Kevin Harvick defends JGR driver in the wake of on-track scuffle with Brad Keselowski’s crew: “Ty didn’t do anything wrong”

Kevin Harvick defended Ty Gibbs after a pit road incident at Sonoma Raceway led to a fight between crew members from Joe Gibbs Racing and Brad Keselowski's team. This incident occurred during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 when Gibbs entered his pit stall and nearly struck Brad Keselowski's tire carrier.

This led to a heated argument and a physical altercation between the two teams' crew members. Harvick spoke about the incident during a NASCAR on Fox broadcast and backed up Gibbs completely.

"Ty didn't do anything wrong right here. And you know, NASCAR said that as well," Kevin Harvick said during the broadcast. [18:25]

He made it clear that Gibbs followed the rules, and NASCAR agreed with this view. The incident happened on Lap 52 when both drivers came into the pit road at the same time. Gibbs' No. 54 Toyota was leading Keselowski's No. 6 Ford, and their pit crews were right next to each other. As Gibbs drove through Keselowski's pit box area, he almost hit Telvin McClurkin, who was carrying tires for Keselowski's team.

McClurkin had to jump out of the way, which slowed down their pit stop. After the stop was finished, McClurkin walked over to Gibbs' crew to complain about what happened. This started a fight between two RFK Racing crew members and three Joe Gibbs Racing crew members. NASCAR officials had to step in to break up the fight. Harvick blamed the crew member, not Gibbs.

"My advice to the guy carrying the tires right there is move your tires. You don't want to get hit by the car, move your tires. That's your responsibility, not the drivers," Kevin Harvick explained.

NASCAR reviewed the incident and found that Gibbs was not at fault. Officials said the crew should have given more room for Gibbs' car and ruled that the close call was not intentional. Gibbs finished seventh in the race, four spots ahead of Keselowski.

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Kevin Harvick Calls Out Ty Dillon's Trash-Talking Despite Tournament Success

Kevin Harvick criticized Ty Dillon for trash-talking after advancing in NASCAR's in-season tournament, even though Dillon's success came mainly from other drivers crashing.

Dillon has made it to the third round of the tournament. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin crashed and was eliminated, which helped Dillon move forward. At the Chicago Street Race, Dillon avoided a big wreck while Brad Keselowski crashed out, giving Dillon another free pass to the next round.

Kevin Harvick didn't like how Dillon celebrated these results. Speaking on his Happy Hour podcast, Harvick said,

"I just don't know how you talk that much trash when you run that bad, though. I mean, because, talk about the best, I would just be more humble about it." [30:41]

Kevin Harvick pointed out that Dillon's advance came because other drivers had bad luck, not because he was racing better than them. He said,

"I mean, if you were up there running first or second, third, fifth, something and you're knocking people out of the bracket, but you're knocking the guys out that are crashing. Let's not be cocky about it."

The former champion suggested that Dillon should be more humble about his success. He suggested that there was a better way to handle the situation when the driver did not specifically beat any other driver.