By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ty Gibbs took no prisoners Saturday with a race-winning move that dramatically altered the composition of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 field.
On the final lap of the third attempt at overtime, Gibbs rammed soon-to-be-ex-teammate Brandon Jones so hard the contact buckled the hood of Gibbs No. 54 Toyota.
The contact sent Jones, who had taken the lead on the previous lap, into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, and Gibbs had the lead when NASCAR called the 14th caution of the race because of wreck.
By then Gibbs already had clinched one of the two remaining spots in the Championship 4 Round, but the bulldozing move deprived Jones of an opportunity to race for the series title next Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.
As a chorus of boos rained down from the grandstand, Gibbs was unapologetic for that tactic that made him a race winner for the sixth time this season, for the first time at Martinsville and for the 10th time in 50 Xfinity Series starts.
“It was definitely not a clean move, for sure,” Gibbs said. “I definitely didn’t want to wreck him, but I definitely wanted to move him out of the groove so I could go win. I felt like we lost the spring race getting moved by him.
“He’s my teammate, but definitely want to get the win here. It’s important to get the win. And now we’re going to the championships. It’s cool. Hopefully, I don’t get hit by any cans or anything right here.
“We got moved out of the way earlier this year so, it’s part of it.”
Jones won the pole and led 98 laps to Gibbs 102, but finished 23rd, the last driver on the lead lap.
“I know Ty enough to where I know he doesn’t care about what he did,” said Jones, who will move to JR Motorsports next season. “He’s pretty much, well—he wasn’t ‘pretty much’—he was locked into the next round. So really, what did that do?
“I don’t really understand the move. I understand trying to get aggressive—you want to win the race. But to just destroy the race car, I don’t see it. I don’t get any satisfaction from it. Maybe he does. Maybe he likes to win that way? But I never have and never felt strong about racing that way. So, we’ll just take it and go for it.”
Jones’ misfortune elevated veteran Justin Allgaier, his soon-to-be-teammate at JR Motorsports into the final Championship 4 berth. Jones needed a victory to claim the spot, but Allgaier was in a position to advance on points, which he did by 12 points over Regular Season Champion AJ Allmendinger.
Allgaier finished fifth and Allmendinger 16th after contact between their cars cut Allmendinger’s left rear tire as the drivers played bumper tag and swapped positions during the closing stages of the race. Allgaier was happy to advance but less than thrilled with the way it happened.
“I can’t even describe it,” Allgaier said. “It’s disappointing that it’s gotten to the point where it’s—unfortunately easier to drive through somebody than it is to pass them. Really proud of our team. We never gave up until the checkered flag fell. Had a ton of damage right there (from a collision on Lap 262 in the second overtime) but made it to the final round.”
After the race, Allmendinger sought Allgaier out on pit road and congratulated him.
“You get down to the end, (Allmendinger) was pushing pretty hard,” Allgaier said. “He chose to run into us enough times that you get to the point where you have to go for it. He knew when he turned back left that we were going to hit.
“I hate it for those guys. I don’t know if we could have run 25 laps battling as hard as we did there at the end. They’ve had a great season. We’ve had a great season. It’s just so hard when it comes to the last race, especially at a place like Martinsville.”
Gibbs and Allgaier will race for the series championship at Phoenix against Josh Berry and Noah Gragson, who earned their spots in the Championship 4 with respective victories at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami in the Round of 8.
Non-Playoff drivers Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst finished second and third after the late-race melee, followed by the JR Motorsports trio of Gragson, Allgaier and Sam Mayer. Nick Sanchez, Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill and Blaine Perkins completed the top 10.
Along with Allmendinger and Jones, Hill and Mayer were eliminated from the Playoffs.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 3rd Annual Dead On Tools 250
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, October 29, 2022
1. (4) Ty Gibbs (P), Toyota, 269.
2. (2) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 269.
3. (8) Riley Herbst, Ford, 269.
