Ty Gibbs. (HHP/Chris Owens photo)
Ty Gibbs took it as a “Hail Mary” when Michael McDowell intentionally maneuvered his #34 Ford in front of Gibbs’ #54 and delayed him in the All-Star Open.
It might have been all well and good if the two had fought for the lead, but that wasn’t quite the case. McDowell was a lap down while Gibbs led the race – safely in one of two transfer positions in Sunday night’s All-Star race.
The #34 block allowed Josh Berry, who was second, to slip past Gibbs’ inside and take the lead. After leading 54 laps of the 100-lap race, Gibbs was unable to pass Berry and finished second behind the No. 48 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports.
Berry, Gibbs and Noah Gragson – who won the fan vote – will compete in the All-Star race.
McDowell finished 13th.
“I just think that’s what you see in LCQs like this — throwing ‘Hail Maria.'” We’re fighting to get in,” Gibb said.
The number 54 driver admitted he threw a “Hail Mary” himself with 43 laps to go, which was the incident that initially sparked the on-track feud between him and McDowell.
Michael McDowell placed 13th at the All-Star Open. (HHP/Jim Fluharty photo)
Gibbs passed McDowell and Justin Haley in a threesome while holding the bottom line at turns three and four. He bumped into McDowell, who then pushed the #34 into Haley and slammed the #31 against the outside wall.
“He just drove me through the corner to 31 and ruined us both. I mean, it’s pretty clear that neither of us would make the corner because the 54 pushed me far into the corner,” McDowell said.
The incident looked different from the perspective of Gibbs, who admittedly is still exhausted from a previous clash with the No. 34 team.
“In Martinsville we were 18th and they knocked us down and almost ruined us so I think it’s honestly fair game,” noted the Cup Series rookie, referring to the Cup Series stop on the Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway on April 16th.
Meanwhile, Cup Series veteran McDowell hinted that the pressure to win the $1 million All Star Race award was probably the main factor.
“It’s a big night, so people will leave with hurt feelings and spirits will flare,” McDowell said. “It sucks that the guy who moved you and moved a lot of cars made it but at the same time I’m not going to break him up and send him out or do anything stupid with a broken car.” I just wanted to let him know that it was is unacceptable and he knows it.”
McDowell also attempted to stop Gibbs with 10 laps to go in the Open, taking the inside line from him after Berry got past the number 34. However, due to the extensive damage to McDowell’s car, Gibbs quickly overtook him.
“If anything, I sort of learned how to pass people in that position and what the apron would do,” Gibbs said. “So we take a positive view of it and move on.”
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