During Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Road America, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Sammy Smith (No. 18) and John Hunter Nemechek (No. 20) tangled yet again. The then NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader would fall out of the race due to an unrelated incident in which he rocketed off course into the grass, which tore the splitter off his JGR Toyota. But it was his post-accident interview with NASCAR on NBC where JHN threw the ultimate shade.
Reportedly what had Nemechek so livid at Smith was the way his teammate was racing him on restarts. The field restarted late and the two reportedly got into one another, with JHN seemingly getting roughed up.
This, of course, is not the first time the two JGR teammates have tangled. Many of you may remember that the two got together a number of weeks ago at Portland. This particular incident saw Sammy Smith in the 18 enter a corner too hot and get into his teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, which spun his No. 20 Supra around. Once he was able to get going again, JHN would door slam his teammate to voice his displeasure.
John Hunter Nemechek would later fall out of the race when his No. 20 car got out of shape and he cut through a grassy portion of the track which ripped apart his splitter. After getting out of the car and being released from the in-field care center, Nemechek would again voice his displeasure for how his teammates have been racing him this season.
Issues between teammates seems to be a common issue with Joe Gibbs Racing. Who can forget when Brandon Jones got dumped by his then-teammate, Ty Gibbs, last season at Martinsville, ruining his chances to make the Xfinity Series Championship 4? Hopefully Coach Gibbs can settle this dispute during this week’s competition meeting before it escalates any further.
What do you think, NASCAR fans? Is Sammy Smith’s sabotage of his teammates due to recklessness or does it stem from honest mistakes and inexperience and/or a deficiency of talent? Let us know on all of our socials and keep it right here for all your breaking NASCAR news, stories, and discussions.
