(Photo: Jordan Anders | The Podium Finish)
Ty Gibbs won four NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2021 on a part-time schedule. On Saturday, Gibbs wasted no time securing his first victory as a full-time driver. Leading six laps, Gibbs pulled away from Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric on a late restart to win the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But, it was by no means easy for the 19-year-old. Gibbs battled early adversity to win his fifth Xfinity Series event.
“It was a difficult day,” Gibbs said. “My guys did a good job. They’re working really hard back at the shop… “What a great day.”
After starting from the rear, Gibbs made slight contact with Ryan Sieg while exiting Turn 4 on Lap 3. Sieg slid into the outside wall and suffered rear damage. On Lap 16, NASCAR called a caution for mixed precipitation which eventually turned into a red flag. Gibbs and Sieg discussed the incident on pit road during the break and Gibbs took responsibility for the crash.
Once the red flag concluded, Sieg looked to crash Gibbs in revenge. On Lap 30, Sieg, who was off pace, slowed his car down and tried to run into Gibbs but instead crashed himself. Consequently, NASCAR parked Sieg for the race.
“We were kind of dodging bullets out there,” Gibbs said of Sieg. “It comes down to the experience at times… I feel like it just comes down to learning it on our own the hard way. I messed up and I knew I messed up.”
Gibbs never led many laps, but he had one of the fastest cars all day. He finished Stage 1 in fourth place and Stage 2 in second place. The first 79 laps of Stage 3 stayed green and Gibbs’ car thrived in the long run. He ran in second behind Justin Allgaier, who also had a strong long run car.
After two pit cycles and two short runs, Gibbs restarted on the front row with five laps to go. Allgaier, who lost the lead on an earlier restart, pushed Gibbs out to the lead with Gragson just a few car lengths behind. Gibbs took the white flag before a crash on the frontstretch ended the race.
Gragson secured the maximum 20 stage points and led 52 laps but finished second in his hometown race. He has finished top-three in each of the three races this season.
“We got beat by our own game,” Gragson said. “We’re taking it race by race, [but] a good start to the season. We’ll just keep on building on it.”
Results:
Stage 1: Noah Gragson, Sam Mayer, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Truex, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek
Stage 2: Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Truex, Justin Allgaier
Final: Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Landon Cassill, Sheld0n Creed, Brett Moffitt, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones
Notes:
- Austin Hill crashed on Lap 190 and placed 31st. He also crashed at Auto Club last week and finished three laps down.
- Ryan Truex placed 30th after the Lap 190 crash took him out of contention. It was his first of four starts with Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
- Joe Graf Jr. was disqualified from the race for three missing lug nuts.
- Sam Mayer collected 17 stage points but finished 25th after a Lap 183 crash
- Hemric’s third place finish was his fifth top 10 in eight races at Las Vegas
- Gragson leads the standings by 17 points over Gibbs
Next:
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns on Saturday, Mar. 12 at Phoenix Raceway for the LS Tractor 200. The race is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
