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Ty Gibbs holds up double OT and wins Xfinity Series debut at Daytona Road Course
Ty Gibbs made his historic NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on Saturday night as the 18-year-old won his first series start, preventing defending champion Austin Cindric from the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Gibbs took the lead in a double-overtime restart and held off the field by a comfortable 1.726 seconds at the finish line, falling to his knees to reflect after getting out of his # 54 Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing – a car owned by his grandfather. , NASCAR Hall of Fame Joe Gibbs.
RELATED: Race Results | Track photos: Daytona
With his victory in the 188 Super Start Batteries at Daytona Presented by O’Reilly, Gibbs becomes only the sixth driver to win in his first series start – tying a feat achieved by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt in 1982 and more recently. , Kurt Busch, 15 years ago.
Gibbs becomes the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series road race event. At 18, 4 months, 16 days, he beats the last record held by Cindric (20).
By most measurements it was an emotional victory after an intense and thrilling race on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course. Cindric led the most laps (29 of 56) but failed to catch Gibbs in the end.
“I just can’t thank everyone for the moment, it’s really like a dream come true for me, it’s just awesome,” said an emotional Gibbs, who drove his first laps and said. made his first pit stop live on Saturday night. .
“I really didn’t think I had him there,” he said of the intense race at the end. “I fought back and we won.”
RELATED: Gibbs Emotional After His First Career Win
Gibbs teammates Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones finished third and fourth, followed by Jeb Burton and fellow JGR family member Harrison Burton. Miguel Paludo, Brandon Brown, Justin Haley and Jeremy Clements round out the top 10.
A win for Cindric would have been his second in as many races in 2021 and he turned to the front to fight for the win. He and AJ Allmendinger – another road racing star – collided as they ran first and second towards the checkered flag of Stage 1. Allmendinger’s car was badly damaged and he was damaged. completed laps for the remainder of the race.
Cindric’s # 22 Penske Ford team was also damaged, but the team made repairs and Cindric got to work. He returned to the race after multiple pit stops in 33rd place, but still leading the lap. His road racing skills and team strategy calls ultimately put him in a position to fight for victory.
“Obviously I don’t want to race at a stadium that aggressively, I would love to see a replay and hope we can avoid something like that because obviously AJ and I were going to fight for a win later. “said Cindric. “I hated having so much damage to our PPG Ford Mustang so soon. It just seemed like he was trying to block out there, I don’t know if he knew I was there or not. Sucks it’s over and we got a good finish. Congratulations to Ty. “
MORE: Cindric and Allmendinger go head-to-head in Stage 1
Team owner Gibbs’ grandfather walked down from the pit and stood behind to watch the final moments of the race. During a pit stop late in the race, teenager Ty was asking his team for peanut butter crackers. An hour later, he hoists the biggest trophy of his young career.
“I don’t even know how to feel,” said young Gibbs. “It’s really hard for me to explain. After my uncle [JGR President J.D. Gibbs] passed away, it was hard for me. It’s just a dream come true. I’m just rambling. I’m excited. Mixed emotions for sure. It’s just awesome. “
From his close-knit family, Gibbs wiped away tears again.
“Family is everything to me, they do so much for me,” said Gibbs, who also won Stage 2. “I can’t thank them enough, it’s just amazing; It’s a dream come true. It’s all the man above, I’m sorry I’m a wreck. I didn’t think that would happen at all. Its awesome, I can’t thank everyone enough for watching and last week I had a terrible interview. I want to apologize to everyone, I just can’t thank everyone enough. It is simply amazing.
After the second race of the season, Cindric holds the points lead by 24 markers over second-placed Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton.
The next Xfinity Series race is the Contender Boats 250, scheduled for next Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Notes: There were no issues during the post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage in Daytona. … Hemric was forced to drop to the back of the field for the start after his # 18 JGR Toyota failed the pre-race inspection three times. He was scheduled to start fifth in the 40-car peloton.
Contribute: Staff reports
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