“It looks bad”: Ty Gibbs acquitted by NASCAR Insider over controversial pit road incident at Sonoma

At the 2025 NASCAR race in Sonoma, Ty Gibbs faced controversy over an incident on pit road when he clipped a tire held by Brad Keselowski’s tire carrier, Telvin McClurkin, twisting the carrier's wrist. Bob Pockrass gave his verdict on the incident.

The incident took place as Gibbs entered his pit stall, which was next to the Keselowski stall. Although there was contact and limited confrontation between the two pit crews, NASCAR investigated the situation and decided there was no action to take, finding nothing wrong with the actions of Gibbs and not fining him.

Analysts and officials believed that Gibbs had the right-of-way since he was the leader going into the pit box, and if there was another car in the adjacent boxes, he was justified in where to drive.

Bob Pockrass speaking on the incident:

"The one thing is that the optics aren't good, right? You don't want to see anybody get hit on Pit Road. And yet carriers and tire changers, they're going to take as much room as they can. Drivers are going to take as much room as they can. Pit Road is a dangerous place. These things can happen. I do think NASCAR needs to take a look at it, make sure that they don't believe anything was malicious. I believe Ty Gibbs when he said it wasn't malicious because, look, drivers do come in on Pit Road like that. So, you know, it looks bad. You don't want to see it happen. You want drivers to try to avoid it if they can. But I'll go on the side of no penalty on this one."

In the end, the situation displayed the importance of the line drawn between aggressive racing and safety on pit road. While the contact was unfortunate, the fact that NASCAR chose to exonerate Ty Gibbs demonstrated the rules that give the lead car priority, and the reality that near misses like that are the nature of tight pit stops.

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Ty Gibbs defends pit road scuffle with Brad Keselowski's crew after NASCAR rules in his favor

Ty Gibbs maintained that he had the right of way because he was the lead car and had already passed Keselowski’s pit box, citing NASCAR’s rules and the orange lines that define pit stall boundaries.

He also explained that since he was ahead and in his pit box first, Keselowski’s crew should have waited for him to pass. He added that the tire carrier’s position near the pit wall was part of the risk they take in trying to gain an advantage during stops.

“By NASCAR's rules, you know, I'm the lead car because I'm in the pit box past where the 6 is and I'm in front of them as well. We have these orange lines right there. As you can see, I'm sure they'll show you after, where if I'm behind him, I have to go around those orange lines for it to be the rule. Going in, I have the right-of-way.”

“So you know, they're on the wall for a reason, they jump for a reason, and they kind of get out of the way. And those guys like to push it, and that's kind of the consequence you pay,” Ty Gibbs added (via Matty Snider).

The incident caused a brief scuffle between the two teams’ pit crews after the stop, with McClurkin confronting Gibbs’ crew.