Both William Byron and Ty Gibbs have been assessed penalties following their retaliatory actions during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
According to NASCAR’s Penalty Report, both Byron and Gibbs were in violation of Section 4.3.A and 4.4.C of the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book, in regards to NASCAR’s Member Code of Conduct.
Byron, one of the 12 drivers still eligible to win the championship, has been fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver and owner points, for what the sanctioning body categorizes as “vehicle contact during a caution period.”
That contact occurred in the closing stages of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event when Byron approached Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry and spun the Joe Gibbs Racing driver through the infield grass.
There were no penalties assessed in-race to Byron, which Scott Miller, NASCAR’s VP of Competition, later attributed to the fact that the sanctioning body was too focused on the cause of the caution and “had no eyes on” the situation between Hamlin and Byron.
With the points deduction, Byron drops from third to tenth in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, with his 17-point advantage over ninth-place being completely erased, as the Hendrick Motorsports driver now sits eight points below the cutline.
Ty Gibbs, serving in a fill-in role for Kurt Busch at 23XI Racing, has also been assessed a penalty, after what the sanctioning body cites as “retaliatory vehicle contact on pit road with crew members/officials in close proximity; second offense.”
Gibbs, who is currently in contention for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, has been fined $75,000, while the No. 23 23XI Racing team has been docked 25 owner points. Since Gibbs is ineligible for points in the Cup Series, no driver points penalty could be assessed.
The penalty was assessed to Gibbs after he made contact with Ty Dillon in a seemingly intentional matter on pit road, pushing the No. 42 to the left, where there were crew members from RFK Racing and NASCAR Officials tending to the No. 17.
Finally, Patrick Briody, a member of NASCAR Xfinity Series team Our Motorsports has been indefinitely suspended by the sanctioning body, for violating NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy.
Just after the penalties were announced, Ty Gibbs released a statement on the issue at hand: “I want to apologize for what happened on pit road during the race Sunday. I have to have a better understanding of the situation and my surroundings. I’m thankful no one was injured and will learn from it.”
