NASCAR fines Ty Gibbs $15K for post-race contact with Sam Mayer at Martinsville, RCR penalized

 

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    NASCAR officials have fined Ty Gibbs a total of $15,000 due to his unnecessary damaging contact with another competitor's racecar, which occurred on pit road after the NASCAR Xfinity race at Martinsville. 

Ty Gibbs had a solid day during the 'Call 811 Before You Dig' 250 at Martinsville Speedway, but in the final overtime restart attempt, Gibbs, Sam Mayer, and Landon Cassill all bumped doors with each other, causing Gibbs to fall to eighth place and out of contention for the win. Instead, the victory was taken by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Brandon Jones. During the cool-down lap immediately after the race, Ty Gibbs delivered bumper contact to Sam Mayer's No. 1 JR Motorsports race car. The two drivers emerged from their cars and proceeded to engage in heated conversation, until shoves and punches were given, and NASCAR officials had to separate Gibbs and Mayer. 

The JGR No. 54 Toyota's bumping incident occurred while NASCAR officials, crews and personnel were waiting for the other race cars to line up along Martinsville's tight pit lane after the race, but the No. 54 and the No. 1 racecars partially blocked the pit lane entrance, preventing this from happening. This is a violation of the Section 4.3.A&E (NASCAR Member Contact) and Section 8.8.8 (Crew Member/Servicing) in the NASCAR Rule Book. 

After the Friday night incident, both Gibbs and Mayer were summoned to the NASCAR Xfinity Series official's hauler to talk out the situation. The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes, and then the two drivers left the hauler and went their separate ways. 

In addition to Ty Gibbs' $15K fine, the JGR No. 54 team was also penalized for one loose lug nut on the racecar after the race at Martinsville on Friday night. The No. 54 crew chief, Chris Gayle, was fined a total of $5,000. 

NASCAR officials also gave three members of the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 team four-week suspensions, due to a ballast violation during practice on Thursday. This was a violation of Section 10.5.2.5.F of the NASCAR Rule Book, which relates to the 'loss or separation of added ballast from the vehicle'. Due to this violation, the following three No. 2 crew members are suspended for the next four races: crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz, car chief Kris McCabe, and engineer Sam Bowers. 

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