Ty Gibbs dodges flurries, angry rival to win Xfinity race
In a race that had a little bit of everything, Ty Gibbs dodged raindrops, snow flurries and an angry rival to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 at blustery Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Gibbs, the grandson of former Washington NFL coach Joe Gibbs, received a push from Justin Allgaier on a restart with six laps to go to pass leader Noah Gragson of Las Vegas. He pulled away for his fifth career win in 21 Xfinity starts in a race delayed 41 minutes by freezing rain and snow pellets.
As he climbed out of his car, Gibbs apologized to Ryan Sieg, with whom he tangled twice. Gibbs hit Sieg from behind before the weather hit and was able to drive away when Sieg tried to retaliate after the race was restarted.
“I want to apologize to (Sieg) for the contact I made. It wasn’t my best decision and I’m sorry to the whole group, Ryan’s family, they work so hard,” Gibbs said before breaking into a wide smile. “But let’s put this thing on red baby, let’s go.”
The six laps the 19-year-old Gibbs led at the end were the only time he was in front all day. Gragson won the first two race stages and led 52 laps but once again was denied a victory on his hometown track.
“Just kind of got beat at our own game there and came up short,” he said about the last restart after earning his third top-three finish in as many starts.
In need of a lift
Although the new Next Gen Cup Series car has debuted to mostly rave reviews, it has proven almost impossible to drive with a flat tire because it rides so low to the ground.
“My motto for the first two races was to keep air in all four tires, and we got a right front flat when we got spun around by (Tyler) Reddick at Toyota and that put us two laps down,” Las Vegas’ Kurt Busch said before Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.
“I don’t know what NASCAR will do to come up with a proper solution. It’s so far out of what I can dream up. (Maybe) a hydraulic system that lifts the car up and creates the ride height to get back to the pits. Or a (tire) inner liner (that retains air under pressure). Those seemed to work for like 20, 25 years.”
Zane Smith penalized
Zane Smith, the former NASCAR Bullring competitor who finished second to Chandler Smith in Friday’s exciting Truck Series race at LVMS, was disqualified following postrace inspection and relegated to 36th and last place.
The lug nuts on Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports truck were found not to conform with the NASCAR rule book. Kyle Busch, who unofficially finished third, was bumped to second place after Smith was penalized, with Stewart Friesen, Ryan Preece and Tanner Gray comprising the rest of the official top five.
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.