Ty Gibbs' Angry Radio Comments Prompt Strong Message From JGR Competition Boss

Hocevar led 32 laps in Sunday’s race before a flat tire ended his chance at victory with 19 laps remaining. As a result, Gibbs moved up to third and appeared to have a real opportunity to win. However, like Byron and Larson in front of him, the No. 54 team had fuel concerns about making it to the end.

The driver was repeatedly reminded to conserve as much gas as possible and that meant running less than full throttle and not attempting to pass the cars in front of him. He wasn’t happy about the strategy.

“We need a top five here, bud,” crew chief Tyler Allen said to his driver. “We need to make sure we have enough fuel to get to the end. Keep saving.”

“Yeah, we're coming back, two to go,” spotter Tony Hirschman informed him. 

“Really risk it and try to go win when it doesn't [expletive] matter if it's a top five,” the driver fired back.

“It does,” Hirschman responded. “If those guys push each other hard enough to run themselves outta gas. Stick to what we're doing. Two to go.”

Moments later Allen asked the driver to confirm his red switch. After a few seconds without a response, he repeated his request.

“Red switch, copy?” the crew chief asked.

“Yeah,” Gibbs answered. “Red switch for 50% throttle.”

When the race concluded, the crew was pleased with a third-place result. The driver was less than enthusiastic about it.

“Nice work. Way to stick with it. Good job, guys,” Hirschman said.

“I know that's hard man,” Allen told his driver. “Really good job.”

“[Expletive] gave that away,” Gibbs said.

“Hey, we didn't give them nothing today,” JGR Director of Competition Chris Gabehart said over the radio. “We had a great day. We did what we needed to do. We got a top five. Our other car won. It's about big picture. Alright. Take this and build.”