Loganoa two-time NASCAR Cup champion (NCS), and gibbslast year’s NCS Rookie of the Year, had numerous run-ins throughout the 2023 season.
It appears things haven’t gotten any better between the two as the new year of racing gets underway. Gibbs led a race-high 84 laps, but spun late and never recovered. I have radioed afterwards: “Something is broken in the transmission.”
He finished 18th, while Logano went on to finish fourth.
There was plenty of contact throughout the 150-lap event, but Logano was fired up about something that had transpired between him and Gibbs at some point during the race. Gibbs initially motioned for Logano to speak with him in private, but Logano then grabbed Gibbs and the two engaged in a heated debate on the liftgate of the No. 54 hauler.
Logano can be told telling Gibbs, “I’ll remember it” before the minute-long conversation ends without a resolution.
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, Monster Energy Toyota Camry
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Speaking with the media afterwards, Gibbs explained what happened out on track: “I ran him up, but if you go back and look at the replay, the 12 [Ryan Blaney] kind of chucks him out of the way too. It is just hard racing there at the end. This place is really hard to get your tires warm once the caution comes out – as you could see, everyone was sliding around, so I just got in there deep and washed up into him. “We just got all tangled up after that.”
Logano didn’t directly discuss what went down between him the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but the Team Penske driver did comment on the aggressive racing he saw on the 1/4-mile track.
“The racing is usually an eye for an eye more times than not, or trying to come out with some explanation of what happened,” said Logano, who won the inaugural LA Clash in 2022. “Mistakes are mistakes. Here obviously lends for a lot of things, and I’ve been on both ends of it. I got Kyle last year, so… it’s part of racing here, and you try not to because you know, yeah, there’s bigger races down the line, but sometimes you’re in a bad spot and you just make a mistake. That can happen, too. Or it’s just flat-out aggressive in doing that type of stuff. I don’t know.”
