The Bristol race was supposed to be a stronghold for Joe Gibbs Racing. In the spring race, all JGR drivers finished in the top 10. As other teams struggled with tire wear, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. took first and second, while Ty Gibbs (9th) and Christopher Bell (10th) rounded out the top 10. A repeat performance was exactly what the team needed for all four drivers to advance to the Round of 12. However, things did not go as expected.

The track just didn’t have as much tire wear, and passing cars became a challenge. Kyle Larson, who led 462 laps out of 500 and took the victory, is proof enough of how difficult it was to catch cars. The same issue ended the playoff runs for both JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs. A mid-race intense moment left Joe Gibbs’ grandson furious at Legacy Motorsports’ No. 42 for trying to sabotage his chances.

Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek’s intense battle

Out of the two JGR drivers eliminated, you have to feel for MTJ. After his retirement announcement, many had hoped he would finish strong in his last playoffs. However, a silly speeding penalty led to its abrupt end. The 2017 Cup Series champion ran both stages in the top five. In the final stage, the No. 19 car was hit with a speeding penalty in the pit lane. This forced him to restart 24th, and with the difficult passing at Bristol, he was unable to gain a single position, ultimately ending his last playoffs in 24th place.

Similarly, after starting the race in the 13th position, Ty Gibbs, for a large part of the race, had a good run. He managed to climb his way into the top 10 and finished 8th in stage 1. Gibbs entering the playoff was +6 points above the cutoff line and a P8 would have been enough for him to progress to the next round. However, the #54 bettered it and reached the 6th position. But it all came crashing down during the stage break. Gibbs, too, ended up with a speeding penalty in the pit lane, pushing him behind the back.

Gibbs started stage 2 in the 24th position and could only climb up to 23rd as Kyle Larson was coming in hot to lap him. Getting lapped would have been detrimental for the JGR driver. When Ty Gibbs was desperately trying to stay on the lead lap, John Hunter Nemechek pushed him outside and the #54 narrowly escaped getting sandwiched between Nemcheck and Josh Bilicki. After a few laps, Nemcheck again pushed Gibbs, sandwiching him with Daniel Hemric on his outside. This left Gibbs frustrated as he cursed the #42 on radio. He said, “Fuc**ing idiot, always been a tool bag.”‘

The #54 eventually caught pace and climbed back to 8th in the final stage of the race. However, his tire gave out, and he quickly dropped positions and ended his run in the 15th position. Post the race, the 21-year-old was disappointed after missing out on advancing in his debut playoffs. Post the race he said, “That was just unfortunate there. I felt like we were really good in practice and qualifying. Just a little too loose tonight and fired off too tight. Unfortunate. The speeding penalty is on me. You run the lights so close it’s my fault. Unfortunate.”

Overall, it was a frustrating day for the youngster. And this wasn’t the first time Gibbs had heated moments with Jimmie Johnson’s legacy Motorsports star. Both drivers have a history of banter on the track.

John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs’s heated moments

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First, in the Xfinity race at Richmond, Nemechek was en route to winning the race, when Ty Gibbs running in second bumped him from behind, making him loose. On the final lap, Gibbs took the lead, pushing Nemechek to the outside, and won the race. Nemechek was of course furious after the race.

He said, “I was fine with getting run into, and getting my back bumper beat off, getting hit in the left rear or whatever. Packing air, that’s hard racing and short track racing, but when you flat out miss a corner and just drive through someone, I wouldn’t call that racing.”Gibbs knew a line was crossed. “I deserve one back,” he said in the victory lane and Nemechek remembered to take revenge.

In the 2023 Michigan race, Nemechek bumped Gibbs into an early wreck in the race. Nemechek won that race and Gibbs ended up in the 4th position. Nemechek took the blame as Gibbs was mad post the race. “It’s my mistake. I hate that we both spun early, but at least we were able to rebound. I know he’s not too happy with me, and he has every right not to be.”

Hopefully, we get so see many such entertaining battles between the two. Even though Gibbs is out of the playoffs, he can use the last 7 races to get his first Cup Series win. Do you think Gibbs has a bright future ahead of him? Let us know in the comments down below.