Dale Earnhardt Jr. is clear that Ty Gibbs “should be penalized” for the Sonoma disaster if one condition is fulfilled

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has commented on Ty Gibbs' pit road incident with Brad Keselowski's crew at Sonoma Raceway. With differing views on the situation, Earnhardt Jr. drew a clear line in the sand and argued that Gibbs should be penalized only if his move could be proved 'intentional'.

During Sunday's (July 13) Toyota Save Mart 350, Gibbs drew backlash for clipping a tire held by Keselowski's crew member upon pit entry. While NASCAR cleared him of any wrongdoing, Keselowski's crew confronted the No.54 team for allegedly slowing their stop.

Gibbs asserted that he had the right of way upon entry, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, backed his claims. Notably, Gibbs had made contact with Keselowski's teammate Chris Buescher before coming into the pits.

During the latest episode of Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt outlined his take on the incident.

"You know when I got pissed off at a at a driver, I didn't start taking it out on his teammates. If I couldn't reach him or couldn't somehow affect his race or get him back, it never crosses your mind to go 'well i'll f**k his teammate over, that'll show him.' I just can't believe that Ty Gibbs, his mind went there, because I don't think it did," he said. "If you could prove it to be intentional, he should be penalized because you can't use your race car in a danger situation around bodies on pit road right....but how do you prove it to be intentional? That's the question, so we can't prove it," he added.

Back in the Xfinity Series, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been a happy man lately. JR Motorsports has consistently taken the top step this season, with the last two races making it a 1-2 result for the team, as his rookie driver Connor Zilisch proved his road course prowess with a win at Sonoma.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. compares Connor Zilisch's Sonoma win with Keelan Harvick's triumph over his dad

After Connor Zilisch's win over Shane van Gisbergen, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drew comparisons to Keelan Harvick, who beat his father, Kevin Harvick, in the CARS Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway. It was the second time the father-son duo faced off against each other, and younger Harvick emerged victorious.

Keelan began on pole and maintained his lead for a whopping 99 out of 100 laps, while Kevin came in third after starting at fourth. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Zilisch and 36-year-old SVG both began on the front row and held a combined lead of 70 in the 79-lap event.

Responding to SVG's X post congratulating Zilisch, Earnhardt wrote:

"Coincidence that @KeelanHarvick also beat Kevin today at Hickory in the @CARSTour? I think not" .

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to tip Connor Zilisch as the 'more than likely' replacement for Danie Suarez at Trackhouse Racing. The young driver is the team's development driver and recently finished a career-high 11th while driving their #87 entry at Echopark Speedway.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar