Ty Gibbs wins NASCAR Xfinity title in Phoenix after strong final-race performance
Justin Allgaier was solid all Stage 3 and Noah Gragson made an admirable late-race push — but it was Ty Gibbs who rose above the rest.
The No. 54 car dominated the first two stages and proved tough when under siege in Stage 3, and the performance delivered Gibbs a two-car-lengths win at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night and his first NASCAR Xfinity championship.
“My car was as fast as Xfinity internet,” Gibbs told NBC Sports with a big smile, a mixture of cheers and boos raining down from the grandstands. He then laughed, “I think that’s what I’m supposed to say.”
He added: “Thank you to the fans, even though I don’t have that many of them. Hopefully, I earned some respect back, and we’ll move on.”
It’s fair to say that Gibbs wasn’t the most popular driver coming into Saturday. His move in Martinsville last week — the one where he appeared to wreck his teammate to clear his way for a win — has been the talk of the Xfinity Series leading into championship weekend.
The 20-year-old driver referenced and apologized for the move in his postrace interview multiple times.
“What I did last week was unacceptable, and I apologize once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organization standpoint. All my fault,” he said. “I can sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it’s not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions. I felt like today I had a good race, felt like I made some good moves.
“Me and the 7 (Allgaier) were racing really hard. I felt like hopefully we put on a great show for you guys, the fans. Thank you for all that you guys do.”
There seemed to be several turning points in Saturday’s race. But the latest one came with 40 laps to go. During the race’s second-to-last caution, all four Championship 4 drivers — Gibbs, Gragson, Allgaier and Josh Berry — filed into pit road.
Gibbs, running second at the time, had a season-defining pit stop to earn the leading spot on the restart. Allgaier came off pit road in second, and Gragson lost five spots, having to restart seventh.
Gibbs then used that lead to find his groove, and even though he and Allgaier raced each other hard down the stretch — trading leads three times on one lap at one point — it was Gibbs who was able to clear him with about 20 laps to go, and the No. 54 car never looked back.
Gibbs, of Joe Gibbs Racing, prevailed over three other JR Motorsports drivers.
“Great job to JR Motorsports, but the 25% won,” Gibbs said. “Thank you to all the guys. Had an awesome time racing in the Xfinity Series this year, and looking for more and I’m very excited.”
Gragson finished second. Allgaier finished third. Berry finished 13th.
For Gragson, Saturday marked the end of a four-year-run with the No. 9 team at JR Motorsports. He’ll join Petty GMS in one of the team’s two full-time Cup cars in 2023.
“The execution on pit stops, we just need to be better as a Bass Pro Shop team all around, but still proud of everyone’s efforts,” Gragson said a few moments after the race’s conclusion. “Thought we had a really good car there in the second half. ... Just too tight there at the end, but still super proud of everybody.”
Unofficial results in Xfinity championship
| Position | Car | Driver | Time behind |
| 1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (P) | -- |
| 2 | 9 | Noah Gragson (P) | 0.397 |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (P) | 1.45 |
| 4 | 10 | Landon Cassill | 4.978 |
| 5 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | 6.171 |
| 6 | 2 | Sheldon Creed # | 7.37 |
| 7 | 98 | Riley Herbst | 8.477 |
| 8 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | 9.08 |
| 9 | 21 | Austin Hill # | 9.346 |
| 10 | 18 | Sammy Smith | 11.187 |
| 11 | 19 | Brandon Jones | 11.63 |
| 12 | 48 | Nicholas Sanchez | 11.891 |
| 13 | 8 | Josh Berry (P) | 13.611 |
| 14 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | 14.624 |
| 15 | 36 | Josh Williams | 15.144 |
| 16 | 27 | Jeb Burton | 17.581 |
| 17 | 44 | Rajah Caruth(i) | 18.063 |
| 18 | 92 | Alex Labbe | 19.01 |
| 19 | 4 | Bayley Currey | 19.221 |
| 20 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | 20.294 |
| 21 | 2 | Parker Retzlaff | 20.418 |
| 22 | 38 | Kyle Sieg # | 21.152 |
| 23 | 26 | Kaz Grala(i) | 21.547 |
| 24 | 35 | Joey Gase | 26.581 |
| 25 | 31 | Myatt Snider | 26.955 |
| 26 | 68 | Kris Wright(i) | 27.127 |
| 27 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | 28.562 |
| 28 | 45 | Stefan Parsons(i) | -1 |
| 29 | 6 | Brennan Poole(i) | -2 |
| 30 | 66 | JJ Yeley | -3 |
| 31 | 13 | Dawson Cram | -4 |
| 32 | 78 | BJ McLeod | -4 |
| 33 | 91 | Mason Massey | -4 |
| 34 | 1 | Sam Mayer | -5 |
| 35 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | -6 |
| 36 | 7 | Joe Graf Jr | -7 |
| 37 | 8 | Brandon Brown | -46 |
| 38 | 77 | Dillon Bassett | -48 |
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 9:24 PM.
