Footage emerges of Ty Gibbs, race strategist Chris Gabehart heated jawing during Watkins Glen race

Things got heated between Ty Gibbs and his race strategist Chris Gabehart during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Gibbs, struggling inside his No. 54 Toyota with 34 laps remaining, 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.”

That earned a “10-4” response from Gibbs, who 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.

“We talked it over and he was losing the rear tires pretty fast both runs,” Gabehart said after the race. “So once we got that late, he came on said, ‘Well, what if we pit here? What’s it really gonna cost us?’ I’m like, ‘Not much. Let’s go ahead and pit in case the caution comes out. Then we’ll stay out and try to restart further forward for it.’ There just wasn’t much track position left to lose at that point.”

Chris Gabehart on radio exchange with Ty Gibbs: ‘Of course, it’s heated’

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. “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.”