NASCAR to Meet With Ty Gibbs After Water Bottle Incident at Bristol

Gibbs will not be penalized for the incident, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde confirmed Tuesday. But officials still want to address the decision to throw an object into a crowded area while the fight was unfolding.

NASCAR Plans Conversation With Ty Gibbs at Kansas

Forde addressed the incident during NASCAR’s latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, explaining that officials understood how quickly the situation unfolded while also acknowledging how badly it could have ended.

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“I know it was kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing, and he probably thought it was just kind of a funny thing to add to the moment,” Forde said. “He probably had some frustrations with (Hocevar) as well. But obviously that could be dangerous if that hit someone in the wrong place.

“If the cap portion of that water bottle hit someone in the eye, that could be a dangerous situation. So we plan to have a conversation this weekend in Kansas with Ty Gibbs, but no penalty.”

That distinction is important.

NASCAR isn’t treating Gibbs’ actions as something worthy of a fine or other formal punishment. At the same time, officials aren’t dismissing the water bottle toss as harmless fun simply because nobody was seriously injured.

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The clip became one of the more unusual pieces of an already chaotic scene at Bristol. As Blaney and Hocevar’s confrontation escalated and people rushed toward the two drivers, Gibbs could be seen throwing the bottle toward the group.

The bottle ultimately struck a media member, turning what might have looked like a throwaway moment in the background of the fight into another part of NASCAR’s review.

Now Gibbs will hear directly from officials about it at Kansas.

NASCAR Closes Review of Blaney-Hocevar Fight

The Gibbs conversation appears to be the final piece of NASCAR’s review of what happened Saturday night.

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NASCAR announced Monday that neither Blaney nor Hocevar would be penalized after the two exchanged punches on pit road following the race. Officials were still reviewing the involvement of crew members at that point, but Forde said Tuesday that review also ended without punishment.

“We looked at it as they were trying to break it up vs. trying to get involved,” Forde said. “A lot of these crew members are D1 athletes. They’re just coming off a football field as recently as last year, and we do not want them to be involved in any crew member to driver contact in any way.

“If they’re trying to break it up in a good way, we’ll take that into account. But if they’re laying their hands in a violent manner, that’s when we’re going to step in.”

NASCAR also does not plan to hold additional meetings with Blaney or Hocevar at Kansas.

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Forde said Blaney’s subsequent appearance on Denny Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental podcast helped reassure officials that there was no lingering situation that needed to be defused.

That leaves Gibbs as the one driver NASCAR still plans to speak with when the Cup Series arrives in Kansas.

There won’t be a penalty waiting for him. There will, however, be a conversation about why throwing a water bottle into the middle of a crowded pit-road confrontation is something NASCAR doesn’t want to see again.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

The post NASCAR to Meet With Ty Gibbs After Water Bottle Incident at Bristol appeared first on HEAVY.