Watch: Unexpected Pit Crew Fight Breaks Out During NASCAR Cup Race at Sonoma

An unexpected fight broke out between the pit crews of RFK Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of Stage 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma after Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski pitted.

The unexpected clash was caught on camera, which helped NASCAR look into the incident. The pit stalls of both drivers in question were next to each other. Just as Keselowski’s crew was waiting for his arrival, Gibbs arrived before him and drove through the RFK Racing stall, grazing tire changer Telvin McClurkin.

McClurkin quickly approached crew members from JGR before things escalated to a fight. The video shows other JGR members eventually joining. McClurkin confirmed later that Gibbs made contact with the tire in his hand as he passed by.

NASCAR officials reportedly intervened but decided to clear Gibbs of any penalties, despite Keselowski’s team putting forward their case with the footage offering an overhead view of the incident. However, NASCAR did not accept RFK’s argument. Reports suggest the sport may levy a penalty after revisiting the clips of the incident by Tuesday.

NASCAR’s Todd Gordon and Kyle Petty sided with the sport’s decision not to levy a penalty on Gibbs, hinting that the tire changer should have left some space in front of him. Gordon said:

“I see two cars coming to green flag pit in some of the shortest boxes we’ve got on pit road. I always talk about pit crew guys: you’re playing in traffic and that’s where you’re at here.

“One tire carrier has to carry two tires and he’s standing kind of sideways and that leaves his tires out, exposed… Ty comes through, makes a little contact with the outboard tire. It kind of spins the tire carrier’s wrist around and puts him a little behind.

“I think the tire carrier actually could stand to not be so wide, understanding that he’s got the car that’s in the box in front of him coming in right in front of his car. He’s got to make himself a little skinnier so that he isn’t put behind in that situation.

“As most everybody does, the carrier that carries two tires, you’re allowed to have two feet in the box, but you’ve got to be close to the wall. You’ve got to be in a position that’s as close to the wall as you can be but be down in the box. That’s where he was.

“But he was standing looking down pit road and he’s two tires wide, which is half a pit box. And Ty Gibbs is trying to get in and get close to his fueler. The boxes are short, so you’ve got to kind of use up the box behind you to get yourself pointed in the right direction.”

Petty said that the crew members have to adjust to a small pit box. He added:

“People get bumped, people get moved, people have to adjust. And I think it’s just the timing. It’s the perfect storm here. Ty had to be in his pit box, had to get in straight. When you’ve got a short pit box, the only way to get in your pit box straight and close for fueling and give the tire guys room is to come in the back door, to come in that back line completely straight. And when you see Ty come in, he comes through the 6’s box and into his box straight.

“No, I don’t have an issue with what Ty did. Now, I don’t really have an issue with what the tire carrier did either because he’s a little upset. He should have maybe kept his tire out of the way.”