Dale Earnhardt Jr Reminds Joe Gibbs of the Repercussions of Depriving the Rookie of the Year

The Playoffs of this year’s Cup Series started with a thrilling race at Darlington. With near misses, car crashes, and team issues, the Southern 500 did not disappoint the viewers who expected a chaotic playoff opener. Joe Gibbs, team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, was at the center of this mayhem, with multiple pit road failures affecting all of his competing drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, part-time racer and commentator of NBC, shed light on the reasons behind such errors at the playoff opener each year. Despite that, he was compelled to question Joe Gibbs’ team strategies involving playoff and non-playoff contenders.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. critical of Joe Gibbs’ decision for grandson Ty Gibbs

Joe Gibbs had a playoff driver faced with repeated pit stop issues. #20 Christopher Bell needed a fool-proof crew for the much-anticipated race at Darlington. Gibbs also had a driver who could not qualify in the playoff standings. Rookie-of-the-year Ty Gibbs had a commendable regular season but fell shy of hitting the cut-off mark. In a rather contentious move, Joe Gibbs dispossessed his grandson Ty of his award-winning pit crew. Gibbs instead, adorned Pole winner Bell with this stellar crew to ensure his success.

As it turned out, even Ty Gibbs’ crew wasn’t without fault and their delay cost Bell his hard-earned lead. Dale Jr in his podcast ‘Dale Jr. Download’, commented on Gibbs’ strategy that backfired, induced through the stress of nailing Darlington.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, said, “You can see the pressure is on the teams during the stops to have flawless stiff pitstops right? We were in our broadcast meeting and everybody’s like, oh man you know the best pit crew on pit road, one of the best pit crews on pit road, the pit crew champions this year, Ty Gibbs crew, they are going over to Christopher Bell. This is exactly what Christopher Bell needs. He could totally go on another terror in the playoffs like he did last year. He’s got one of the best pit crews on pit road now.”

Dale Jr. recalled how former racer and fellow commentator Jeff Burton wasn’t sure about the impact of the crew switch. He felt even the best team crew could falter under intense pressure. And that is precisely what happened.

“Jeff Burton held his hand up, he goes, hey this could go the completely opposite way. They could start screwing up now that they’re under this microscope right? First stop, drop the jack, goes from leading the race to losing positions. And then it kind of spiraled from there.”

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Along with the teams, Dale Jr. felt even veteran racers lose their nerve in the face of the Cup championship. According to Junior, it’s the scale of the playoff round that leads to amateur mistakes and avoidable accidents.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Blames Playoff Pressure for Darlington Disasters

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The pit delay wasn’t the end of Christopher Bell’s troubles for the day. Toward the end of Stage 1, Bell’s Toyota hit a wall near the second turn of the racetrack. The driver who led in the beginning, finished 23rd at the conclusion of the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr elaborated on the mindset of the playoff racers in the first round.

Junior explained that immense pressure builds up prior to the race at Darlington, leading to seasoned drivers succumbing under duress. For some, the playoff position was finalized months ago with early wins. They spent the regular season accumulating stage points and this crucial race was suddenly upon them.

“It always happens at Darlington. I mean that first race, everybody’s kind of on edge, they’re nervous. Now the new pressure of being in the playoffs is on top of you. You haven’t felt that all year. You’re going regular season, regular season. And a lot of guys are, of course, that was two non-playoff drivers, but a lot of drivers are in, locked in for weeks. And they’re on easy street, they’re cruising. They’re like, man I’m in the playoffs, the playoffs are coming, they’ll be here soon man. But we’re just kind of getting, you know, some stage points when we can. Otherwise, I got no care in the world. And then all of a sudden, boom, playoffs are here. And there’s this new pressure. It’s like okay now, I got to get through this first round. And that’s when you see.”

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Hopefully, Bell and the entire team of Joe Gibbs Racing will learn from their mistakes on the track too thought to tame. Do you think Joe Gibbs’ crew swap will prove to be fruitful at the Kansas Motor Speedway?