Is Anyone Even Interested In Dealing With Ty Gibbs

1. How far will Ty Gibbs be allowed to go?

This obviously is not the first race weekend when we have mused about something that Ty Gibbs did on or near the racetrack in its aftermath.

The latest was this weekend at Martinsville, and it’s as if Gibbs took on a challenge of seeing how far toward crossing the line between aggressive and out-of-bounds he could go. Frankly speaking, when a driver is already in the Championship 4 blatantly wrecks someone, let alone their own teammate, it says one thing — that said driver is selfish and entitled. That may not be true, but that is the perception it gives off.

Joe Gibbs Racing can say all it wants about dealing with Ty Gibbs recent actions internally, but until Ty Gibbs alters what he is doing, it’s all meaningless.

Ty Gibbs is far from the only driver that fell into top-notch equipment and had questions asked about how they handled themselves. It was a few short years ago that similar questions were asked about Noah Gragson, who over time figured out there was a right way and wrong way to do things.

Here’s the problem with Ty Gibbs, though. Gragson had to do certain things to win the favor of prospective team owners. Ty Gibbs’ grandad owns Joe Gibbs Racing, so there’s no worrying there.

Drivers find themselves under heavy spotlights, some of their own doing and some through no fault of their own.

Gibbs has self-inflicted all of that and only has himself to blame. After last week, Gibbs has burned a target into his back. If it doesn’t cost him a championship, it’ll cost him in terms of not being taken out of races by other drivers next year.

If there’s a good thing for Ty Gibbs, it’s this Jimmy Spencer does not currently race in NASCAR. Just ask Kurt Busch about Spencer’s idea of teaching a young driver a lesson.

2. Does Denny Hamlin need to pull a Pedro Cerrano and request to sacrifice a live chicken?

In the movie Major League, the Cleveland Indians’ voodoo-worshipping power-hitter, Pedro Cerrano, requested to sacrifice a live chicken before the final game before journeyman catcher Jake Taylor secured a bucket of KFC chicken, “one whole chicken.”

You can’t blame Denny Hamlin if he employs a similar tactic for his next championship quest.

Everyone remembers who made a dramatic miracle play: Doug Flutie’s Boston College “Hail Mary,” Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard round the world.”

Forgotten over time, though, are details of who was on the opposing side….