The head of Joe Gibbs Racing has weighed in about the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway in which Ty Gibbs wrecked Brandon Jones. He has said that there will be consequences.
“I think, first of all, none of us want what happened last night,” Gibbs told SiriusXM’s Claire B. Lang. “And so when things like that happen, there’s going to be consequences. Ty knows that; we all do. And he’s going to have to work his way through all that.”
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The incident occurred on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway. Jones and Ty, who are teammates at JGR, had traded the lead throughout multiple restarts by using the bump and run. However, Ty made the last move when he hit Jones hard enough to send the No. 19 into the wall. He went on to win while Jones finished 23rd.
Gibbs continued and said that every week is “a learning experience” for the driver of the No. 54 Toyota GR Supra. He said that no one in the building wants a situation like what unfolded at the historic track and that he knows his grandson “will have to go through some things.” Though he and Coy Gibbs will join him on this journey.
Coy Gibbs Also Addressed the Situation at Martinsville Speedway
GettyTy Gibbs celebrates a win at Martinsville Speedway.
With Christopher Bell winning the Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, there were some media obligations that Joe Gibbs Racing executives had to fulfill. Lang was able to talk to Gibbs in Victory Lane while Ty’s father faced some questions in the media center.
Coy Gibbs, vice chairman and COO of JGR, was the team representative during Bell’s post-race press conference. He faced an initial question about Ty from NBC Sports reporter Dustin Long, and he provided a partial answer before talking about Bell’s win.
“Yeah, yesterday is disappointing,” Coy said. “That’s not what we wanted for our race team. We haven’t met as a group yet because we’ve been at the racetrack and all over the place. We’re going to meet and deal with that internally and handle that.”
The questions did not end after the first answer. Coy faced multiple follow-up questions about Ty’s actions at Martinsville Speedway.
“Yeah, I mean, I think when you’re young, you make mistakes,” Coy added. “Hopefully, you learn from them. I think that’s the message that we’ll deliver to him.
“Obviously, with teammates, that’s a whole different ballgame. There’s a couple things we need to go over. Like I said, we haven’t met as a group yet. Our leadership group will meet and we’ll deal with the situation.”
Questions Remain About Ty’s Future
There is only one race remaining in the 2022 Xfinity Series season. Ty will head to Phoenix Raceway to battle three JR Motorsports drivers for the championship trophy. What happens after that will certainly create some conversations.
There are some questions remaining about Ty’s future. The worst-kept secret is that he will most likely be the driver that replaces Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota Camry TRD for the 2023 season.
JGR has not confirmed this move after originally stating that the plan was to keep Ty in Xfinity for a second full-time season; the team will wait until after the season finale to provide any updates about specific drivers and their contracts. Though Coy did not shy away from this assumption when facing a follow-up about Ty’s maturity and his Cup readiness.
“I think that’s part of the process and why you work your way up, so you can make those mistakes typically at a lower level,” Coy said. “So, you know, look, he’s my kid. I appreciate his aggression. But sometimes you got to pull back a little bit. This is a place where we need to pull back some.
“Just talked to him and explained to him that doing that affects not just him, it affects our whole company, all our sponsors, all the people we deal with, Toyota, obviously affected Brandon. Those are things maybe you’re not thinking of in that split second, but hopefully, we can get with him and educate him on those things.”
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Joe Gibbs Responds After Ty Gibbs, Brandon Jones Wreck