Gibbs, Berry Done For Day In Atlanta After Hard Crash In Stage 2

While superspeedway racing presents an opportunity for anyone to pull through for a win, due to the draft serving as the great equalizer, two drivers will not have an opportunity at a late-race push to victory lane in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway.

On Lap 82, Christopher Bell pulled to the inside of Josh Berry, which forced Berry to move up the track. Unfortunately, as Berry moved up, Ty Gibbs had also decided to move down in an effort to get around Alex Bowman.

Berry would make contact with Gibbs, which would send Gibbs spinning down the track. Gibbs would collide with the right side of Bell's car, which would shoot his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back across the track. Gibbs' wild ride would end with a head-on impact into the Turn 3 wall.

Here's that hard crash, which ended the days for Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry, and led to some infield grass being ignited. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/BN4GyMPqCz
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 22, 2026

Berry would have nowhere to go, as Gibbs would clip him as he attempted to skirt past the crash, which would send Berry hard into the outside wall, causing catastrophic damage to his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Denny Hamlin would also receive slight front-end damage in the incident, but would continue on.

As Gibbs came to a stop in the infield grass, his No. 54 machine would ignite into flames, which would spark a fire in the infield grass. As the AMR Safety Team navigated getting Gibbs out of the car, Gibbs would attempt to keep from stepping into the patch of fire.

Wild scene after the crash involving Gibbs and Berry, as the grass caught on fire. pic.twitter.com/Dwo2Xq3G4H
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 22, 2026

As Gibbs exited his car, the AMR Safety Team was able to successfully extinguish the flames in the infield grass.

Thankfully, both Berry and Gibbs would be checked and released from the infield car center with clean bills of health, but both drivers have officially retired from Sunday's Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway.

It was an upsetting situation for Gibbs, who is still seeking his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, but he'll move on and shift his focus onto next weekend's race at Circuit of the Americas.

“I guess the 20 (Christopher Bell) made a three-wide bottom move, and I was already rolling the middle on (Josh) Berry, and we all collided. Not ideal," Gibbs said. "It definitely sucks, but we will keep digging. Thanks to everyone at SAIA, Monster Energy, Toyota, and everyone that supports us and our team.”