Ty Gibbs is back in the spotlight, not for his on-track exploits but for his actions off it. During a scuffle involving Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney at Bristol Motor Speedway, Gibbs was seen throwing a water bottle into the fray. The bottle hit a reporter's phone as they recorded the incident.
NASCAR has now weighed in. Mike Forde, NASCAR's VP of Racing Communications, said the sanctioning body will have a conversation with Gibbs about the incident. "Ty, as you saw, threw a water bottle into the fracas and hit a media member," Forde said on the Hauler Talk podcast. "Didn't love that, but no penalty there either. We do plan to have a conversation with Ty."
While no official penalty will be handed down, Forde stressed that Gibbs's action could have been dangerous. "If the cap portion of that water bottle hit someone in the eye, that could be a dangerous situation," he said. Gibbs may have acted in the heat of the moment or thought it was funny, but NASCAR wants to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Meanwhile, NASCAR also decided not to penalize Hocevar and Blaney for the scuffle. After an investigation, NASCAR viewed the actions of team members as trying to break up the fight rather than get involved. "We looked at a lot of it as trying to break up versus trying to get involved," Forde explained. "No penalties there either."
Blaney later shared his perspective on Denny Hamlin's Actions Detrimental podcast. He felt Hocevar's retaliation to his forceful approach was justified. NASCAR saw no need to meet with Blaney or Hocevar. "Hearing what Ryan Blaney had to say on Actions Detrimental, really it comes down to would it do any good," Forde said. "I think they know what we expect moving forward. We're not going to have a scheduled meeting with either Carson or Ryan this weekend."
Forde also credited Denny Hamlin for being a peacemaker. "Credit to Denny Hamlin for being the peace broker. Who would have thought?" he said. According to Forde, Blaney handled it really well and spoke very eloquently. "I think he gets it, we feel. Talking with him further about what happened I don't think is totally necessary."
As for the on-track incident, NASCAR viewed it as a "racing situation" and did not warrant a penalty. With that, the focus now shifts to Gibbs and the conversation NASCAR will have in Kansas this weekend. While there's no penalty, the incident serves as a reminder that actions off the track can have consequences.
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