It’s been 280 days since Ty Gibbs, the defending champion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was last able to celebrate a victory of any kind in NASCAR’s top-three series – the longest stretch of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s career.
So, after a commanding victory in Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Road Course, the relief of finally scoring a victory, in his seventh Xfinity Series start of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing, was quite evident.
“Definitely about time,” Gibbs said after climbing from his car. “Really cool to get one here at the Brickyard, I grew up racing go-karts at Newcastle right down the street, so really special to me.”
Gibbs started Saturday’s 150-mile contest from the outside of the front row, alongside the series’ all-time wins leader on the road courses, AJ Allmendinger, who kept pace with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver throughout the entire afternoon.
The 20-year-old driver would get the lead quickly from Allmendinger on the initial start, showcasing the speed that the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra had in dry conditions. However, lightning and a heavy rain shower would throw a wrench in those plans.
After a stoppage lasting more than a half-hour, the strategy would then break off between Allmendinger and Gibbs, as the Kaulig Racing driver elected to put slick tires back on the No. 10 Chevrolet prior to going back green.
While that strategy call would allow Allmendinger to inherit the lead for a substantial portion of the event, it would be a full-course caution for the stopped Brad Perez entry that bunched the field back together.
The two NASCAR Cup Series drivers would continue to do battle throughout the race, until a slow pit stop by the Kaulig Racing crew, lost Allmendinger the lead to the No. 19 of Ty Gibbs, just in time for the race’s final restart.
Over the course of the race’s 16-lap run to the finish, Gibbs was able to sneak away from the rest of the pack, finishing 7.959 seconds ahead of runner-up Sam Mayer, who scored back-to-back top-two finishes on road courses in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The victory marks the 12th for Gibbs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, three of which – including his series debut at Daytona’s Road Course – have come on the road courses.
AJ Allmendinger would fade to third place at the end of the 62-lap contest, while Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier would come home in fourth and fifth. Cole Custer would rebound from a late-race accident, and a flat spot on his tires, to finish in sixth.
Both Parker Kligerman and Sheldon Creed were able to surge through the field during the race’s final green-flag stint to finish in seventh and eighth place, both earning much-needed points toward a potential playoff berth. Kaz Grala and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top-10.
Leaving Indianapolis, Austin Hill takes over the lead in the regular-season point standings, holding an 11-point margin over John Hunter Nemechek in second place. Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, and Josh Berry complete the top five.
At the post-season cutline, Sheldon Creed now moves to the positive-side of the cutline, boasting an advantage of only 17 points heading to Watkins Glen International next weekend.
