Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Pit Stop: JGR Drivers Hamlin, Truex Jr., Gibbs & Bell recall the times they were CHEWED OUT by Joe Gibbs

Episode Date: April 27, 2024

Kevin Harvick is joined by Joe Gibbs Racing Drivers Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs. Kevin and the JGR Drivers shared their best Joe Gibbs stories and recalled the times they were chewed out by Joe Gibbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I want to talk about Joe. I'll start with you. Okay. Because Joe has had some pretty incredible personalities as he's gone through the years. And I look at you guys as pretty tame compared to the Kyle Bush days. I don't think all four of you could probably add up to the amount of work that it took to keep Kyle under control. I come close. Close?

I come close at times. Really? What was the closest? You know the whole thing that Christopher was saying about not being an idiot. Yeah. I kind of crossed that line sometimes. So you're in a different position from a family perspective, and I know he's probably just had to chew your butt. What's the, what's the worst butt chewing that you've taken from Joe? The worst butt chewing I've taken from my grandfather this day, and it never equilated as close as my dad's butt chewing. That was different,

right? My dad was way worse. But the worst one, out of any, all the stupid stuff, stuff I've done was shooting my brother with an airsoft gun with about the distance between me and you just wide open and I held it to him. And that was the first time and the only time I ever seen Coach's teeth. I was really young. So that one, that was probably got the top of the charts for. What was the worst but two and your dad gave you over racing? Oh gosh. We'll just, we'll just leave the hands. Um, there's a couple of them. I used to race bicycles and we were at BMX, so I was an LCQ, and they only took the top two of the LCQ.

And me being an idiot and being, I think I was probably 10, I wrecked the guy, the leader for the LCQ. I was second, so we were going to make it in. And I wrecked the leader coming to the line, so we both didn't make the transfer at all. So my dad just took the bike and flung it, and then we went home, and that was the only time we talked about. So how long did you...

I don't even think we got the bike back to me also. How long did you race BMX bikes? For four years, I think, five years. Really? Yeah. Was that something you enjoyed? Yeah, it was definitely the most. Out of anything I've ever competed in, that was the most nervous I was going to hit the fan.

We didn't finish Will. What's the worst? It's not even close. But chewing from Joe. After practice for the Daytona 500, 2019, he specifically told us do not practice in a group because he didn't want to risk tearing up the cars. I practiced with my Toyota teammates, and then there was a pack out there, and I'm like, I'm just going to, I just need to see what it's going to do at the very tail of this pack. There was a crash.

Someone came from behind me and got me into it. Correct the car. And he says, you are paying for that car. Every nickel. He told me, you're paying for it. I'm not paying for this car. You're paying for it. And I says, yes, sir.

I mean, he was really, really mad. He yelled at me. He never really has yelled at me, but he yelled at me. me. Do you remember that, Martin? Yes. We're all like, what is Denny doing? And so, luckily for me, a couple days later, I won the Daytona 500, and he says, I'm going to let you slide on that car.

Different car. Yes. He said, I'm going to let you slide on that. How about you? Honestly, I have never been yelled at by coach. Really? I mean, we've had lots and lots of conversations, and he has never yelled at me. So I guess I'm doing okay.

What did he say to you on pit road when you were walking by him at Richmond? It was the most classic reaction that I've ever seen. Have you watched it? No. Oh, my God. I have. Really? You want to know, too.

You walked by him. You walk by him, and he was like, he walked by, and he was like, he kicks his last. Well, it should have said something. Yeah. Yeah. How about you, Christopher? So I'm with Martin. I don't know if I haven't been around long enough yet, but I will say we were here.

It was either 2020 or I think it was 2020. me. These guys, I didn't do good. It was the spring, the fall or the summer race, because it was the COVID year. I know you guys will remember this. We had two or three cars maybe running one, two or one, two three, three. Three. Yeah. So the yellow flag comes out. And it's either a green, white, checkered, or like three to go. You remember this? We all pitted. Everyone pitted. Everyone pitted and the two RCR cars stayed out and ran one two. Yeah. And that was the maddest of us. We were basically a bunch of idiots. Yes. That's for sure. Because they were really. running one, two, three, one two, and they both came down pit road, gave the lead up to guys who stayed out, and they won the race. So is this a competition meeting? So Joe, I thought Joe sat against the wall. He told me he sat against the wall, didn't sit at the table. That's not the case. He's not the case. He's at the table. He's at the table. Okay. And every time we end our meetings with Joe, is there anything you'd like to add? So who starts the meetings? Uh, uh, uh, uh, not Joe. Yeah.

Not Joe. Yeah. Is it typically you? No, he just kind of goes in order of kind of like whoever finishes the highest start there and then you go clockwise. Okay. So Joe ends the meeting. But Joe always gets the final word.

Yeah. Yeah. I'll never forget that Texas debrief, though. He let everyone in the room have it. So is this a situation like when Joe's mad, does anybody fire back or do we just end the meeting? Yeah, it pretty much stops there. That's it. The buck ends there, yeah.

Just listen to Joe and you move on. Yeah. Who's the most aggressive? if you had to pick out of these three. Like on track? Of you four, yeah, no. Who's the most aggressive in the meetings? Him?

I would say the experience of Denny kind of leads the charge. Would you say that over the past couple of years you've gotten more vocal in the meetings? I've gotten more confident in what I'm saying. Yeah, and you know, you show up as a kid and a rookie and you don't feel like anybody values your input. So, you know, you go and you fill out your sheet and you're talking about your car

and you just don't want to waste time. But then the better you do, the better races you have, better results you get, then you feel like you're a little bit more valuable to the group, and you can speak up and share your information.