[ad_1]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla .– Joe Gibbs celebrated his first NASCAR victory as a grandfather, watching from the pits as Ty Gibbs, 18, won his Xfinity Series debut on Saturday on the road course at Daytona International Speedway.
It was the first race of the NASCAR National Series for Ty Gibbs, who jumped two steps from ARCA to Xfinity for his debut. He’s plowed the field in the last two restarts to beat Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric in double overtime.
Gibbs became the youngest driver to win an Xfinity road race at 18, 4 months, 16 days. Cindric held the record at 20, set on the road course in Mid-Ohio in 2019.
Joey Logano holds the overall record. He won 21 days after his 18th birthday in his third race – also for Joe Gibbs. Ty Gibbs is the second youngest winner in Xfinity series history.
Gibbs drove in the grass, used the top-of-the-oval lane, and dove inside through the corners in his shocking first win. He had never driven an Xfinity car before and had never done a live pit stop before, and COVID-19 restrictions cut testing and qualifying for Saturday’s race.
“Dreams come true. I’m completely exhausted, I left it all there,” Gibbs said. “I thought maybe I was going to run in the top seven, eight? I totally surprised myself. Coming into a bigger series like this, these are some of the guys I dreamed of running. am a train wreck right now. “
NASCAR and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Joe Gibbs looked stoically from behind the booth. Protected by a mask, he gave no indication of emotion. But as his grandson crossed the finish line, his glasses fogged up and he hugged a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing team.
Joe Gibbs Racing has won five Cup Series championships, 185 Cup wins and four Daytona 500 wins – none is as emotionally fulfilling as this astonishing Xfinity. When Joe Gibbs called home to speak to his wife, Pat, he said she was crying too hard to speak.
“It is such an experience for our family,” said Joe Gibbs. “I was lucky enough to enjoy it so much, but that, he hadn’t taken a turn in the car. We didn’t dream of him being up front like that.
“It’s the only thing Ty has wanted to do since he was 2 years old. Any parent or grandparent would tell you, it’s like a dream come true.”
Ty Gibbs fell to his knees beside his Toyota and tilted his head in his hands.
Then he admitted he didn’t know how to burnout either.
“I don’t even know what’s going on,” he says. He choked on tears, wiped his eyes and apologized for giving a bad interview.
“I’m sorry. I’m a wreck, I really didn’t think this was going to happen at all,” he said.
Ty Gibbs is the sixth driver to win his Xfinity Series debut, joining Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch. He is the son of Joe Gibbs’ youngest son, Coy, who was unable to attend the race because “Coach” took the place of a team owner in NASCAR’s COVID bubble. Ty’s mother, Heather Gibbs, had been watching for a sequel.
Ty Gibbs has won eight ARCA races the previous two seasons, and eventually old enough to race nationally, his grandfather gave him a shot in the NASCAR second level series. Although JGR is one of the best teams in NASCAR with exceptional equipment, Gibbs showed he could drive it and steam through the field, then held on as Cindric tried to put him back in his place. .
“I’ve never raced him before, but he seemed to be able to handle a lot of situations well, and I put him in some pretty tough spots trying to keep his head, and he did a great job with that.” , Cindric said.
Cindric and AJ Allmendinger crashed in the race until the finish of the first stage, and Cindric was left with a gaping hole in his front fender. He fell to 34th place on the pitch but still regained the lead.
Cindric, who led a 29-lap record, had a Daytona sweep in sight until a three-lap warning to give gave Gibbs a late second chance. They both looked for new tires and Gibbs started 10th, Cindric 11th.
On the first overtime restart, Gibbs blew past a pack of cars outside of the Daytona Oval and made his way in and out of traffic to third. Another warning sent the run to a double OT, and Gibbs dove inside to gain some ground this time.
He sank deep into the grass – lifting dirt all over his car – and somehow took the lead. Gibbs then pulled out to gain 1.726 seconds over Cindric.
“I’m shocked he didn’t pull the splitter off as he went through the grass before the first corner on the final restart,” said Cindric.
JGR has yet to announce a full schedule for Ty Gibbs for 2021, but his grandfather has said the details are being decided by Coy Gibbs. They chose the Daytona road course for their debut because Ty Gibbs finished second here in last year’s ARCA race.
[ad_2]
Source link