The Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway just may have produced the most bizarre and wild moment of the entire season. Joey Gase was involved in a heated battle against Dawson Cram, which ended on a bitter note for Gase. The entire rear bumper of Gase’s No. 35 Camaro was detached from his car. The car was in the process of being escorted out of the track, and this was where things got out of control.
The 31-year-old driver decided to bite back at his rival and tore off the rear bumper of his car. And just when Dawson Cram tried to enter the pit road, Gase threw the entire bumper onto the windshield of Cram’s Chevy. While there have been plenty of instances where drivers let their helmets fly, a flying rear bumper is not what anyone expected.
Here’s what led to Joey Gase losing his cool at Richmond
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The ToyotaCare 250 has been a bad day for several drivers who had to bow out due to mechanical troubles. The race was pretty clean for the most part if you discard the DNFs, but coming off to the business end of the event, drivers were making haste in gaining a better track position, and this caused a major wreck on Lap 173.
Coming off Turn 1, Dawson Cram got on the inside of Gase’s car and spun him out hard into the wall. The damage to the No. 35 car was beyond repair, and the owner-driver had to crawl out of the car. Patiently waiting for Cram, or his former driver, to return to the pit under caution, Gase tore off the rear bumper of his car and slammed it into Cram’s windshield.
“I think him just not having his head screwed on right. I gave the kid his first opportunity ever in Xfinity and I know Johnny Davis is in the business of wrecking race cars, and we definitely are not. We’re a small team, and racing hard for the lucky dog, and apparently, he just didn’t know how to lift. Maybe his throttle stuck, I don’t know,” Gase said after the incident.
Joey Gase THREW HIS BUMPER at Dawson Cram! 😳
🎥 : @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/FE5p6tzuA1
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 30, 2024
It is certainly not the first time we have seen drivers in a fit of anger, lashing out at their opponents. In fact, today’s incident takes us back to when Tony Stewart started a trend of throwing helmets at his rivals on the racetrack.
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The Tony Stewart helmet saga from the Bristol night race in 2012
The Smoke is known for having his fair share of raging moments, and back in 2012, he certainly lived by his reputation. During the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Stewart and Matt Kenseth were trading blows and made contact on lap 333. Upon wrecking, both drivers lost control of their cars and ended up crashing into the wall.
Stewart’s race was done as his No. 14 ride was beyond repair. Kenseth, on the other hand, still tried his bit in trying to complete the race. However, in the aftermath of the whole incident, Stewart decided to wait for Kenseth to come around and aimed his helmet at the No. 17 Ford car. Surprisingly, Tony Stewart was not fined for his actions, but they did confiscate his helmet, which became NASCAR memorabilia in years to come.
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It will be interesting to see if the NASCAR officials take strict action against Joey Gase for his rear bumper stunt or let him lose like they did in Stewart’s case.