By Jerry Jordan, Editor
If Ty Gibbs wanted to secure the nomination for being the worst teammate of the year, he locked up the election on the final lap of the Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway with his last lap move to take out his teammate Brandon Jones and rob Joe Gibbs Racing of a chance at having two drivers competing next week for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.
The arrogance and indifference were clearly obvious following the race as Gibbs answered multiple inquiries from members of the NASCAR media, all asking essentially the same question, “Why did you wreck your teammate?”
And they all received essentially the same answer.
One answer after another, Gibbs made himself out to be the victim.
“After we got shoved out of the way the first time …,” Gibbs said.
“We got moved out of the way by them in the spring …,” Gibbs said.
“After we got shoved out of the way for the lead …,” Gibbs said.
“People being penalized for team racing …,” Gibbs said.
Listening to the press conference and watching the smug look on Gibbs’s face proved to me he wasn’t repentant. I also don’t believe he was just “… racing for wins here.” No, Gibbs was being selfish. And he was not being humble, he was seeking glory. He was being boastful.
He said he was racing for a win. That’s true but so was Jones. Jones was actually racing to make the Championship 4 next week at Phoenix Raceway. Gibbs is already locked in. Gibbs could have raced Jones for the win without wrecking him and the outcome may have been the same, except the No. 19 car wouldn’t have ended up in the wall. This was not an accident, overdriving or racing hard; it was deliberate.
For his part, Gibbs appears too immature to realize that the crew guys on Jones’s car also work at Joe Gibbs Racing. Don’t they deserve a chance to compete for a championship or is this just the Ty Gibbs Show? It’s safe to say that Menards is paying a hefty sum to have his company emblazoned across the hood of the No. 19 car and on the uniforms of every crew member on that team.
For years, we have heard Coach Joe Gibbs talk about how the partners at JGR are like family. Norm from Interstate Batteries, the Mars Family, FedEx, Coca-Cola, Ruud, DeWalt and many others have all been considered family by Coach Gibbs for years. He calls them from victory lane. He celebrates the wins with them and treats them with respect because they are what helped build JGR into a powerhouse.
Remember this, “You win with people.”
Apparently, young Gibbs has forgotten the principles on which his grandfather built JGR. Just because someone puts a helmet on and sits behind a steering wheel doesn’t give them the right to treat people the way he treated them today.
Ty Gibbs gets BOOED HARD.
The fans don't like his move to win. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/fYSQRuJwEF
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 29, 2022
Gibbs’s actions on the track and his words afterward were no more impressive than a schoolyard bully or a spoiled child. What he did took no talent or skill. And the reactions on Twitter, Facebook, in the grandstands and even from the NASCAR analysts share the same tone.
“I am just not impressed,” said Steve Letarte, former NASCAR Crew Chief and NBC Analyst. “It doesn’t take much of a racecar driver to run another guy over from behind.”
Ty Gibbs was deservedly booed for his actions on the track but what he did later, on SiriusXM, was a step too far. Not from a racing standpoint but from a human one. It’s those comments that are far worse than his arrogance on the track and in the media center.
“Jesus was hated first and among all the people. That’s a part of it, I feel, just silencing out the crowd,” Gibbs replied when asked about being the bad guy or wearing the black hat.
Whether Gibbs embraces the villain role is his choice but being booed and disliked by fans for his own actions is a far cry from the suffering Jesus endured simply because he was the son of God. Jesus also didn’t embrace a villainous role. I am not qualified nor biblically educated enough to go very far down this road, but I can say that after tonight, Gibbs should consult his own spiritual leader and seek advice.
It would seem he was trying to quote John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” from the New International Version of the Bible. Perhaps Gibbs should better study the principles of Isaiah 32:7-8, “Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.”
💭 "Jesus was hated first and among all the people. That's a part of it […] silencing out the crowd."
🗣️ On @SiriusXMNASCAR with @ClaireBLang, @TyGibbs discusses getting booed by fans following his #DeadOnTools250 win @MartinsvilleSwy. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/6Idulbkf8F
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 29, 2022
What a brash p.o.s. who certainly doesn’t espouse the values that Coach Gibbs touts…. But then again, I’ve always seen and felt something a bit manufactured and shallow in regards to the Coach and religion himself. If I owned JGR or were a Toyota executive in TRD, I would protest immensely the unfairness of giving Gibbs a creme de la creme ride….make him learn his lessons in respect first…starting with, Childress beating that smug grin off his face. All Ty does is drive a racecar that is made.of.the best parts and automatically fast…indicative of his true talent are his runs in Cup in place of Kurt Busch…put him in the Borchetta Vodka BMR #48 or Jeremy Clements #51…bet he finishes shit.
It should be “I’ve seen something manufactured and shallow about the Coach and the religious virtuosities he touts.”
It seems, Jerry, that your degree of biblical education was sufficient to take you far enough down that road. While there are certainly many other verses that could be used in the proper context, your choice was good.