Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar out of Tennessee Lottery 250 after contact with Austin Hill

Things were going great for Ty Gibbs in the Tennessee Lottery 250 until he got into it with Austin Hill and his day was over. There was an incident previously between Gibbs and Hill and perhaps Hill wanted to get a little revenge, or just let Ty know he was there. At any rate, the No. 19 is out of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

After taking the Stage 1 win, it looked like Ty Gibbs was going to race to the finish in this one. At the very least, he was a top-5 car in this race. However, things went sideways, literally, when the 21 of Hill got into his left rear.

The incident left not only Gibbs out of the race but also Carson Hocevar. AJ Allmendinger was involved, but he was able to keep going and battle for the lead.

A replay of the incident involving multiple cars at the beginning of Stage 2. (📺: USA) pic.twitter.com/3Vn5EtZFry

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) June 24, 2023

This wasn’t the only bad luck for Joe Gibbs Racing as Sammy Smith met a similar end. With two of their fastest cars and more talented drivers wrecked and out of the race, it is hard to see JGR winning out in this one.

Instead, the race is going to come down to Chandler Smith, AJ Allmendinger, and pole winner Cole Custer. As for Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar, it is on to the next one. Both drivers were confused about what went down on the track.

Ty Gibbs, Hocevar confused by Hill incident

After both Gibbs and Hocevar were released from the infield care center, the two spoke with the media. Before they got going with the questions, the two drivers talked briefly. Hocevar was trying to go over what Hill did on the track, but Gibbs preferred to talk in private about the incident.

Dalton Hopkins of Fronstretch was there to pick up some of it.

Carson Hocevar asked Ty Gibbs “Why would he [Hill] do that?” Gibbs simply said “I don’t know” and that the two would talk about it later.

Ty Gibbs mentions the incident with Austin Hill to Carson Hocevar. Both seem confused by what happened.

“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know”#NASCAR #TennesseeLottery250 pic.twitter.com/VLHkEVrxGa

— Dalton Hopkins (@daltonhopkins77) June 24, 2023

Ty Gibbs has more things to worry about this weekend. The Xfinity Series race is for fun, to get JGR a win, and to get some extra laps in for the Cup Series rookie. However, the Ally 400 is the real goal as far as Gibbs is concerned.

There is a chance we see a big race from Gibbs in Nashville. This is a track where the Toyotas have been strong. He just has to capitalize on his chances and make the most of it.