Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
Ty Gibbs has once again put the NASCAR world on notice.
Gibbs earned three big honors on Saturday in 78 minutes. After the day’s first event was dominated by Austin Cindric, the 19-year old phenom overcame a speeding penalty to take the lead with 11 laps to go and win the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. The win was his fourth and the 11th for the no. 54 team.
Even Gibbs, who also locked up the rookie of the year with the win, is surprised by his immediate success in the second-tier series, battling drivers he watched growing up like Aj Allmendinger.
“It’s a true pleasure,” Gibbs said. “To have four my rookie year, I never would have thought of this at all. It’s mind-blowing.”
Even after the win, his day was far from over with. After taking the checkered flag at 4:49, Gibbs took the green flag for the Reese’s 150 from the pole at 6:07 to lock up the ARCA Championship. Even though he didn’t win the race, getting passed on a green-white-checkered by Nick Sanchez, it was still a career day.
“It’s definitely at the top,” Gibbs said. “A win is a win. I feel like they’re on the same level. But a championship is above all.”
What’s made Gibbs’ success this year, especially in Xfinity, is the variety of ways he’s won races. While he was only relatively dominant at Watkins Glen, he mounted late rallies in all three of his other wins, including Saturday where he used his short-run speed to outduel Cindric in the end.
Whereas in ARCA when Gibbs won several races with fewer cautions, short-run racing is an area where he says he needs to learn the most.
“You’re used to running on old tires,” Gibbs said. “You get more time on that than you do new tires. I feel like that’s a place where I got beat.”
While Gibbs is expected to go full-time in the Xfinity series in 2022, his immediate success has caught the attention of just about everybody in the sport, especially his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates that have also had runs in the no. 54 car.
“When he started running the Xfinity series and being as competitive as he was, it was like ‘okay, we don’t need to be in ARCA anymore,’” said Kyle Busch, who went five-for-five in his Xfinity races this year. “I think everybody didn’t expect him to be as good as he is, as quick as he is, but he’s certainly done very, very well.”
“He’s done really, really well,” added Denny Hamlin. “A lot of people who are in fast cars don’t win, or don’t make use of it. He gets all of it.”
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