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Ty Gibbs made his historic NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on Saturday night when the 18-year-old won his first Series Series and kept Austin Cindric, the reigning champion, away on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Gibbs took the lead with a restart in double overtime and held comfortably 1,726 seconds at the finish line of the field and fell to his knees to reflect after getting out of his number 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – a car that owned by his grandfather. , NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.
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With his victory at the Super Start Batteries 188 in Daytona, hosted by O’Reilly, Gibbs becomes only the sixth rider to win in his first series – a performance similar to that of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt in 1982 and recently , Kurt Busch, achieved it. , 15 years ago.
Gibbs becomes the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series track and field event. At 18 years, 4 months, 16 days, he breaks the record that Cindric (20 years old) recently held.
By most standards, it was an emotional victory after an intense, thrilling race on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course. Cindric led most rounds (29 of 56) but ultimately failed to catch Gibbs.
“I just can not thank everyone right now, it’s really a dream come true for me, it’s just wonderful,” said an emotional Gibbs, who turned his first shot in the car and made his first career late Saturday night. stop it. .
“I really did not think I had it there,” he said at the end. “I fought back and we won.”
RELATED: Gibbs Emotional After First Career Victory
The teammates of Gibbs, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones, finished third and fourth, followed by Jeb Burton and another member of the JGR family, Harrison Burton. Miguel Paludo, Brandon Brown, Justin Haley and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 10.
A win for Cindric would have been his second in as many races in 2021, and he turned an inspired ride to the front to win. He and AJ Allmendinger – another star on the road – collided as they ran first and second to the Phase 1 checkered flag. Allmendinger’s car was badly damaged and he drove around the rest of the race.
Cindric is no. 22-team Penske Ford was also damaged, but the team did repairs and Cindric went to work. He returned after the race to several pit stops in 33rd place but still on the front lap. His road skills and the team’s strategic calls finally enable him to fight for the victory.
“I obviously do not want to rush so aggressively to a stage. I would like to see a repeat and hopefully we can avoid something like that, because AJ and I are obviously going to fight for a victory later,” Cindric said. . ‘I hated it so much for damaging our PPG Ford Mustang so much. Just looks like he’s trying to block there, does not know if he knew I was there or not. Suck it is over and we have achieved a good finish. Congratulations to Ty. ”
MORE: Cindric, Phase 1 Allmendinger Collision
Gibbs’ grandfather, who owns the team, climbed down from the pit box and stood behind it to watch the last moments of the race. Teenager Ty asked his team for peanut butter biscuits during a pit stop on a late race. An hour later, he lifted the biggest trophy in his young career.
“I do not even know how to feel,” the younger Gibbs said. “It’s really hard for me to explain. To my uncle [JGR President J.D. Gibbs] died, it was difficult for me. It’s just a dream come true. I’m just walking around. I’m excited. Mixed emotions for sure. This is just amazing. ”
From his close family, Gibbs wiped away tears again.
“The family is everything to me, they do so much for me,” said Gibbs, who also won the second stage. ‘I just can not thank them enough, it’s just wonderful; it is a dream come true. That’s all the guy above, I’m sorry I’m a wreck. I did not think it was going to happen at all. This is great, I can not thank everyone who watched enough and last week I had a terrible interview. I want to apologize to everyone, I just can not say enough thanks to everyone. This is just amazing. ”
After the second race of the season, Cindric holds the points ladder with 24 points over Harrison Burton, Joe Gibbs Racing, in second place.
The next race of the Xfinity series is the Contender Boats 250, scheduled for next Saturday (16:30 ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Notes: There were no problems during the inspection after the race in the Xfinity Series garage at Daytona. … Hemric was forced to descend to the back of the field for the start after his no. 18 JGR Toyota three times failed the inspection before the race. He would start fifth in the 40-car field.
Contributing: Staff Reports