Denny Hamlin Acquits Joe Gibbs’ Grandson of Malice After Heartbreaking Upset at Watkins Glen

Sam Mayer came off as a strong prospect for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. Even the owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., expressed how proud he was of his driver. For a 20-year-old Wisconsin native, holding off other seasoned road course specialists like AJ Allmendinger and getting his first-ever career victory was indeed a humongous achievement.

To the utter joy of his boss, Sam secured his second Xfinity Series victory, and that too at the road course of Watkins Glen. However, this one was not as undisputed as the first one. Mayer got involved in an on-track squabble with his arch-rival from last year.

While fans booed Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin sided with him

As the curtains on Actions Detrimental rolled apart, co-hosts Jared Allen and Hamlin chatted about the latter’s future with JGR and the factors that were standing between him and stretching his contract. As the show proceeded, Allen swerved the course of the discussion to the tracks of Watkins Glen, where the winner, Sam Mayer, made smoky contact with Ty Gibbs. Like the fans, even Jared Allen was of the opinion that it was Ty who pushed Mayer into the wall with the chaotic overtime. Mayer was just trying to clear his way, and it just happened to be Ty in front of him.

However, the 23XI Racing boss was not ready to agree with the common word. In his usual ‘I-don’t-care-I-am-not-here-to-make-friends’ attitude, he said, “People are gonna call me a Homer because I’m sticking out for Ty. They can f**k off. Because I will call it as straight as I can call it.”

Ty Gibbs was far enough to the left during the turn, and there was a lot of room to the right of his #54 Toyota. Hamlin felt like the contact that Sam made with Gibbs was purely intentional and well-planned. He explained, “Ty was already driving in plenty deep enough; he already had a gap.”

Denny Hamlin said that he had slowed down every clip of that moment of contact between the two. Even though he claimed to like Sam for his recent achievements on road courses, this one just did not do it for Hamlin. The number 11 Toyota star said, “Sam made the decision to hey I’m not gonna give up this spot here in the S, even though you are ahead and I’m barely hanging on, you better give me full space.“

“That’s just not the way it works,” he added.

Watch this story: Dale Earnhardt Jr Admits His Former Associates, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, Shattered Their Image as He Fails to Justify Their Behavior

He then continued to say that whoever was ahead, always has the advantage to take the space that they need to make the corner. “Mayer put it right on his right rear quarter panel. Ty is way up against the curve over on the left-hand side and so Ty has to let his car switch directions,” he mentioned.

The rivalry between Joe Gibbs’ grandson and Sam Mayer continues.

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During the post-race interview at Watkins Glen, Ty Gibbs sarcastically congratulated Mayer on his win and said that although he had more starts, the former had more wins. But this rivalry between these two young speedsters started in 2022. Yes, we are going back to Martinsville Speedway.

The tango between Gibbs and Mayer took off as they battled for second place, trailing race leader Brandon Brown. In turn 4, Mayer and Gibbs had a contact that caused both drivers to swerve off the track and Gibbs to ram off the outside wall. Gibbs took out his frustration by rear-ending Mayer.

After the race, Ty Gibbs shoved Sam Mayer on the pit road. During the altercation, Gibbs threw 5 punches at Mayer, resulting in a bleeding forehead. In the post-race interview, Gibbs admitted that he just wanted to talk to his opponent when the latter started pushing him. So naturally, he had to resort to violence.

Gibbs said to the FOX reporter, “The only thing I’m mad about is that the 1 (Mayer) didn’t have anything or wasn’t going to get past the 16 (AJ Allmendinger) there… it’s just frustrating.”

Fast forward to the latest Xfinity race, Sam Mayer said that nothing was intentional and the media was just hyping up their rivalry. However, looking back at the track record that these two share, does it look purely unintentional? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more: “TV Wanted Us to B*tt Heads – Sam Mayer Reflects on his Rivalry with Ty Gibbs