September 27, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

NASCAR penalizes Byron, Gibbs for misbehaving at Texas

NASCAR penalized driver William Byron for punting fellow Playoff driver Denny Hamlin under caution during the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Byron violated Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct which covers vehicle conduct during a caution period. The 24-year-old driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was fined $50,000 and assessed the loss of 25 driver and 25 owner points. 

Byron was third in the standings following a seventh-place finish at Texas, the first race in the Round of 12. He now drops to 10th on the Playoff grid, eight points below the cutline. 

Byron and Hamlin were battling for second place following the 13th caution. The two collided on Lap 261—although Hamlin insists there was never contact. Clearly, Byron assessed the incident differently and then overreacted during the next caution after Martin Truex Jr. blew a tire while leading the race.

“I went to go show my displeasure and I didn’t mean to spin him out,” Byron said. “There are a ton of guys that do this and go do something like that…see it all the time. 

“But I am just not going to get run like that, and there is really no reason. I mean we are running second and third, I think, and had a shot to win, and it killed our car for sure. That was a bummer.”

Since graduating to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018—after winning the Xfinity Series title—Byron has continually been used up by many of the veterans on the track. On Sunday, he finally had enough. 

The penalty proved to be a costly lesson for Byron. Had the sanctioning body penalized him at the time of the incident, Byron would have likely recovered from being black-flagged for a lap or two. Twenty-five points could be a Playoff ender if Byron doesn’t win at Talladega or at the Roval.

Byron wasn’t the only young racer to feel the sanctioning body’s displeasure on Tuesday. NASCAR also fined Ty Gibbs under the same “Behavioral” category—Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct. 

Gibbs, 19, was busted for “Retaliatory vehicle contact on pit road with crew members/officials in close proximity. As NASCAR noted, it was the driver’s second offense, which is likely why Gibbs was fined $75,000 and 25 owner points.

Gibbs, who is subbing while Kurt Busch is on the sidelines, turned the No. 23 Toyota into the side of Ty Dillon’s car on pit road. Dillon had been released from his pit moments earlier and clipped Gibbs, who was in his blind spot. 

This isn’t Gibbs' first lack of judgment behind the wheel. He went after Sam Mayer with his car in the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway in April. Gibbs knocked Noah Gragson off the course at Portland in June. He also took a swipe at the series' Most Popular Driver, Justin Allgaier at Kansas Speedway earlier this month. Gibbs door-slammed Allgaier coming off of Turn 4 before the end of the second stage.

Gibbs, whose Twitter account states “Jesus First” tweeted another mea culpa: “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.”