NASCAR
Ty Gibbs Grabs Sixth Career Victory in Clutch Fashion in Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. – It took until double-overtime, but the marathon Xfinity race from Atlanta ended in a thriller. After restarting fourth, Ty Gibbs got around Ryan Sieg at the white flag to take the win. Not only is this Gibbs’ second win of 2022, but it’s career victory number six in just 23 starts.
Both Stages ended with teammate battles, as Josh Berry took Stage 1 from Noah Gragson. Stage 2 would be a similar outcome for Kaulig Racing, with AJ Allmendinger getting the green-and-white checkers over Daniel Hemric.
Over the closing laps, Trevor Bayne was attempting to retake the lead from Austin Hill. However, Bayne took his No. 18 too wide off of turn two, slamming the outside wall and causing a big crash behind him. Two minor incidents after this big one would send the race into a double-overtime finish.
… It's THE BIG ONE … at Atlanta https://t.co/eZPTyBxZNH pic.twitter.com/c3zpBpeYmg
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 19, 2022
In the second attempt at overtime, Austin Hill appeared to have the win well in hand. However, Ty Gibbs shoved Ryan Sieg to the lead, then passed the 39 at the white flag. After missing his pit stall earlier in the race, Ty Gibbs left the field in the dust, collecting another victory in his ultra-young career.
“That was awesome,” Gibbs said of the finish. “First of all, I want to give the glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to thank Him for letting me experience these moments. Second off, my team. I wouldn’t be here without them. Thank you to AJ (Allmendinger) for pushing me. That was awesome. What the heck. This is so cool. Never give up.”
“I don’t know. I just feel like naturally I do in those moments. If there is a gap, you’ve got to take it like Ayrton Senna said. I did it. There almost wasn’t a gap, but there was and send it.”
“It was so cool to win this one. It was so unexpected. The speedways where were we struggled in the past so to win it in this Sport Clips Toyota GR Supra shows we improved. We came back from 29th and messing up on pit road. The win is awesome. Still things that I have to fix and work on, but let’s go.”
Behind Gibbs, the top 10 were Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Landon Cassill, Mason Massey, Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Sheldon Creed, and Ryan Sieg.
The Xfinity Series returns to Circuit of the Americas next week. Coverage begins on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The Pit Boss 250 went to Kyle Busch last year, who can tame the Texas road course now with no Busch in the field?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Noah Lewis/TSJSports
