The third party involved the Carson Hocevar vs. Ryan Blaney fight on pit road this past Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway was Ty Gibbs, who battled hard with Hocevar for the lead late in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race before both were passed by Joey Logano. Logano then went on to collect a surprise victory, while Hocevar finished third ahead of Gibbs in fifth.
As an infuriated Blaney approached Hocevar after the race for a confrontation, following the on-track contact between the two that brought an early end to Blaney's evening, Gibbs looked on from his parked race car nearby.
Blaney grabbed Hocevar aggressively, Hocevar punched him in the face, a brawl ensued, and a flying water bottle hit a nearby media member who was attempting to capture video of the scuffle.
That bottle, of course, was tossed by Gibbs.
NASCAR has been clear that there will be no penalties issued to anybody involved in the altercation, including the crew members who stepped in to restrain both drivers, given the fact that none of them directly escalated the situation.
However, Gibbs, who will also not be officially penalized, must meet with NASCAR officials due to his actions.
Ty Gibbs in hot water after bottle toss, no pun intended
NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde spoke about the Gibbs situation on Tuesday during the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast.
"I know it was kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing, and he probably thought it was just kind of a funny thing to add to the moment,” he said. “He probably had some frustrations with [Hocevar] as well. But obviously that could be dangerous if that hit someone in the wrong place. If the cap portion of that water bottle hit someone in the eye, that could be a dangerous situation. So we plan to have a conversation this weekend in Kansas with Ty Gibbs, but no penalty."
All things considered, there's a lot to unpack here.
It's good that Gibbs, who wasn't even directly involved in the conflict, isn't being penalized for doing something that was obviously not intended to mean any harm. Was it unnecessary? Sure. Was it a bit childish? Absolutely. But it clearly wasn't malicious; he chuckled about it as he did it, and if he were really that upset at Hocevar, he probably would have confronted him himself (even if not quite to the extent that Blaney did).
Forde does have a point that it could have been dangerous, despite how innocuous it might have initially appeared. But here's the thing: punching someone in the face could be deemed "dangerous" too.
On one hand, it's apples to oranges. When there's clearly going to be a confrontation, the driver starting it (in this case, Blaney) should be ready for the other driver (Hocevar) to defend himself. Blaney even admitted this week that Hocevar was not wrong for punching him.
As for the water bottle, a random flying object that adds absolutely nothing to the ordeal, thrown by a seemingly innocent onlooker, would not be reasonably expected by anybody. And for as trivial as it seems, it is something that should be discussed simply to make sure it doesn't happen again, for the very reason that Forde laid out.
On the other hand, if we're really talking about what's "dangerous", then there would have been at least some sort of penalties issued for the fight, or at the very least, on the crew members, whose actions arguably put Blaney more at risk when they effectively tackled him to the ground.
There are really no right or wrong answers here, and regardless of NASCAR's decisions, it's easy to see why opinions differ on whether or not those decisions were appropriate. Let's just hope they set a precedent, and let's hope they actually stick to that precedent moving forward.
And yes, let's hope that precedent is one that minimizes unnecessary risks whenever tempers flare on pit road. Maybe next time Gibbs can hang onto the bottle and just chuck the water.
Do keep in mind, however, that no two situations are truly alike, so whether there's a precedent or not, don't assume that the decisions NASCAR made this time will be universal moving forward.
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