In the end, Dale Earnhardt Jr. simply doesn’t perceive what the inducement was for Ty Gibbs to race championship eligible teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell in a approach that finally obtained him punted on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt expressed empathy to Gibbs, as a result of there have been seasons through which he was the teammate that wanted to let his stablemates go by and extra simply chase a championship, however simply couldn’t fund a justification for a way he raced Bell and Hamlin.
That’s very true given how he wrecked teammate Brandon Jones within the Xfinity Collection race at Martinsville in 2022.
“He isn’t been an important teammate at instances,” Earnhardt mentioned on the Dale Jr. Obtain podcast. “He’s had some moments with, one of many extra popularized ones, can be Brandon Jones at Martinsville however there have been run-ins with another people in some Gibbs Xfinity automobiles.
“I simply have a tough time attempting to determine Ty Gibbs.”
Earnhardt says he likes Gibbs on a private stage in everybody their in-person interactions however he simply didn’t perceive what there was to realize in being tougher to cross than even these his teammates are racing for the championship from laps 100 to 111.
“I’m having a tough time understanding like, what’s his motive,” Earnhardt mentioned. “What’s your motive. You’re not within the playoffs. You’re his teammate. Like, completely let him go. Look, if I’m racing my teammate, I’m letting him go as a result of all of his crew, the crew chief, engineer, the staff proprietor — all the workers of the staff, just like the staff supervisor, common supervisor, all people who’s current is seeing this.
“Am I actually going to make everybody who works on these automobiles, even for just a few corners, am I going to make them see that? The folks at house, on the engine store, all of the folks which might be sitting on their sofa, the staff of this operation, sitting at house and getting textual content messages. They’re getting texts that say ‘what the hell is he pondering?’”
Earnhardt says everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing have been seemingly texting one another or getting texts like that.
“You recognize, I simply do not get it,” Earnhardt mentioned. “I don’t know what his motive is. Like I can perceive, possibly he’s not an enormous fan of Denny. Perhaps him and Denny haven’t got a lot of a relationship. I do not know. Perhaps they’ve an important relationship, nevertheless it does not look like it.”
His producer then mentioned that doesn’t clarify how exhausting Gibbs raced Bell too and Earnhardt questioned if anybody within the secure has an excellent relationship with him.
Earnhardt believes competitors director Chris Gabehart and firm management seemingly instructed Gibbs ‘this isn’t your day to be doing this.’
“It’s too far into it for this,” Earnhardt mentioned. “If it’s race 10 or no matter, wonderful, however that is the playoffs and these are crucial moments and demanding positions. And to Denny’s level, your teammate shouldn’t be the toughest to cross on the race observe on this scenario.
“It sucks to be a teammate out of the playoffs when you could have the opposite three within the playoffs. I lived that. You’re on the market operating your ass off. You’ve had a tough 12 months. You aren’t pleased with how your 12 months went. You’re pissed off and now you’re having to mainly lay over in your teammates … however it’s a must to do it. You need to perceive and see what’s occurring.”
Earnhardt questioned ‘the place is the processing’ for Gibbs. He mentioned it’s ‘so foolish’ to be speaking about this matter ‘that’s the frequent sense factor to do’ on this scenario. He mentioned it ‘shouldn’t have occurred.’ And whereas Hamlin ‘shouldn’t have wrecked him’ that Gibbs ought to have by no means positioned him in that scenario.
And finally, Earnhardt doesn’t even perceive why Gibbs would do this even after the Jones scenario in 2022.
