Rescinding Harsh Ryan Blaney Verdict, NASCAR Cracks the Whip on Joe Gibbs’ Disgruntled Grandson

Ryan Blaney thought that his title charge in the 2023 Cup Series season had come to an end when NASCAR disqualified him in Las Vegas. The issue was an illegal front shock which did meet NASCAR’s requirements. However, the stock car racing body overturned the decision soon after further investigation. They have now decided to go after a non-playoff driver and Joe Gibbs will not be happy about it.

Joe Gibbs Racing had a fairly decent day at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Christopher Bell might not have won but he gave a proper fight to Kyle Larson and finished P2. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin also finished in the top 10, capping off a decent day for the team’s playoff drivers. But there was controversy surrounding JGR’s non-playoff driver who has found himself in a soup with NASCAR.

NASCAR verdict goes against Joe Gibbs as driver jinxes Las Vegas weekend

Ahead of the Las Vegas race, the Hendrick Motorsports cars faced tyre issues. Kyle Larson and William Byron had difficulties running during practice which forced the HMS mehanics into action. Chase Elliott suffered a worse fate as his right rear tyre blew out and he could not compete in qualifying.

In light of these events, regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. was asked if he was concerned about how the tyres would work out at JGR. The veteran expressed his confidence in how they would run in the JGR cars. “No, no, our tyres are great. Knock on wood,” he had said.

The 2017 Cup Series champion had to eat his words towards the end of the race in Vegas. Thankfully for him, it wasn’t the #19 that suffered during the race. Rather, it was his teammate and Joe Gibbs’ grandson, Ty Gibbs. Ty is the only JGR driver who failed to make it to the playoffs and it seems like his troubles were compounded after the Vegas weekend.

Ty Gibbs lost his wheel on lap 217. He was battling for P12 in a three-car wide fight and things did not work out for him like he would have hoped. As a result of the defective wheel, the #54 team was slapped with a two-lap penalty which absolutely ruined his race. The 21-year-old finished the race in P34.

But that was not the only punishment doled out by NASCAR. A recent update by eminent NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass states that two members of the #54 team have been suspended for the next couple of races. These are jackman Braxton Brannon and tire changer Jackson Gibbs. Jackson is Ty Gibbs’ cousin.

Seems like Martin Truex Jr jinxed the team with his words and his boss’ grandson had to bear the brunt of it. The driver of the #19 finished P9 in Vegas but he finds himself below the cutline with a couple of races to go.

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An all too familiar situation for the #19 yet again

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After the race. Martin Truex Jr expressed his dissatisfaction with his crew chief. The driver of the #19 believes that his crew chief’s decision to not pit him before stage 2 began cost him a higher finish.

“He told me that (decision) pretty late around the corner in (Turns) 3 and 4, and my gut reaction was don’t do it. Don’t stay out,” Truex said. “And I just, I like to listen to my crew chief and do whatever they say no matter what because they know more of what’s going on than you do. And usually, the driver’s 90% of the time wrong if they make their own decision or go against the crew chief. So I went with it, but I didn’t feel good about it.”

The regular season champion finds himself in a precarious situation yet again. Throughout the playoffs, Martin Truex Jr has been flirting with elimination but things are extremely tight in the penultimate round. Will he be able to make it to Phoenix?

WATCH THIS STORY: The unfortunate gamble: Martin Truex Jr’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff upset