It was a third straight rough outing for Ty Gibbs, who once again finished outside the top-20, and his frustration spilled over the radio, drawing a sharp response from new team strategist Chris Gabehart after Gibbs questioned the team’s approach.
Advertisement
Gabehart, Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief, joined Gibbs’ camp in June as a strategist and consultant, tasked with keeping a closer watch on a team that has been close to victory but unable to seal the deal.
At Watkins Glen, despite starting from a decent P14, Gibbs’ day began unraveling late in Stage 2 after contact with John Hunter Nemechek sent the latter spinning. Struggling with rear grip in the final 34 laps and unhappy with both the handling of his No. 54 Toyota Camry and the strategy, Gibbs keyed the radio.
“We’re f***ed right now. So we gotta do something different,” he said. Gabehart bristled at the tone, firing back from the pit box: “Well, I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding of that from inside the car. So, you know, you can call the strategy if you want, or we can keep rolling. But I (would) do the best I could to go as fast as I can.” Gibbs offered only a terse “10-4” in return.
Gibbs’ troubles were compounded after working to re-pass Ryan Preece, only for a Christopher Bell move on Alex Bowman to force him to check up. He then spent crucial laps trying to get around Bowman, which Gabehart said contributed to the loss of rear grip.
Addressing the exchange afterward, Gabehart said, “Of course, it’s heated. It’s a hot day, and the driver’s working his butt off in there and doesn’t know the details of who’s on what for strategy.”
He explained that an early Stage 2 caution had split the field on varying strategies, leaving drivers unsure how to measure themselves against others and adding to the confusion on what the next move should be.
Gabehart added, “And on the pit box, you’re working to figure all that out as those cautions fall. There’s only so much prep work that you can do prior to when it happens. Now, what do we do? And that’s the moment that was going on there.”
Again, their final stop came on Lap 81 after Gibbs pitched his own plan, pitting then and staying out under the next caution to gain track position. Gabehart went along, bringing the No. 54 in for four tires. However, no yellow flag came after that.
Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, wound up P33 at The Glen and is still chasing his first Cup win since capturing the 2022 Xfinity Series championship. All his other teammates, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell, have each secured playoff spots with victories this season.
After a third-place finish at Michigan, Gibbs posted three consecutive top-15s, P11 in Mexico City, P14 at Pocono, and P14 in Atlanta, followed by a trio of top-10 runs: P2 in Chicago, P7 at Sonoma, and P5 at Dover.
But the recent stretch has been unkind, with back-to-back 21st-place finishes at Indianapolis and Iowa before Sunday’s 33rd-place finish, which was his worst result since Circuit of the Americas in March.