4. (5) Noah Gragson (P), Chevrolet, 269.
5. (6) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 269.
6. (22) Sam Mayer (P), Chevrolet, 269.
7. (24) Nicholas Sanchez, Chevrolet, 269.
8. (37) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 269.
9. (36) Austin Hill # (P), Chevrolet, 269.
10. (23) Blaine Perkins(i), Chevrolet, 269.
11. (11) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 269.
12. (18) Rajah Caruth(i), Chevrolet, 269.
13. (21) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 269.
14. (14) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 269.
15. (15) Derek Griffith, Toyota, 269.
16. (9) AJ Allmendinger (P), Chevrolet, 269.
17. (10) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 269.
18. (3) Sammy Smith (P), Toyota, 269.
19. (27) Brandon Brown, Ford, 269.
20. (13) Josh Berry (P), Chevrolet, 269.
21. (7) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 269.
22. (33) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 269.
23. (1) Brandon Jones (P), Toyota, 269.
24. (34) CJ McLaughlin, Ford, 268.
25. (32) Mason Massey, Chevrolet, 265.
26. (31) Kris Wright(i), Chevrolet, 261.
27. (12) Joe Graf Jr, Ford, 260.
28. (19) Howie Disavino III, Chevrolet, 259.
29. (29) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 248.
30. (38) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Accident, 242.
31. (25) Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 219.
32. (30) Patrick Emerling, Chevrolet, Accident, 215.
33. (17) Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 206.
34. (28) JJ Yeley, Toyota, Brakes, 176.
35. (26) Matt Mills(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 145.
36. (35) Chad Finchum, Toyota, Brakes, 137.
37. (16) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Accident, 108.
38. (20) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, Accident, 55.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 60.41 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 20 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 14 for 91 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Jones (P) 1-66;N. Gragson (P) 67-87;T. Gibbs (P) 88-107;B. Jones (P) 108;T. Gibbs (P) 109-111;J. Allgaier (P) 112-116;T. Gibbs (P) 117-124;J. Berry (P) 125-164;B. Jones (P) 165-177;T. Gibbs (P) 178-217;N. Gragson (P) 218;T. Gibbs (P) 219-242;B. Jones (P) 243-248;S. Smith (P) 249;B. Jones (P) 250-260;T. Gibbs (P) 261-266;N. Gragson (P) 267;B. Jones (P) 268;T. Gibbs (P) 269.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ty Gibbs (P) 7 times for 102 laps; Brandon Jones (P) 6 times for 98 laps; Josh Berry (P) 1 time for 40 laps; Noah Gragson (P) 3 times for 23 laps; Justin Allgaier (P) 1 time for 5 laps; Sammy Smith (P) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,54,7,8,18,98,2,16,1,21
Stage #2 Top Ten: 54,7,16,9,48,8,21,27,39,23
Cheap shot by a spoiled brat. Gibbs sucks, hope he gets wrecked early at Phoenix, he deserves all the bad karma that comes his way. Spoiled little rich kid
I think that they should put Brandon Jones in the #23 Cup car today to make up for Gibbs being such a spoiled brat.
Wow, I don’t know where to begin, there is so much that can be said.
Let me start off here: https://www.gameplanforlife.com
Just don’t see how something like Ty can be the result of a family tells others how to live. Same for Billie Graham. His kids were drug addicts, alcoholics, divorcees, etc.
We have these high holy rollers telling others how to live, yet don’t walk the talk themselves.
Natural law will take care of Ty. I can’t believe sponsors are backing that.
Or maybe they should park Gibbs for the next race like they did Bubba Wallace.
Horrible move…. No Class…..That is not Racing….. Screwing your Teammate out of a chance at the Championship ….Dirty… Absolutely no respect for anyone or anyones equipment….Karma is a Bitch…. You will see,,…..
Any news on Ty Gibbs being parked for a race? That was an outrageous intentional wreck.
