NASCAR Xfinity Series

Ty Gibbs superb in Sin City shootout after Sieg squabble and snowy stoppage

3 Mins read
Credit: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Ty Gibbs‘ prodigious performance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series continued Saturday when he dominated the final restart to win the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but it came after a tumultuous day for the 19-year-old phenom. Much of his race day was dominated by a rivalry with Ryan Sieg after the two collided twice and a forty-minute red flag for, unexpectedly, snow in the Nevada desert.

Gibbs started his race in eleventh, though he and fifteen other drivers were ordered to the rear for switching to a backup car following damage to their primaries the previous week at Fontana; teams were supposed to use the same car for both races, though crashes and other incidents resulted in so many drivers at the back that it was basically a field inversion. As pole winner A.J. Allmendinger and eventual stage winner Noah Gragson dominated the segment, Gibbs’ climb through the field saw him feud with Sieg after contact sent the latter into the wall just three laps in.

Although the incident was attributed to Gibbs being over-aggressive rather than malice, Sieg was livid over the radio and vowed to return the favour. However, he had to wait until the snow cleared up when it forced a red flag after twenty laps. During the wait, Sieg called out Gibbs for his driving style, especially as he has “the best car in the garage.” Gibbs took responsibility during his red flag interview with FOX Sports and further apologised in his post-race interview, saying it “wasn’t my best decision and I’m sorry to their whole group. Ryan’s family, they worked so hard, so I want to apologise to them.”

Despite Gibbs’ apology, Sieg was eager to exact revenge and tried to execute his plan on lap 30, though it completely backfired instead. As Gibbs attempted to pass him in turn four, Sieg moved up to squeeze him into the wall. However, this resulted in Sieg’s decklid coming off and him spinning into the outside wall, with Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed as innocent victims when they tried to thread the needle between Sieg and the barrier.

The opening stage finally ended with a JR Motorsports podium sweep as Gragson led Sam Mayer and Josh Berry. Gibbs, Ryan Truex, Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top ten.

Stage #2 saw a pair of cautions for Jesse Iwuji‘s spin and Joe Graf Jr. turning Kyle Weatherman. Gibbs’ race finally settled down during the segment and he finished behind Gragson for second in the stage. Mayer, Hill, Hemric, Jones, Berry, Nemechek, Truex, and Justin Allgaier followed.

Graf’s dubiously eventful day continued in the final stage when he clipped Weatherman’s DGM Racing team-mate Matt Mills and shot him into the wall. While Graf finished twenty-ninth, he failed post-race inspection for having three missing or loose lug nuts, making him the second disqualification of the weekend after Zane Smith had lug nut violations of his own in the previous night’s Camping World Truck Series event. Iwuji also had a difficult showing as the rookie spun on lap 173 into Ryan Vargas and Stefan Parsons.

The final fifteen laps saw a pair of cautions beginning with Mayer’s spin. After just one lap of racing on the ensuing restart, Truex shot up into Hill exiting turn four with Nemechek and Herbst sliding through pit road. As the finish was too far away to necessitate overtime, the last green flag came with five laps remaining.

A strong push from Allgaier enabled Gibbs to clear Allgaier’s JRM team-mate Gragson. Another incident involving Landon Cassill and C.J. McLaughlin as they took the white flag ended the race under caution, sealing the victory for Gibbs.

Despite being only nineteen years old, Gibbs has five Xfinity wins to his name in twenty career starts.

“I want to say thank you to Justin Allgaier for my push[,]” said Gibbs. “That helped me a lot. I had a fun time racing with the JR (Motorsports) cars. Hopefully, we can keep it going and go out and win some more races.”

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
11154Ty GibbsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota200Running
249Noah GragsonJR MotorsportsChevrolet200Running
3611Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet200Running
428Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet200Running
5167Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet200Running
6510Landon CassillKaulig RacingChevrolet200Running
782Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet200Running
81302Brett MoffittOur MotorsportsChevrolet200Running
9116A.J. AllmendingerKaulig RacingChevrolet200Running
102119Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota200Running
111251Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet200Running
121026John Hunter Nemechek*Sam Hunt RacingToyota200Running
133544Ryan EllisAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet200Running
14398Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord200Running
151736Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet199Running
162438Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord199Running
172523Anthony AlfredoOur MotorsportsChevrolet199Running
18274Bayley CurreyJD MotorsportsChevrolet199Running
193827Jeb BurtonOur MotorsportsChevrolet198Running
203066J.J. YeleyMBM MotorsportsFord198Running
213431Myatt SniderJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet198Running
223635Joey GaseEmerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota198Running
232345Kaz Grala*Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet198Running
243128C.J. McLaughlinDGM RacingFord198Running
2591Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet198Running
262692Kyle WeathermanDGM RacingChevrolet196Running
273291Mason MasseyDGM RacingChevrolet195Running
281448Jade BufordBig Machine Racing TeamChevrolet195Running
291868Brandon BrownBrandonbilt MotorsportsChevrolet193Running
30718Ryan TruexJoe Gibbs RacingToyota190Accident
311521Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet188Accident
32286Ryan VargasJD MotorsportsChevrolet168Accident
332999Stefan ParsonsB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet168Accident
343734Jesse IwujiJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet156Accident
35195Matt MillsB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet83Accident
362039Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord25Accident
373347Brennan PooleMike Harmon RacingChevrolet3Engine
382207Joe Graf Jr.SS-Green Light RacingFord194Running (DSQ)
DNQ08David StarrSS-Green Light RacingFord
DNQ13Stan MullisMBM MotorsportsToyota
DNQ78Josh WilliamsB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Xfinity points
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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