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Ty Gibbs has made controversial moves and wrecked other cars for the win late in races like Austin Dillon did during the August 11 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond. So what did the Joe Gibbs Racing driver have to say when asked about the Richard Childress Racing driver’s move and if he’d do something similar?
“I think I’ve learned from some of my mistakes in the past,” Gibbs told Fox’s Bob Pockrass. “So I would say no.”
Interestingly, the 21-year-old didn’t stop there. He continued and brought up a subject from the race that hasn’t been discussed much because everyone has focused on what Dillon did to Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap and NASCAR’s resulting penalty, instead of the surprising pace displayed by the No. 3 car.
“But definitely question where they had got all that speed from as well, right,” he pointed out. “I mean they haven’t been running good at all and now all of a sudden they are super fast. So, definitely curious on that.”
Ty Gibbs Questioning Dillon’s Speed Is a Legitimate One
The curiosity of Gibbs seems relevant, especially when you consider the abysmal 2024 campaign of Dillon through the first 22 races. Since the season-opening race at Daytona, the RCR car hasn’t been anywhere near Victory Lane. In fact, it’s barely had a sniff of the top 10.
The 34-year-old driver has managed to wheel his car to just a pair of top-10 finishes — an eighth place at Texas and a sixth at Gateway. Conversely, he’s recorded a dozen finishes of 25th or worse, including three DNFs, which surprisingly is a marked improvement over 2023 when the No. 3 pilot had seven at this same point in the season.
Richmond, however, has been a decent track for Dillon in the past. In 21 starts, he’s scored seven top-10 finishes, which is the second-most of his career at one specific track, only behind the nine he’s earned at Daytona.
Most recently, since the debut of the Gen 7 car in 2022, the No. 3 has three top 10s, including the win, one finish in the teens, and two in the 20s.
Gibbs and His Past Controversial Moves
Some may view Gibbs sharing his curiosity about the speed of Dillon’s car as a way to deflect from his own controversial history. And there’s no doubt, he’s got one.
The most notable moment for the JGR driver occurred at the October 2022 Martinsville Xfinity Series race during the third attempt at overtime when Gibbs rammed his teammate Brandon Jones, the contact sending Jones, who had taken the lead on the previous lap, into the outside wall.
Making the situation even worse, Gibbs had already clinched one of the two remaining spots in the Championship 4 at Phoenix while the aggressive move ended his teammate’s opportunity to race for the series title.
The driver was unapologetic after the race as the grandstands erupted in a chorus of boos.
“It was definitely not a clean move, for sure,” Gibbs admitted. “I definitely didn’t want to wreck him, but I definitely wanted to move him out of the groove so I could go win. I felt like we lost the spring race getting moved by him.”
Since his move up to the Cup Series in 2023, Gibbs has shown maturity and steered clear of making similar on-track moves. Part of the reason is he hasn’t been up front in contention for wins at the end of races. But most experts believe that’s only a matter of time before he earns his first victory.
And it’s only then we’ll see if he’s true to his word and stays clean in doing it.
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