PHOENIX — “Have you guys talked to Little Jesús yet?” Noah Gragson asked a group of reporters walking by at NASCAR’s Championship 4 Media Day.
No further context was needed; everyone knew immediately Gragson was talking about his NASCAR Xfinity Series rival, Ty Gibbs. It’s been five days since Gibbs’ religious comments went viral, coming after his controversial Martinsville Speedway win that was followed by a chorus of boos and a “Thank you, Grandpa” chant.
“Jesus was hated first and among all the people,” Gibbs told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “That’s a part of it … silencing out the crowd.”
That one sentence quite possibly caused more of an uproar than Gibbs dumping his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones.
If I remember correctly Jesus turned water into wine not his teammate into the fence
— Aly Dawson (@alydawson14) October 29, 2022
It even led to a fan dressing up as Jesus Christ the next day at Martinsville, walking up and down the grid for the NASCAR Cup Series race in a mission to seek out Gibbs.
Jesus has found the car 🤣🤣 #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5t1ixt7Q8L
— Avery (@Abrugh94) October 30, 2022
At Media Day, Camping World Truck Series driver Ben Rhodes had some fun with it, asking Gibbs if he walks “on water.”
“Do you walk on water?”
Ben Rhodes jumps in to ask the hard question to Ty Gibbs pic.twitter.com/ve5ByErQbL
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) November 3, 2022
To his credit, Gibbs did apologize Thursday (Nov. 3) for bringing Jesus into it.
“I totally do [regret it], and I wasn’t trying to say it like that,” Gibbs told FOX Sports. “It came out the wrong way, of course. Moving forward, I should do the best I can to be more aware of my situation and know what’s going on.”
In that answer, Gibbs seemed genuine. I truly don’t think he really meant to compare himself to Jesus.
But the fact is, he said it, and it’s another instance of him using Jesus and his faith as an excuse to do whatever he wants.
The verse Gibbs was trying to reference was John 15:18, which says, “If the world hates you, understand it hated me first.”
The problem is Gibbs used this verse completely out of context. The verse before it says, “This is My command to you: Love one another.” Well, Jones sure as hell didn’t feel too loved by Gibbs when he was getting sent into the outside wall. In the way that Gibbs used it, it would be like if Jesus stole bread from one of his disciples, and…
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