William Byron And Ty Gibbs Both Penalized For Aggressive Driving

Both William Byron and Ty Gibbs have been issued penalties for incidents involving aggressive driving during last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR announced on Sept. 27.

Byron, who is currently competing in the Round of 12, has been issued both a monetary fine of $50,000 and a deduction of 25 driver and owner points.

Gibbs has been hit with a similar infraction resulting in a $75,000 fine and a loss of 25 owner points from the No. 23 23XI Racing team.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s infraction is a result of an altercation he had with fellow playoff driver Denny Hamlin during the final stage of the 500-mile event.

Byron had slight contact with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and slapped the wall shortly after the restart on lap 258 on Sunday evening. When the next caution flag waved, the No. 24 driver accelerated and punted the rear end of Hamlin’s Toyota, sending him spinning into the infield while under caution.

Here’s an on-board look from William Byron’s car.

Byron gets into Hamlin, Hamlin spins. #NASCARPlayoffs

(via @NASCAR) pic.twitter.com/LwYPFh5FQl

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 26, 2022

With no immediate penalty issued, Byron finished seventh in the event while Hamlin rebounded for a 10th-place result.

The penalty will move the No. 24 team from third in the playoff standings to 10th, eight points under the cut line.

When asked why there was no action taken for the incident during the race, NASCAR Vice President Scott Miller claimed that race officials did not initially notice the altercation.

Gibbs’ incident occurred earlier in the race on pit road.

Upon exiting the pit lane, Gibbs was side swiped by Petty GMS Racing driver Ty Dillon after the latter exited his pit box too wide. Gibbs, in what appears to be a retaliatory move, shoved Dillon left and in an angle toward the crew of Brad Keselowski, who was still in his pit box.

Dawg… pic.twitter.com/S9qMPMoN9T

— Nathan (@b1gnate_11) September 26, 2022

Gibbs has made 10 consecutive starts in the Cup Series this year while filling in for the injured Kurt Busch and has so far earned one top 10 at Michigan International Speedway in August.