Saturday, August 6th, 2022
Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI
Taking control of the race in the final stage, Ty Gibbs sped to his NASCAR Xfinity Series-best fifth victory of the season in Saturday’s New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
The tenor of the race changed markedly near the end of the second stage when pole winner Noah Gragson opted to stay on the track and compete for the stage win on the high-speed 2.0-mile track.
Gibbs had pitted under caution on Lap 55 and inherited the lead when Gragson and others who had stayed out until the completion of the stage came to pit road during the stage break.
The race ran caution-free from the final restart Lap 68 to the finish on Lap 125, and Gibbs beat runner-up Justin Allgaier to the stripe by 1.160 seconds. Gragson worked his way up to third but trailed Gibbs by 2.472 seconds at the finish.
“I think this type of racing shows the strategy in the pit stops,” said Gibbs, who led twice for a race-high 54 laps, matching the number of his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “My guys did such a great job. I work out with them during the week, so I see how hard they work. They do a great job—every one of them.
“So I'm very thankful and glad to be part of the organization that motivates me like that week in and week out—not motivates, because that's temporary—but being relentless, and I feel like that's what they showed me.”
The victory was Gibbs first at Michigan and the ninth in 39 Xfinity Series starts for a remarkable winning percentage of 23.08.
Allgaier opted for the same strategy as Gibbs, but a slow green-flag pit stop on Lap 100 cost him a chance to compete for the win.
“I pitted to try and get clear of some lapped cars, and, unfortunately, we merged back on the race track right behind those same lapped cars, right before they made their pit stops,” Allgaier said. “So not only did we have to contend with getting by them, as soon as we got by them, they all pitted.
“Second place is tough, but my daughter’s birthday’s on Monday, so we’ll celebrate, even though it’s second.”
Gragson’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet arguably was the fastest car in the race, but strategy and the absence of cautions in the final stage doomed his prospects.
“We won the first stage and then had a caution with about five to go in the second stage and opted to stay out, won the second stage (by .035 seconds of AJ Allmendinger),” Gragson said. “Then just flipped.
“Restarted the third stage 12th, and that kind of hurt us there at the end, but overall good day for our Bass Pro Shops, Black Rifle Camaro. We were running him down—just needed more laps there at the end.”
Brandon Jones and Austin Hill finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Josh Berry, Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and Landon Cassill completed the top 10.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Los Gatos, CA | Dec 16, 1981 | 42 | Chevrolet | Action Industries | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
2 | 66 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Toyota | Coble Enterprises | Motorsports Business Management | George Church |
3 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | Chevy Accessories | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
4 | 08 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 56 | Ford | TicketSmarter | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Jason Miller |
5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | BRANDT | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
6 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Ergodyne Work Gear | Our Motorsports | Chad Walter |
7 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 34 | Chevrolet | Keen Parts/Autism Awareness | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |
8 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 37 | Ford | Afflictor Broadheads | RSS Racing | Kevin Starland |
9 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Wentzville, MO | Aug 28, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Equity Prime Mortgage | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
10 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | AG1 - Athletic Greens | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
11 | 47 | Brennan Poole | Sacramento, CA | Apr 11, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | KNOW Advertising | Mike Harmon Racing | Ryan Bell |
12 | 45 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Chevrolet | Insurance King | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |
13 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | Hy-Vee 4 Chevrolett | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
14 | 26 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mooresville, NC | Jun 11, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Stillhouse | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
15 | 48 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 25 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
16 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Can-Am | DGM Racing | Nathan Kennedy |
17 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 30 | Chevrolet | United Rentals | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
18 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Woodbridge, VA | Sep 14, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Brandonbilt Foundations | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
19 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Menards\Criterion Appliances | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
20 | 38 | CJ McLaughlin | Framingham, MA | Jul 1, 1992 | 32 | Ford | SciAps | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 39 | Chevrolet | Wings Etc Grill & Pub | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
22 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Bucked Up Energy | SS-GLR w/Jeff Lefcourt | Joe Williams |
23 | 5 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | General Formulations / ALLOY | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Mike Tyska |
24 | 78 | Matt Mills | Lynchburg, VA | Nov 14, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | J.F. Electric | BJ McLeod Motorsports | David Ingram |
25 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Charlotte, NC | Dec 30, 1994 | 29 | Chevrolet | Bommarito Automotive Group | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
26 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC | JR Motorsports | Luke Lambert |
27 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
28 | 91 | Mason Massey | Douglasville, GA | Jan 24, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | PRO-SET Epoxy | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
29 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | Dude Wipes | Our Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
30 | 77 | Dillon Bassett | Winston-Salem, NC | Apr 2, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Jerry Hunt / Honest Amish | Bassett Racing | Shane Wilson |
31 | 35 | Patrick Emerling | Orchard Park, NY | Sep 19, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
32 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | Experience Jackson | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
33 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
34 | 32 | Jordan Anderson | Forest Acres, SC | Apr 15, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Bommarito Automotive Group | Jordan Anderson Racing | Arthur Haire |
35 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Harrison's USA | JR Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
36 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
37 | 02 | Blaine Perkins | Bakersfield, CA | Feb 28, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | Detroit Taco Company | Our Motorsports | Kris Bowen |
38 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Tucker, GA | Apr 16, 2001 | 23 | Ford | Night Owl | RSS Racing | Andrew May |
39 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | BUSDX | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
40 | 13 | Akinori Ogata | Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan | Aug 14, 1973 | 51 | Toyota | Kyowa-Eidemiller | Motorsports Business Management | Jason Houghtaling |
41 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Johnston, IA | Jun 4, 2004 | 20 | Toyota | Pilot Fyiling J | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |