Amidst the drama of the contested weekend at Richmond Raceway, Ty Gibbs questions the sudden rise of the Richard Childress Racing team. He raised this concern during an interaction with senior NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass.
Since the start of the 2024 Cup Series season, Austin Dillon and the #3 RCR team have struggled to find a rhythm. The pair managed to finish in the Top 10 three times and in the Top 5 once, however, the team managed to pull off an upset in the Cook Out 400 race on August 11th. With a good driving strategy throughout the race, Dillon looked poised to take his first win. However, a crash on lap 399 prompted a yellow flag, sending the race into the first and only extra period. On the restart, Dillon lost the lead to Joey Logano. In a desperate move, the RCR driver collided with Logano and a fast-approaching Denny Hamlin in the final lap to take the win and a playoff spot. However, after a full investigation, NASCAR removed Dillon from the top 16 for his unsportsmanlike conduct on the final lap. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs questioned the surprise win for the No. 3 in pre-race speed at Michigan International Speedway. The clip showing the interaction between the 22-year-old NASCAR driver and journalist Bob Pockrass was released on X by the latter. Here is a preview of the message, titled:
Ty Gibbs, another driver on the bubble, on Austin Dillon’s penalty and the move Dillon made (Gibbs, when he was competing in the Xfinity Series, had his share of controversy over questionable moves).
Pockrass asked the young driver if he was going to make a move like Austin Dillon. “I think I’ve learned from some of my past mistakes. And so I would say no,” replied Ty Gibbs (starting at 0:27). “But it’s also a question of where all that speed is coming from, right? I mean, they don’t do well at all. And suddenly, they are super fast. So I’m really curious about that,” he added, voicing his concerns about the sudden improvement of the RCR’s No. 3. A quick look at Ty Gibbs’ 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season so far and his chances to make the Playoffs
Former Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs has had a mixed start to his run in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver managed to secure two Top 10s (eighth at Duel 1 at Daytona and tenth at Atlanta Motor Speedway) and one Top 5 (fifth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway) in the first five races of the 2024 season, despite the it increases and crashes of the year so far, Gibbs has managed to add seven Top 10s and four Top 5s to his tally, including two pole positions. His season highlights include races at North Wilkesboro Speedway (first), Darlington Raceway (second with 52 points), Circuit of the Americas (third with 37 points) and the Chicago Street Race (third with 42 points). Ty Gibbs is currently 11th in the driver standings with a total of 602 points (177 points behind leader Kyle Larson). As for his playoff chances this year, Gibbs must beat Bubba Wallace in Michigan and Darlington or win one of the three remaining races to secure a spot. He is currently in 14th place in the standings, only 18 points from the threshold.
