Two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers clashed last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Now, the entire organization is aiming to move forward after an all-hands meeting.
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Ty Gibbs raced Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin aggressively during the Round of 12 opening race. Contact from Hamlin then wrecked Gibbs. Team owner Joe Gibbs said he would let the drivers handle the situation, but Hamlin expressed a desire to have leadership step in.
This happened ahead of the race weekend at Kansas Speedway. The drivers and the team sat down for a longform discussion.
"I think they are in a good place," Hamlin said Saturday. "We had some meetings this week and they were all productive meetings. The guts of that are going to be confidential."
Hamlin continued and said that all of the drivers had an opportunity to speak during this meeting. They were able to come up with a plan moving forward as three of the four full-time Joe Gibbs Racing drivers continue to compete for the championship.
He also acknowledged that he could have handled the situation differently after looking back at his on-track clash with Gibbs.
"I definitely got hot under the collar and it went too far on my end," Hamlin said. "There was things I wish I could have done a little bit differently."
Bell also told gathered media members at Kansas Speedway that the meeting was "productive." Like Hamlin, he wouldn't share any details of what the team or drivers said. He expressed hope that they do better moving forward with the rest of the playoffs.
"I think it's definitely fair to say that a line was crossed," Bell said when asked if the situation is being overblown. "That was bad. We don't need any teammates wrecked.
"Hopefully, we do better moving forward and that's the goal — for us to race each other better moving forward."
While Bell and Hamlin made brief comments about the team meeting, Gibbs took a different approach. According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, he saw media members waiting after qualifying, so he turned and went the other way. He climbed onto a golf cart and drove away.
