Pit spat, contact overshadow solid day at Sonoma for Gibbs, RFK

While Shane van Gisbergen was cruising to another road course win up front, RFK Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 team were engaging in spirited battles, both on and off the track.

On a day when both companies had drivers battling for top 10s, RFK and JGR saw multiple battles between team cars. Key among them was a fight for position between Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher.

Looking to make the pass on Gibbs in the middle stages of the race, Buescher rolled into Gibbs’ No. 54 from behind and sent him up the track in Turn 11. Shortly afterward came green-flag pit stops. Gibbs’ stall was positioned just ahead of Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 on the pit lane. Both teams were planning to stop on the same lap. So when Gibbs went to dive into his stall, Keselowski’s No. 6 team was already on pit road and preparing for the 2012 Cup champion to roll in behind him.

It was then that things got tight. Gibbs caught the wheel RFK’s tire changer was carrying in his left hand as he pulled into the his stall, nearly ripping it from his grasp. The carrier was able to hold onto the tire and both pit stops were completed without issue, but he walked over to Gibbs’ crew to express his displeasure afterward. A brief kerfuffle ensued from there.

In the aftermath of the incident, debate waged on over whether Gibbs had intentionally swerved toward Keselowski’s crew. RFK Racing later shared an overhead shot of the incident that provided a closer look at the contact.

No penalty was issued to Gibbs for the incident. TNT later confirmed that NASCAR told the No. 54 team that Gibbs did nothing wrong while pulling into his stall. The 22-year-old explained his side of the story afterward.

“By NASCAR’s rules, I’m the lead car. … Going in, I have the right of way,” Gibbs told TNT. “They’re on the wall for a reason. They jump for a reason. They kind of get out of the way.

“Those guys like to push it, and that’s kind of the consequence you pay. That’s unfortunate for them. … Nothing malicious. It’s my right of way.”

Gibbs went on to finish seventh at race’s end, with Keselowski taking 11th and Buescher coming home 16th.

While he’s had few issues in recent years, Gibbs' move being called into question was aided by a history of showing frustration on pit road. He rammed into Sam Mayer repeatedly on the cooldown lap and brawled with the then-JR Motorsports driver after late contact in a 2022 Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Gibbs was also fined $75,000 and docked 25 points for door-slamming Ty Dillon on pit road during a 2023 Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Buescher’s run-in with Gibbs wasn’t his only drama for the day. The Texan also caught the ire of Ryan Blaney when he lost control of his No. 17 Ford while fighting the 2023 Cup champ and sent him off-track heading down toward Turn 1.

The incident left Blaney beached and significantly hampered his day. He lost a lap waiting for help back onto the racing surface and regained it late only to get caught up in a restart crash, leaving him 36th at race’s end.