NASCAR: Ty Gibbs penalized, but not why you might think

Ty Gibbs was penalized for his shenanigans at the end of Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway, but not why you might think.

The story of the NASCAR race weekend at Martinsville Speedway was the brawl between Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs and JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer following the Xfinity Series race.

Gibbs led the field to the green flag for the final restart with two laps remaining, but teammate Brandon Jones passed him for the lead on the final lap. While Jones went on to win, chaos ensued behind the #19 Toyota.

Gibbs was on the outside of a three-wide battle with Mayer and Kaulig Racing’s Landon Cassill in turn four of the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virgina.

Cassill made the move on the inside to take a career-high second place.

But Gibbs and Mayer were involved in a separate battle: one for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.

Mayer made contact with Gibbs to move him out of the way, though unfortunately for him, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger passed both to take the prize with a third place finish. Mayer finished in fifth and Gibbs finished in eighth.

Gibbs, who has been known for driving others the exact same way, showed his frustration, as he proceeded to slam into the back of Mayer’s #1 Chevrolet on the cooldown lap, damaging his own #54 Toyota in the process.

Even when the two cars were back in the pits, Gibbs ran into the #1 Chevrolet again. Both drivers emerged from their cars, and Gibbs confronted Mayer, pushing a NASCAR official out of the way to get to him.

As Mayer removed his helmet, Gibbs shoved him and then began to walk away. Mayer went to confront him again to continue the discussion, before Gibbs, still with his helmet on, began taking swings at his head. The punches left Mayer with a bloody cut above his left eye.

Unfortunately, it also left a NASCAR official needing medical attention.

Both drivers were called to the Xfinity Series officials’ hauler afterward, where they spent roughly 10 minutes. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Gibbs had indeed been penalized in the form of a $15,000 fine for the ordeal.

But the official reason for the penalty wasn’t why you might think.

It wasn’t for the cooldown lap contact, nor was it for the injury to the NASCAR official. It also wasn’t even for the swings he took at Mayer’s head.

Gibbs was issued the penalty for hitting Mayer’s car in the pits. The violation officially fell under the heading of Section 4.3.A&E (NASCAR Member Conduct) and Section 8.8.8 (Crew member/Servicing) in the NASCAR Rule Book.

Considering the fact that the crews, officials and other personnel were already there waiting for the cars after the race when the contact occurred, it goes without saying that this was probably the most reckless of all of Gibbs’s actions and definitely warranted the penalty. Out of everything Gibbs did, it was also probably the least common.

With a series-high three wins in eight races to start his first full season in the Xfinity Series, Gibbs sits in second place in the point standings. Mayer, who is also in his first full season in the series, sits in sixth. Both drivers have three top five finishes.