NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde explained why Ty Gibbs will get a talking to after he tossed a water bottle into the fight between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney confronted Carson Hocevar after he was sent into the outside wall off of Hocevar’s nose as the two were battling for second with less than 50 laps in the race. Blaney walked up to Hocevar, shoved him, and then grabbed him. Hocevar countered with a couple of right hooks. The two would then be briefly separated before Blaney snuck back through the crowd and landed a weak left jab.
FIGHT NIGHT IN BRISTOL!! 🥊⚔️ pic.twitter.com/nooT5WA70U
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) September 20, 2026
Blaney was not the only one who had cause to be upset with Hocevar. Gibbs did as well given the two door-slammed each other multiple times racing for the win in the closing laps. Their hard fought battle resulted in Joey Logano sneaking underneath both of them to get the win. Hocevar ended up finishing third while Gibbs fell back to fifth.
Gibbs did not physically confront Hocevar, but while Hocevar and Blaney were fighting, Gibbs did toss a water bottle into the scrum all the while smiling as he did it.
Ty Gibbs throwing a water bottle in the middle of the fight is the funniest part pic.twitter.com/qi2exJUfhj
— Pistana (@ryanpistana) September 20, 2026
That water bottle struck the cell phone of Frontstretch Content Director Michael Massie.
So about that water bottle…
Nice aim, @TyGibbs 🤣 pic.twitter.com/YIRnPIO7z4— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) September 20, 2026
Forde explained that Gibbs would get a talking to for the toss during the most recent episode of Hauler Talk. He said, “There was a third piece of it that we did look at and that was Ty Gibbs. Ty, as you saw, threw a water bottle into the fracas and hit a media member. Didn’t love that, but no penalty there either. We do plan to have a conversation with Ty.”
“I know it was kind of a heat of the moment thing and probably thought it was just kind of a funny thing to just to add to the moment then he probably had some frustrations with the 77 as well,” he continued. “But, obviously, that could be dangerous. If that hit in the wrong place, if the cap portion of that water bottle hit someone in the eye that could be a dangerous situation.”
“So do plan to have a conversation this weekend in Kansas with Ty Gibbs, but no penalty there either,” he concluded.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday September, 27th. The race is expected to start at 3:00 PM and will be broadcast on USA. The Cup Series will have practice at 10 AM on Saturday, September 26th followed by qualifying at 11 AM.
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