In just 2 pit road incidents over the last 5 months, Ty Gibbs has been fined a combined $90k. That’s a direct result of his actions for getting overheated during competition. Each time, Gibbs has shown remorse afterwards.
The thing is, folks are starting to get mad at the actions and result after. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…
Gibbs is known to cause controversy and apologize later. Now, people are thinking that they’re just empty promises. Does he truly regret what he’s done and will he truly change?
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s announcement, Erik Jones tweeted about Gibbs hitting him under yellow. Video evidence since confirmed what Jones was referring to.
Which leads us to where we are today. It’s no secret, Gibbs’ attitude is a problem. However, I also caution that he shouldn’t change too much. The dangerous acts on pit road has to be a change but you don’t want to slow him down too much.
Same thing I said about Noah Gragson too when his character was being questioned in July from an incident with Sage Karam at Road America. There’s a fine line between being dangerous and just being you.
Gibbs and Gragson can’t cross that line to where their actions can be harmful to others but they still do need to keep that fire. That’s what makes them polarizing and good at what they do. They always say, you’d rather slow someone down than speed them up because if you have to light a fire under them then that’s not likely going to turn out well in the long run.
Gibbs, like Gragson, has talent and with fans either loving them or hating them, they’re good for the sport. It’s what grows a fan base because people know who they are.
Gibbs was touted as that spoon fed grandchild of Joe Gibbs but what those fail to realize is, he truly does have talent. Gibbs has 9 wins in just 45 Xfinity Series starts. He’s also won 18 of his 47 ARCA starts too.
That’s a 20% win rate in the Xfinity Series and 38% in ARCA.
Compare that to other big drivers in the Cup Series right now that was fast tracked to NASCAR’s premiere series and you’ll see that Gibbs’ stats trump all of theirs.
Joey Logano had just 19 NXS starts and 1 Truck start before moving up to replace Tony Stewart in the 20 car with JGR for the 2009 season. Kyle Larson had 33 Xfinity Series starts and only 6 Truck races under his belt before being with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2014 Cup season. William Byron also had just 1 full year in NXS and 1 full year in Trucks before moving up with Hendrick Motorsports.
Gibbs has 45 starts and counting in the Xfinity Series which is more than any of those three made before they went full time Cup racing. Gibbs has more wins (9) than those 3 had combined (5). He has 20 top 5’s. Byron had 12, Larson 9 and Logano 5. His 952 laps led is more than the trio combined to lead too with Logano leading 278 laps, Byron 262 and Larson 102.
Translation?
He’s ready and he’s good.
Slow him down and his advantage goes down too. It’s just that he needs to be more calculated and harness those emotions better.
Also, he’s only 19 too. Most 19 year olds behind the wheel would do similar acts. I fully expect him to get more mature as he grows older and gets more years under his belt. It’s just he now has seen the fine line of where not to go over. $95k will do that. Which is why these promises, and this remorse needs to see action but not too much…
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