With the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway for its second Round of 12 race Sunday afternoon, teammates will likely be a focal point again after a tumultuous time at New Hampshire last weekend.
Race winner Ryan Blaney put his Team Penske No. 12 Ford in position to win the 301-lap race, but not before getting pressured fairly hard by Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing. Berry’s No. 21 blue oval is affiliated with the Penske group and practically races as a stablemate to Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric.
And the problem between leader Blaney and Berry? The latter, seeking his second career Cup victory, was a shade faster at the end and only failed to get closer to Blaney after blowing the entry into Turn 3 and shooting up the 1-mile track.
The two raced cleanly to the end. No contact, no problem.
That was certainly not the case at Joe Gibbs Racing, which entered the race having swept all three events in the Round of 16 and was carrying full momentum until a group of fast Fords blistered Loudon.
Unable to pass the Penske bunch, JGR proceeded to make it worse on itself with offenses by Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin.
The lone JGR driver not chasing a title, Gibbs aero-blocked, pinched and made it overly difficult for Hamlin to pass. Hamlin then used the frustration as fuel to spin Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota on Lap 111.
With Bell nearby, it could have been a real mess with a whole lot of explaining to be done Monday at the shop.
Why so much individual urgency?
Gibbs is 0-for-117 in the Cup Series after taking the checkers a dozen times in 66 Xfinity starts. Those are staggering numbers on each end: unreal success in NASCAR’s Triple-A equivalent but incredibly mediocre at the top level.
Likewise, Hamlin is 0-for-19 in Cup championships as he races in his 20th full season with two years left on his contract.
Time is ticking on the 44-year-old Virginia driver, who called on leadership to fix the on-track turmoil.
“The challenge is that I think me and Ty are going to have different opinions,” said Hamlin, a five-time winner this season. “Therefore, you need leadership to step in and say, ‘Well, this is how we want it done.’ And then we will play by those rules.
“Whatever those rules are, I will play by those rules. But I have been told in the past, if you’re not in it, you do everything you can to help your teammates that are in.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson was the last winner at Kansas — in early May — but hasn’t won since. However, he has won two of the past three times there and is long overdue.
Last September’s Kansas champ Ross Chastain rides 12 points below the cutoff line and eighth-place Chase Briscoe, followed by Penske’s Austin Cindric (-19). The two 23XI Racing drivers, Tyler Reddick (-23) and Bubba Wallace (-27), pull up the standings’ rear and need strong days at Kansas with Charlotte’s treacherous Roval looming.
As Gibbs said after the Hamlin incident, “Game on.”
