Intentional or just an accident?
Tempers flared yesterday during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma, not just on the track but on pit road when an altercation broke out between members of the #54 pit crew for Ty Gibbs and the #6 pit crew of Brad Keselowski.
It all started on the track, when Gibbs had a run-in with Keselowski’s RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher shortly before a pit stop. Then when Gibbs came down pit road, where he was ironically pitting in the box directly in front of Keselowski, he drove through Keselowski’s pit box and clipped the tire that was held by front tire carrier Telvin McClurkin.
Keselowski’s crew finished their pit stop and then immediately walked over to confront the #54 pit crew, with NASCAR officials stepping in to break up the altercation.
RFK Racing posted a video showing the entire incident:
Many thought that Gibbs was intentionally trying to send a message to RFK Racing after the incident on track with Buescher, especially given that he’s had incidents on pit road before.
In 2022, Gibbs was fined for hitting Xfinity Series driver Sam Mayer on pit road after a race at Martinsville, and later that same year he was fined once again while driving the #23 Cup Series car for 23XI Racing when he showed his displeasure with Ty Dillon on pit road by bumping into him, nearly sending Dillon’s car into a pit crew and NASCAR official.
But NASCAR reviewed the incident yesterday and determined that Gibbs did nothing wrong, and it’s not expected that he’ll face further discipline.
Under NASCAR rules, the tire carrier is allowed to stand over the pit wall as their car approaches the pit box. But a driver is also allowed to drive through up to 3 pit boxes while entering their own. So basically, neither driver nor pit crew were anywhere they weren’t supposed to be, they just got in each other’s way.
After the race, Gibbs denied that it was his intention to drive towards Keselowski’s pit crew:
“By NASCAR’s rules, I’m the lead car because I’m in the pit box past where the 6 is, and I’m in front of him as well… Going in I have the right of way. They’re on the wall for a reason, they jump for a reason, to kind of get out of the way. Those guys like to push it and that’s kind of the consequence you pay… Nothing malicious, it’s my right of way.”
But not everybody was convinced, given his history. And based on video from previous stops, it appears that Gibbs entered his pit box much closer to Keselowski’s crew during that stop than he did during his previous trips:
It seems that NASCAR has already closed the book on the matter though, other than determining whether to issue any penalties to the pit crews for their altercation. I have a feeling that RFK Racing won’t be satisfied with that decision though…
