Ty Gibbs showed what he’s willing to do to win a title at Martinsville.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver began the final lap of Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 in second behind his teammate Brandon Jones. But in the first corner, Gibbs put the bumper to him. Jones ended up 23rd and Gibbs took him the win, getting momentum heading into the championship race at Phoenix.
“It was definitely not a clean move, for sure,” Gibbs said to boos. “I definitely didn’t want to wreck him, but I definitely wanted to move him out of the groove so I could go win.
“He’s my teammate, but definitely want to get the win here,” he said. “It’s important to get the win. And now we’re going to the championships. It’s cool.”
“I felt like we lost the spring race getting moved by him,” he said as justification. “We got moved out of the way earlier this year so, it’s part of it.”
Brandon Jones would have advanced to the championship round himself if he’d won the race, giving both Gibbs and Jones a shot for the championship. Instead, JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier took the final transfer spot on points, joining his teammates Noah Gragson and Josh Berry in the championship hunt. Indeed, Jones will be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing next year and joining rival JR Motorsports.
“So I don’t know man, I have no words,” Jones said. “You know, I know that we had some fun beating and banging back and forth a little bit but I’ve never, you know, wrecked him or anything for a win. And so it just kind of shows where that level was there.”
“I know Ty enough to where I know he doesn’t care about what he did,” he added. “He’s pretty much, well—he wasn’t ‘pretty much’—he was locked into the next round. So really, what did that do?”
Justin Allgaier benefitted from Jones’ misfortune to take the final transfer spot for the championship finale after holding off Allmendinger earlier in the race. The Kaulig driver ultimately cut a tire while battling Allgaier, and was eliminated after finishing sixteenth. But Allgaier said he wasn’t happy to advance based on Jones’ wreck.
“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.”
As for Allgaier and Allmendinger, both were happy with how the other raced, with Allmendinger congratulating Allgaier on pit road after the race despite the contact that cut his tire.
“You get down to the end, he was pushing pretty hard,” Allgaier said, justifying the contact with Allmendinger. “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.”
Alongside Allmendinger and Jones, Austin Hill and Sam Mayer were the other two drivers eliminated from the Playoffs at the end of the Round of the 8.
The Xfinity Series returns for the Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday November 5th.
Photos: NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway Saturday Oct. 29, 2022
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results 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
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