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When you have a highly successful NASCAR Cup Series program like Joe Gibbs, sometimes your drivers don’t always see eye-to-eye. Last night at Richmond, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin were definitely not on the same page.
Over the years, Joe Gibbs has dealt with a lot of personalities in the Cup Series. Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are two that come to mind immediately. However, he might have another issue on his hands after Hamlin and Truex battled it out in overtime.
Truex felt that Hamlin jumped the restart and then didn’t give him the courtesy he should give a teammate. Of course, the 11 car is pretty aggressive in these moments and always has been.
Joe Gibbs knows he is in a tough spot, he said as much on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race.
“The way I always look at that, if you have real good cars at times you’re going to be up front and both of them want to win so much. Your heart goes out for everything that Martin did tonight and for him to be that close and not get the win, you can understand with great competitors how they feel. So, that will be a discussion we have, they’re teammates.
“The great thing also about this sport, is four teams but you’ve gotta act as one back at the race shop. Because you solve more problems and so having teammates is really important, so it’s something we need to always make sure we have.”
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 1, 2024
"Both of them wanna win so much."
Joe Gibbs weighs in on his two drivers battling for the win late at @RichmondRaceway last night
Join the Richmond convo on TMD → https://t.co/YdB9rkIaPe pic.twitter.com/R7JGMom5Cr
At the end of this one, Denny Hamlin was victorious and Martin Truex Jr. fell to P4. The Joe Gibbs Racing organization had a great day at Richmond. But will this cause further issues in the Cup Series program with the two veterans seemingly at odds with one another?
Joe Gibbs Racing has had great 2024 season so far
If the race at Richmond was a one-off, then it would be a good day for JGR. However, these kinds of results have been coming all season long. Sunday night, Hamlin won, Truex was P4, Christopher Bell P6, and Ty Gibbs finished P16. It was an off day for the 54 team after such a strong start to the season.
When you look at the points standings for the year, it solidifies the fact this has been a season of success. If there isn’t a Joe Gibbs car in the top-5 at Martinsville this week, it would be a huge shock.
Martin Truex Jr. leads the points standing at this point. Denny Hamlin is third overall, Ty Gibbs fourth, and Christopher Bell is sixth in the points. Not to mention that between Hamlin and Bell they have three wins on the season.
Joe Gibbs is right, his cars are going to be racing against each other at times. This time, it worked out for Hamlin and not Truex. There will probably be times when Bell gets one over on them or maybe young Ty decides to risk it all in order to get his first career win. As long as this doesn’t linger from week to week, it should be no big deal for this championship organization.
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