DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Joe Gibbs celebrated his first NASCAR victory as a grandfather, watching from 18-year-old Ty Gibbs win his Xfinity Series debut on Saturday at a race track at Daytona International Speedway.
It was the first NASCAR race of the national series for Ty Gibbs, who jumped two steps from ARCA to Xfinity on his debut. He plowed across the field on the last two reboots to beat Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric in the double overtime.
Gibbs became the youngest driver to win an Xfinity road race at 18 years, 4 months and 16 days. Cindric holds the record of 20, set on the road route in Mid-Ohio in 2019.
Joey Logano holds the overall record. He won 21 days after his 18th birthday in his third race – also riding for Joe Gibbs. Ty Gibbs is the second youngest winner in the history of the Xfinity Series.
Gibbs drove across the grass, used the top lane on the oval and plunged into the corners in his first shocking victory. He had never competed with an Xfinity car before and had never made a live pit stop before, and the COVID-19 restrictions cut training and qualifying for Saturday’s race.
“Dreams really do come true. I am completely exhausted, I left everything out there,” said Gibbs. “I thought maybe I was going to be in the top seven, eight? I was completely surprised. When I got to a bigger series like this, these are some of the guys I dreamed of competing with. I am a disaster now.”
Joe Gibbs, a member of NASCAR and professional football halls of fame, stoically watched from behind boxing. Protected by a mask, he gave no indication of emotion. But when 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 five Cup Series championships, 185 Cup wins and four Daytona 500 wins – none as emotionally rewarding as this Xfinity stunner. When Joe Gibbs called home to speak to his wife, Pat, he said she was crying too much to speak.
“This is an incredible experience for our family,” said Joe Gibbs. “I was lucky to enjoy it so much, but from that, he hadn’t driven the car around. We didn’t dream that he was in front like that.
“This is the only thing Ty has wanted to do since he was 2 years old. Any parent or grandparent would say to you, it’s like a dream come true.”
Ty Gibbs dropped to his knees beside his Toyota and dropped his head in his hands.
Then he admitted that he also didn’t know how to burnouts.
“I don’t even know what’s going on,” he said. He choked on his 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,” he said.
Ty Gibbs is the sixth driver to win on his debut in the Xfinity Series, joining Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch. He is the son of Joe Gibbs’s youngest son, Coy, who was unable to attend the race because “Coach” took the spot for a team owner inside the NASCAR COVID bubble. Ty’s mother, Heather Gibbs, watched from a suite.
Ty Gibbs has won eight ARCA races in the previous two seasons and, finally, old enough to race nationally, his grandfather gave him a chance in the NASCAR second-tier series. Although JGR is one of the best NASCAR teams with excellent equipment, Gibbs showed that he could pilot it and advanced across the field, so he stood his ground while Cindric tried to put him back in place.
“I hadn’t competed with him before, but he seemed to be able to handle a lot of situations well, and I put him in some very difficult situations trying to stay in the lead, and he did a great job with that,” said Cindric.
Cindric and AJ Allmendinger crashed to the end of the first stage, and Cindric was left with a hole in the front fender. He dropped to 34th on the field, but still returned to the lead.
Cindric, who led the race record by 29 laps, had a sweep of Daytona in sight until a danger three laps from the end gave Gibbs a second late chance. Both fought for new tires and Gibbs restarted in 10th, Cindric in 11th.
On the first restart of overtime, Gibbs passed a package of cars outside the Daytona oval and pushed his way in and out of traffic to third position. Another precaution caused the race to double-OT, and Gibbs this time dived to gain ground.
He drove deep into the grass – kicking dirt all over the car – and somehow still took the lead. Gibbs then moved away to win by 1.726 seconds over Cindric.
“I am shocked that he did not pull the divider out when crossing the grass going to turn one at the final restart,” said Cindric.
JGR has yet to announce a full 2021 schedule for Ty Gibbs, but his grandfather said the details are 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.