The Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway was yet another race to forget for Ty Gibbs. On lap 102, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver crashed into the wall in Turn 3 after making contact with Ryan Preece, ending the former's day early.

However, the story wasn't so straightforward. Some time before the crash, Ryan Preece had expressed his frustration over the radio with Gibbs' on-track movements. He said:

"Alright, when I get to that 54, I'm done with him. That car is so f****** fast, pisses me off. I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars where they can do stupid shit and get away with it. End of rant."

Post-race, Preece admitted that he didn't like to see Ty Gibbs wrecked, but emphasized that "there are repercussions" to on-track decisions. However, in an interview with reporter Bob Pockrass in the infield, Ty Gibbs refrained from commenting on the incident. He said, "I haven't seen the replay, so I don't know." 

The driver with the best view of the incident was Trackhouse Racing's Shane Van Gisbergen. He saw the incident unfold and immediately took to the radio, saying, "Holy s***! He just committed a m*****! It looks like he just full-throttled him!"

Gibbs revealed that his No. 54 Toyota had a damaged weld on the front clip, and hence, the team didn't send him out again. The 23-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been on a downward trajectory after his maiden Cup win in Bristol earlier in April.

At Kansas, he finished in the top 10. But things took a turn for the worse at Talladega after he ended up crashing at the race. The Texas result marks his second consecutive and third overall DNF this season. 

Ty Gibbs was one of many spinners in Texas

Ty Gibbs was one of many drivers who spun and eventually crashed at the Texas Motor Speedway. From the very beginning of the weekend, the 1.5-mile oval had posed a challenge to the drivers.

The race featured multiple cautions. Four separate yellow flags were waved during the race for incidents that took place in a similar manner. All the incidents started with the driver entering or exiting a corner, losing control, spinning, and hitting a wall. 

Bubba Wallace had made a good assessment of the track after his crash in practice. "This is Texas; it’s treacherous," he said.

Since the Next Gen car's introduction in 2022, no other track has produced as many cautions (14). Among the drivers who spun were Kyle Larson, Todd Gilliland, William Byron, and Corey Heim.

After Chase Elliott's second victory of the season on Sunday, NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen next weekend.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yask Kotak