Ty Gibbs wins the Xfinity Daytona Road Course race at the first start

Ty Gibbs wins the Xfinity Daytona Road Course race at the first start

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Ty Gibbs, who said he thought he could race in the top 10 on his debut at the Xfinity Series on Saturday, took the lead shortly after restarting the second overtime to win at the Daytona circuit.

“Dreams come true,” said Gibbs, 18.

Gibbs, grandson of car owner Joe Gibbs, went from fifth to the lead at the restart, passing Jeb Burton to the first at Turn 3. Gibbs led 14 of the 56 laps.

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“It’s great when you see people doing things, especially on our racing team, but then you look and you’re your grandchild,” said Joe Gibbs. “Everyone knows the experience and the emotion we have when our kids do things that are special. I think every parent, every grandfather knows what I’m talking about. It is just an emotion for us. “

Ty Gibbs is the third youngest winner in the series.

Austin Cindric, whose car was damaged during AJ Allmendinger’s race for victory in stage 1, finished in second place. Daniel Hemric finished third after starting from the rear because his car failed inspection three times before the race. Brandon Jones was fourth, giving Joe Gibbs Racing three of the top four. Jeb Burton came in fifth place.

Ty Gibbs is the son of JGR team executive Coy Gibbs and racing is all he said he always wanted to do. He won six of the 16 ARCA races last season. Ty Gibbs will run the full ARCA schedule and select Xfinity races this season. Joe Gibbs said his grandson would run about 10 Xfinity races this year.

One of the most dramatic moments of the race came at the end of phase 1. Allmendinger and Cindric made contact reaching the finish line for the end of phase 1. Cindric closed the final chicane and passed under Allmendinger. They made contact and the contact threw Allmendinger on the grass, which tore the front of his car. Cindric’s right front was also damaged in the incident. Allmendinger finished 35th.

Riley Herbst, running in fourth place at the time, ducked to avoid Allmendinger’s car and went through the grass, tearing up his car.

“He took me to the grass,” Cindric said on his team’s radio. “I do not like this. It’s stage 1. I don’t want to do that. “

After the race, Cindric said he wanted to speak to Allmendinger about the incident.

“I think he and I should talk about this to understand, obviously, that we had two really great cars, capable of winning the race,” said Cindric. “I definitely damaged mine and never saw it in the rest of the race. … It’s frustrating, but I think we can learn from it and try not to do it again. He’s an adult and lives there. I’m sure we can talk and find out how to do better going forward. “

Ryan Vargas, whose JD Motorsports car, ran out of sponsorship this week until New Orleans Saints runner Alvin Kamara agreed to sponsor him with his juice network, finished 37th. Vargas’ car suffered mechanical problems before returning to finish the race.

PHASE 1 WINNER: Austin Cindric

STAGE 2 WINNER: Ty Gibbs

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Miguel Paludo, making his first series start since 2012, finished seventh. … Brandon Brown’s eighth place left him fourth in the standings after two races.

THAT HAD A BAD RACE: Riley Herbst was in fourth place at the end of the first stage. He ran to the grass to avoid hitting AJ Allmendinger’s car and had his car pulled off the grass. Herbst finished 38th.

REMARKABLE: Ty Gibbs becomes the sixth driver in the series’ history to win on his debut, but first to do so before starting the World Cup. Gibbs joins Dale Earnhardt (1982 Daytona), Joe Ruttman (1982 Dover), Ricky Rudd (1983 Dover), Terry Labonte (1985 Charlotte) and Kurt Busch (2006 Texas)

NEXT: The series will be played at the Homestead-Miami Speedway at 4:30 pm on February 27.

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