Ty Gibbs has admitted he wanted to 'rip the dash out of' his car after picking up a massive penalty in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star was sent to the back of the field at the end of the first stage break of the day after he was caught speeding on pit road, putting him in a terrible position on a day when track position was king.
Exacerbating his frustration, the No. 54 Toyota was clearly one of the fastest cars on the circuit – as his victory in Stage 1 foreshadowed – and instead of fighting up front for the win, Gibbs was left fighting over and over again to remain on/get back on the lead lap.
Incredibly given the hole his penalty put him in, he did end up as one of just six drivers to finish on the lead lap; in fourth place between Chase Briscoe and Shane van Gisbergen.
READ MORE: Winners and losers from Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro
Gibbs frustrated by costly penalty
If he'd been able to just keep the speed down on pit road and maintain his track position, it's far from inconceivable that we'd be leaving this race talking about a 46-race winless streak for Joey Logano – and Gibbs' second victory of 2026. An opportunity lost – and based on his reaction post-race, he knows it.
“Man, I don’t know," he said after the race. "We had such a great car. I really appreciate my team and the car they gave me. It is just so unfortunate. The lights were just a pain. I just wanted to rip the dash out of it after that.
"Just frustrating. We will just keep going. Really appreciative of my team. Thank you to Monster. Thank you to SiriusXM, Toyota and everyone at SAIA.”
Gibbs sits fourth on points after having the breakout regular season his team has been waiting for, taking his first career race win and sitting behind only Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick in top-five finishes, with nine (and behind only Ryan Blaney's 15 top-ten finishes, with 14 of his own).
The 23-year-old was continued a borderline Chase candidate coming into the season, with bookmakers typically putting him in the 12-16 range for championship odds.
That put him behind the likes of Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch on consensus (currently 21st and 34th respectively on points) and while he's still not considered an inner-circle favorite for the championship (joint eighth with Joey Logano at +2000 at time of writing), his impressive consistency is exactly what the Chase format could reward if he can just sprinkle one or two more wins in the mix.
NASCAR Standings: Joey Logano vaults back into Chase contention as Tyler Reddick falters again
