The official 2021 Super Start Batteries 188 NASCAR XFINITY Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Daytona Road Course, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.
Saturday, February 20th, 2021
Daytona Road Course, Daytona Beach, FL
Ty Gibbs turned in a historic NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday night, the 18-year-old won in his first series start – holding off reigning champion Austin Cindric on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
Gibbs took the lead on a restart in double overtime and held off the field by a comfortable 1.726-seconds at the finish line, dropping to his knees to reflect after climbing out of his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – a car owned by his grandfather, NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.
With his win in the Super Start Batteries 188 at Daytona Presented by O'Reilly, Gibbs becomes only the sixth driver to win in his first series start – matching a feat achieved by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt in 1982 and most recently, Kurt Busch, 15 years ago.
Gibbs becomes the youngest driver to win an NASCAR Xfinity Series road course event. At 18 years, four months, 16 days, he breaks the record held – ironically – by Cindric (20 years old).
By all measures, it was an emotional victory following an intense, exciting race on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course. Cindric led the most laps 29 of the 56 – but could not catch Gibbs in the end.
"I just cannot thank everybody right now, really this is like a dream come true for me, it's just awesome," said an emotional Gibbs, who turned his first ever laps in the car and made his first career pit stop Saturday evening.
"I really didn't think I had it there," he said of the intense racing at the end. "I fought back and we won."
Gibbs teammates Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones finished third and fourth, followed by Jeb Burton and another of the JGR family, Harrison Burton. Miguel Paludo, Brandon Brown, Justin Haley, and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 10.
A victory for Cindric would have been his second in as many races in 2021 and he turned in an inspired drive back to the front to contend for the win. He and A.J. Allmendinger – another road course racing star – collided while running first and second heading to the Stage 1 checkered flag. Allmendinger's car was badly damaged and he ran laps down the remainder of the race.
Cindric's No. 22 Team Penske Ford was damaged as well, but the team made repairs and Cindric went to work. He returned to the race after multiple pit stops in 33rd place, but still on the lead lap. His road racing skills and the team's strategy calls ultimately put him in position to contend for the win.
"Obviously I don't want to be racing to a stage that aggressively, I'd love to see a replay and hopefully we can avoid something like that because obviously A.J. and I were going to be fighting for a win later," Cindric said.
"I hated having that much damage to our PPG Ford Mustang that early. Just seemed like he was trying to block there, don't know if he knew I was there or not. Sucks it's over with and we salvaged a good finish. Congratulations to Ty."
Gibbs grandfather, who owns the team, climbed down from the pit box and stood behind it to watch the final moments of the race. Clearly Ty Gibbs win was an emotional achievement for the entire family.
During a late race pit stop, the teenager Ty was asking his team for peanut butter crackers. An hour later, he was hoisting the biggest trophy of his young career.
"I don't even know how to feel," Gibbs said. "This is really hard for me to explain. After my uncle [JGR President JD Gibbs] passed away, it's been hard for me. It's just a dream come true. I'm just rambling. I'm excited. Mixed emotions for sure. This is just awesome."
Of his tight-knit family, Gibbs again wiped tears.
"The family is everything to me, they do so much for me," Gibbs said. "I just can't thank them enough, this is just amazing; this is a dream come true. It's all the man above, I'm sorry I'm a wreck I didn't think this was going to happen at all. This is awesome, I can't thank everybody enough watching and last week I had a terrible interview. I want to apologize for everybody, I just can't thank everybody enough. This is just amazing."
Following the second race of the season, Team Penske's Austin Cindric holds the points lead by 24 markers over Joe Gibbs Racing's Harrison Burton in second.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 39 | Chevrolet | Ellsworth Advisors | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
2 | 99 | Andy Lally | Northport, NY | Feb 11, 1975 | 46 | Chevrolet | Energy Air Inc | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
3 | 61 | Stephen Leicht | Asheville, NC | Jan 9, 1987 | 34 | Toyota | JaniKing | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Patrick Magee |
4 | 4 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 31 | Chevrolet | JD Motorsports | JD Motorsports | Tommy Machek |
5 | 13 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 53 | Toyota | Whataburger | Motorsports Business Management | Clinton Cram |
6 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 27 | Ford | Cable Enterprises | Motorsports Business Management | Mark Hillman |
7 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | BRANDT | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
8 | 1 | Michael Annett | Des Moines, IA | Jun 23, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | PFJ American Heart Association | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
9 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 28 | Chevrolet | Quartz Hill Records | Our Motorsports | Joe Williams |
10 | 10 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 28 | Chevrolet | State Water Heaters | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
11 | 0 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, NC | Jun 22, 1989 | 31 | Chevrolet | ForeverLawn | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
12 | 52 | Gray Gaulding | Colonial Heights, VA | Feb 10, 1998 | 23 | Chevrolet | Panini America | Means Motorsports | Tim Brown |
13 | 17 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 25 | Chevrolet | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Miller |
14 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 33 | Ford | CMR Construction and Roofing | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
15 | 47 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 23 | Chevrolet | Picture Perfect | Mike Harmon Racing | Alan Collins Jr |
16 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 30 | Toyota | Poppy Bank | Joe Gibbs Racing | Dave Rogers |
17 | 78 | Jesse Little | Sherrills Ford, NC | Apr 15, 1997 | 23 | Chevrolet | BJ McLeod Motorsports | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
18 | 74 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 24 | Chevrolet | Covert Scouting Cameras | Mike Harmon Racing | Ed Jewett |
19 | 11 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 21 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
20 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Globocam / Prolon Controls | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
21 | 22 | Austin Cindric | Columbus, OH | Sep 2, 1998 | 22 | Ford | PPG | Team Penske | Brian Wilson |
22 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Jabs Construction | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
23 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 24 | Toyota | Menards / Barracuda Pumps | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
24 | 20 | Harrison Burton | Huntersville, NC | Oct 9, 2000 | 20 | Toyota | DEX Imaging | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 36 | Chevrolet | All South Electric | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
26 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 22 | Chevrolet | Bucked Up Energy | SS Green Light Racing | Mike Tyska |
27 | 92 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 27 | Chevrolet | Alloy Employer Services / General Formulations / Hawaiian Inn | DGM Racing | Ryan London |
28 | 5 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 24 | Chevrolet | J.F. Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |
29 | 2 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 26 | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
30 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 22 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber Camo BRCC | JR Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
31 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 21 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
32 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Como, MS | Dec 7, 1986 | 34 | Chevrolet | Gilreath Farms Red Angus | Martins Motorsports | Buddy Sisco |
33 | 15 | Colby Howard | Simpsonville, SC | Oct 28, 2001 | 19 | Chevrolet | Project HOPE Foundation | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
34 | 48 | Jade Buford | Brentwood, TN | Feb 15, 1988 | 33 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Vodka Spiked Cooler | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
35 | 90 | Preston Pardus | New Smyrna Beach, FL | Feb 15, 1997 | 24 | Chevrolet | Chinchor Electric / Danus | DGM Racing | Eddie Troconis |
36 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 20 | Chevrolet | The Big Squeezy | JD Motorsports | Ricky Viers |
37 | 8 | Miguel Paludo | Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Jul 26, 1983 | 37 | Chevrolet | BRANDT | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
38 | 126 | Kris Wright | Wexford, PA | Jul 17, 1994 | 26 | Toyota | F.N.B. Corporation | Sam Hunt Racing | Andrew Abbott |
39 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 18 | Toyota | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
40 | 23 | Natalie Decker | Eagle River, WI | Jun 25, 1997 | 23 | Chevrolet | Red Street Records | RSS Racing | Paul Clapprood |