Ty Gibbs went over his post-race confrontation with Bubba Wallace after the latter lost his top-3 finish at Echopark to a penalty. Gibbs argued that his Toyota teammate took himself out of contention.
On the final lap of Sunday’s Quaker State 400, Wallace went wide and forced a three-wide battle for the lead. However, the No.23 driver dipped below the double white line while doing so, drawing a black flag penalty that dropped him from second to 29th.
Wallace blames Ty Gibbs for pushing him on the final stretch and causing the advantage that triggered the penalty. The two drivers had a verbal spat over the issue post-race.
In an interview with Frontstretch, Gibbs shared his take on the situation.
“I saw chaos in front of me and was looking for the best finish I could get for my team,” said Gibbs, “It was fun, but unfortunately, I didn’t get it.”
He had this to say about his post-race confrontation with Wallace:
“I wouldn’t tell him sorry because he cleared himself. Unfortunately, he showed a lot of disrespect. I don’t know. It seems like it didn’t really work out for him, but I was just trying to help him at the end by pushing him to the win.”
Ty Gibbs did push Bubba Wallace for the lead, but it wasn’t until the checkered flag. Wallace placed himself in contention long before Gibbs came into play.
The penalty cost Wallace valuable spots on the Chase, as he remains near the cutoff bubble at 13th. Meanwhile, his 23XI teammate, Tyler Reddick, has already clinched his spot alongside team owner Denny Hamlin.
Bubba Wallace calls out Ty Gibbs after Atlanta mishap
Bubba Wallace shared his thoughts on what went wrong with Ty Gibbs on the final lap. The Alabama native believes Gibbs could’ve backed off as a Toyota teammate.
“He had the opportunity to give a lot there, and he didn’t do that. So, when I told him that, he quickly went on the defensive and said, ‘Don’t block.’ When you hit me square in the bumper, it means you just ran right into me. The block was clean,” Wallace said via Yahoo Sports.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney ultimately took the win, while Christopher Bell finished second and Ty Gibbs landed fourth. The top-2 finishers will now face off in the penultimate round of the In-Season Challenge.
Gibbs was knocked out of the bracket-style tournament last weekend at Chicagoland. He was beaten by his JGR teammate and race winner, Chase Briscoe.
Bubba Wallace has yet to grab a race win this season. His last win remains the 2025 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On the other hand, Gibbs had his breakthrough Cup Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway this year.
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