Ty Gibbs is so unprofessional…
Totally unprofessional…
Do you all follow these races? I sure don’t but when they get a headline I have no problem jumping on the bandwagon. Pulling up the Youtube video and reading about the details.
This is a 20 year old kid racing the best equipment with an unabated career path leading to CUP racing full time. No problem with what he did and why would he care. What’s the worst thing that could happen a stern chat from gramps.
How hard can racing a stock car be if you minimal hand/eye coordination, a competitive spirit and are a member of one of NASCAR’s royal families. Sure you may not be one of the greats but you can get by the equipment does 90 plus percent of the work. There’s no professional sport in existence where any family member can have a high paying career with just a minimum of ability and commitment except for motor sports.
Joe Gibbs is a great man that made his mark in the NFL a truly great achievement. Then took those team building skills to eventually be one of the teams to dominate NASCAR. All the fruit of his loins could never compete in the NFL but they sure as heck can compete in NASCAR because at this point only a limited number of royal families own the keys to the kingdom.
Were it not for his lineage this kid could be a SK Light driver at Stafford struggling to get a top 5. But he’s a Gibbs so he gets the best equipment near the top of the food chain in NASCAR and wreck the car in front of him purposely with minimal consequences. That’s part of the rot of NASCAR. Rampant nepotism and the absence of opportunity for the unconnected but talented outsider.
Admit it, you’re just watching this crap based on habit.
If Iwere Joe Gibbs, I’d be embarrassed to call him my grandson. There is an “i” in Gibbs, but not in the word TEAM.
Can’t wait for ty to get smashed by Jones… Jones is HIS TEAMATE my goodness but now moving to JR motorsports… Junior has a great strong team in Xfinity… Will he field a Cup CAR soon ???
dont worry guys. His team already apologized said Ty was young and this was just another learning experience. That PR team just cut and pastes the apology press release after every race. I dont follow Nascar that closely and I know this isnt his first or second questionable action. Probably closer to his 4th or 5th. He has had a lot of ‘learning experiences’.
I hope the xfiinity drivers ban together to ensure this guy doesnt finish the next race. Perhaps some driver wll try to move him but accidentally dump Gibbs ensuring he doesnt win the championship. They definitely didn’t want to wreck him, but accidents happen with little consequences, this is one accident that would be welcome by most drivers and fans. If Nascar or Joe Gibbs racing isnt going to sit him perhaps the drivers will. Then again should he win the chorus of boos may be well worth it.
Racing has adopted the WWF model of entertaining its remaining fans. You need good guys to root for and you need bad guys to root against. Ty Gibbs is definitely gone full Heel for Nascar. Are you entertained?
Does Vegas have odds on Ty running at the finish?
csg, I’m with you. Hopefully there’s a couple of teams that are committed to Gibbs not winning this championship. He’s certainly pissed off a lot of people including his teammates. Should be interesting
Drivers have a CODE those who violate that code lose in the END….Seen it many times… Like in Hockey… Get his Number # and you will get your chance for PAYBACK… Usually when you get close their are 50 ways to get your payback … Live by the sword…. die by the sword…. I will be surprised in Ty even finishes the next Race… back in time Gibbs would actually feel Drivers wrath in the PITS….Leo the Lion Cleary would’t hesitate to come over for a little ” TALK ” after the Race…Curtis Turner would drop the Hammer on many a fellows that did him dirty…. The ” DRIVERS” will get their on Justice on that I am sure… The Racing Gods have a funny way of putting the combatants side by side or nose to tail ….. soon after a Dustup……The CODE will take care of this problem… Just sit back and enjoy it…. LOL
I am thinking I should try to watch the next race, I havent said that about a Nascar big 3 event in a long time. Probably, nothing will happen, and it will be a big disappointment but i am interested in watching the drama unfold….and isnt that what Nascar and their TV affiliate wants.