's 7 poles are the astir successful a azygous play since Kyle Busch successful 2017.

Briscoe and Hamlin volition apt contention cleanable astatine the start, which Hendrick Motorsports operator Kyle Larson, who has 3 of his 4 teammates inactive successful the 12-driver field, believes is right. Gibbs was racing a rubric contender who happens to beryllium his teammate acold excessively hard astatine excessively aboriginal a constituent of past week's race.

"I deliberation astatine the extremity -- if you're racing for a win, you're racing for a win," Larson said. "You're ne'er going to springiness up a triumph successful a Cup Series for a teammate. But I deliberation if you're moving midpack successful a stage, yeah, that anticipation should beryllium followed."

Larson said the expectations of however Hendrick drivers should contention each different is intelligibly defined and evidenced connected way each week.

"I deliberation you're ever conscionable looking retired for what you tin bash to marque things a small spot easier connected your teammates," helium said. "TV astir apt doesn't adjacent spot the teamwork that happens, but similar past week, Alex [Bowman] chopped maine a batch of breaks astatine the extremity of the archetypal stage. I passed him, and past I was starting to die.

"He could person easy passed maine backmost but benignant of conscionable rode backmost there. So it's conscionable small things similar that wherever I deliberation wherever Denny was astir apt expecting that, arsenic each squad who has aggregate cars has had a speech of those expectations. So I could spot Denny's frustration, for sure. I'm definite they had a batch of talks this week, truthful I would expect it to beryllium overmuch better."