Kevin Harvick reacts to radio scuffle between Ty Gibbs and race strategist Chris Gabehart

Ty Gibbs and No. 54 team race strategist Chris Gabehart had a difference of opinion on strategy during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. It led to a heated back-and-forth on the radio, in which Gibbs expressed his frustration to his team.

“We’re f*cked right now, so we’ve got to do something different,” Gibbs said, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports.

Gabehart, who also serves as competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing, immediately jumped on the radio. He did not appreciate what Gibbs had to say.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding of that from inside the car,” Gabehart said. “So you can call the strategy if you want or we can keep rolling. But I [would] do the best I could to go as fast as I can.”

Kevin Harvick has been in that situation before where his racecar isn’t performing as he wishes it would. Gibbs was frustrated, and his radio argument with Gabehart was the moment where their race “fell apart,” Harvick said on his “Happy Hour” podcast.

“You definitely don’t want to have the banter between crew chief and driver like that,” Harvick said. “Once that happened, the whole race fell apart. When the race falls apart like that, it’s kind of how we talked about with the 5 [Kyle Larson], you can clearly point to here’s where this started. When you look at the situation, I’ve been in those scenarios before and as a frustrated driver when you feel like the car is all of a sudden just falling off and not doing what you want it to do.

“There was definitely some tension on the radio about the strategy and where the car was at that time.”

Chris Gabehart opens up about radio disagreement with Ty Gibbs

Gibbs wrapped up an up-and-down day with a 33rd-place finish. It was his worst finish since a P34 in March at COTA, and his third consecutive finish outside the top 20. Throughout the race, Gibbs complained about the lack of grip in his rear tires. The team made their final pit stop on Lap 81 at the request of Gibbs, who wanted to then stay out if one final caution came out — that caution never came.

Gibbs’ 2025 season has been uneven — a poor start followed by an encouraging summer stretch. Gabehart, who served as Denny Hamlin‘s crew chief from 2019-2024, has taken on a more hands-on approach with Gibbs and the No. 54 team in recent months. His experience is invaluable, especially to a young team and a 22-year-old driver.

“Of course, it’s heated. It’s a hot day, and the driver’s working his butt off in there. Doesn’t know the details of who’s on what for strategy,” Gabehart said after the race. “There was a caution that fell there early in Stage 2 that really split the field a lot of different ways. So for drivers, that’s always the most confusing time because they don’t know how to measure their car against whom and what’s the next play in the playbook.

“And on the pit box, you’re working to figure all that out as those cautions fall. There’s only so much prep work that you can do prior to when it happens. Now, what do we do? And that’s the moment that was going on there.”