Larry McReynolds slams Ty Gibbs for Bowman Gray incident, calls for mom and Joe Gibbs to intervene

Last week during the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray, Ty Gibbs gave a hit to Justin Haley under caution that became controversial. Larry McReynolds was not impressed by the move from Gibbs who is entering his third full-time season in the Cup Series.

America’s Crew Chief was far from amused by Ty Gibbs’ actions on the track. Justin Haley got into it with Gibbs a bit. It should be noted, this is not the only incident that Haley was involved in. Under caution, Gibbs ran up to the right side of the No. 7 car and hit it.

The left front wheel of Gibbs’ Toyota Camry rode up the side of Haley’s Chevy and sent the 54-car airborne for a second. It could have been a worse situation than it ended up being.

“So much of this is on the shoulders of Joe Gibbs Racing,” McReynolds said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, via Kyle Dalton of Athlon Sports. “I do not care if his last name is Gibbs, Smith, or Swarovski, I don’t care, it doesn’t matter, it’s a moot point. That’s, I think it’s time for Coach and quite honestly, his mom Heather Gibbs, who is an executive at Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s time for them to say, ‘Look, enough. Enough.’ Because there is a pattern.

“He used his race car I think was on Sam Mayer on a cooldown lap in Xfinity at Martinsville. Used the 45 car when he was sitting in for Kurt Busch, on pit road, taking a dive at a car. So, there is a distinct trend, a distinct pattern here.”

Is Ty Gibbs going to need an intervention for his on track behavior here soon?

Larry Mac believes Ty Gibbs is showing a pattern

To Larry McReynolds’ point, Ty Gibbs has had a few incidents already. Famously he got into fight on pit road with Sam Mayer. Before that, he drove his car into the back of Mayer’s car on pit road because of last-lap contact that Gibbs thought cost him the win.

Then he got into it with Ty Dillon on pit road in 2022 filling in for Kurt Busch. That came after contact from Dillon. NASCAR felt Gibbs retaliated too close to RFK Racing pit crew members at that time and fined him $75,000.

He’s young and has raced at a high level since he was a kid, basically. Larry Mac doesn’t want to hear that excuse.

“You know what, you said something, Danielle, he just turned 22, I don’t give him a hall pass on that one. I don’t care. You’ve heard me say this, I don’t care if you’re 16, 22, 32, you’re in the top series of motorsports,” McReynolds continued.

“Age is a moot point to me. You’re supposed to handle yourself; you may not have the experience to run fast or win races when you’re 22 or in your third year of Cup or first year of Cup but you should be at the point where you’ve got the right experience level to handle yourself properly in and outside the [race car].”

Larry Mac made his feelings clear. He does not think Ty Gibbs is going down a good path right now. But do we want to tell drivers to calm down at a time when fans are asking for more fire and personality? It’s a hard line to walk.