Ty Gibbs was able to make his way into the NASCAR All-Star Race with a second-place finish in the All-Star Open Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but it came at a cost as he roughed up Michael McDowell on the track.
With 44 laps remaining in the 100-lap Open event, Gibbs made contact with McDowell, who was in a three-wide battle with Gibbs and Justin Haley.
Here is a video of the incident that drew the ire of McDowell:
Justin Haley and Michael McDowell slam the wall after some 3-wide racing with Ty Gibbs. Justin Haley is done for the day. https://t.co/JrZUxOHbXs pic.twitter.com/HxueWhAxBN
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 21, 2023
The contact from Gibbs sent McDowell and Haley into the outside wall. McDowell, who had shown strength in the opening portion of the race was now an afterthought.
That is until he took matters into his own hands and decided to retaliate as Gibbs caught him a couple of times in the closing laps of Sunday’s Open Race.
With 23 laps remaining, Gibbs caught McDowell while holding a lead over Josh Berry. McDowell was not going to let Gibbs get away with the lead. McDowell crowded Gibbs into the inside of the track, the two made a lot of contact, and Berry was able to get around Gibbs for the lead, and the win of the Open race.
? North Wilkesboro Speedway, everyone ? pic.twitter.com/iEeZULytoj
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 21, 2023
As Gibbs attempted to mount a challenge on Berry, the leaders caught McDowell again, and McDowell took one last swipe at Gibbs in an effort to allow Aric Almirola to get around Gibbs for the second All-Star transfer spot.
That attempt failed, but McDowell made his point. He won’t be pushed around.
“I’ve said this before, it doesn’t matter if you’re the 48, the 10, the 41, I don’t care. If you run me over, I’m not going to wave you by the next time I see you. It’s just not going to happen,” McDowell stated. “I don’t hold anything against him, who he is, his character, and all of that. He’s a good kid, he’s aggressive, and he goes for it. He just overstepped it. I’ve done it 100 times.”
While McDowell has nothing against Gibbs, personally, he did admit that Gibbs gets away with a lot of overly aggressive moves on the race track, and he simply wasn’t going to let it slide.
“He’s lucky he finished the race,” McDowell said. “He really is. I felt like I was very controlled in my whole demeanor and manner.”
McDowell insists that he has moved on from the incident, and there will be no ongoing feud, but you have to wonder how forgiving McDowell will be to Gibbs the next time the two find each other around one another on the track.
