NASCAR Insiders react to Ty Gibbs furious reaction after Denny Hamlin win at Michigan

Two NASCAR insiders understood why Ty Gibbs was frustrated after Denny Hamlin won the Cup Series race at Michigan on Sunday. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reacted to Gibbs being not happy after earning a third-place finish.

“I do get his frustration. I think from his standpoint, he’s now 24th in points,” Gluck said about Gibbs, who was told to save fuel at the end of the race instead of going for the win. “He’s probably thinking ‘We should be almost the same sort of mentality that [William] Byron had to just, hey, I don’t care if I run out of gas. This is my season.'”

Bianchi agreed with Gluck as he also understood why Gibbs was frustrated at the end of the race. “Even though Ty doesn’t have wins in the bank, you’ve got to look at it as we need to be aggressive here. We need to put ourselves in position to go for the win because that is how we’re going to get in the playoffs. I get his frustration. I get it, especially when the same guy who wins the race is on the same fuel strategy with you and I believe he let Denny go by him.

Ty Gibbs speaks out on ‘unfortunate’ finish at Michigan

“…Yeah, you’re frustrated and it’s been that kind of year for Ty. I also see the team side of it, too of like, ‘Hey, this is part of it. This is big pictures thing.’ They’re both right to some degree, but I understand Ty’s frustration, and I would be frustrated in that moment too. Finishing third in the grand scheme of things doesn’t do anything for you.”

In 94 Cup Series races, Ty Gibbs has earned 25 top-10 finishes but has yet to win a race. While Gibbs might be happy that his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate got the win, he believes that he could have earned his first victory in the Cup Series and clinched a playoff spot.

“Yeah, it’s just unfortunate because I feel like we had the capability to go do it,” Gibbs said after the race, per NASCAR.com. “I feel like we showed we were fast enough to go do it. It’s definitely frustrating, but it’s just part of it sometimes.”