Las Vegas Xfinity race: Ty Gibbs wins last laps

Sports News / By /

Ty Gibbs didn’t have a dominant car in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But he dominated when it mattered most.

On the final restart of the race with six laps to go, Gibbs took advantage of Justin Algaier’s push and freed Noah Gragson from the lead.

Gibbs continued to lead the last six laps – the only laps he led all day – and carefully took his first win of the season over Gragson.

MORE: Las Vegas Xfinity Race Results, Driver Points

The day ended well for Gibbs after having to start from behind due to unauthorized adjustments and he was involved in two early skirmishes with Ryan Sieg in the race.

On lap 3, Gibbs’ car lightly touched Sieg’s car, which immediately crashed into the turn 4 wall. After the race was red flagged due to weather conditions on lap 19, Zig and Gibbs spoke on pit road about the incident.

When they finished talking Zig asked Fox Sports if everything was decided between them within a day. Zig replied, “I don’t think so. We’ll find out.”

Indeed, shortly after the restart of the race, Sieg attempted to push Gibbs into the turn 4 wall on lap 30.

But Zig instead turned around and gathered Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffit in the process. On this day Zig ended.

In post-race commentary for Fox Sports, Gibbs repented of the early contact he made with Sieg.

“It was not my best decision, and I apologize to their entire group,” Gibbs said. “Ryan’s family, they worked so hard, so I want to apologize to them.”

As for the final restart, Gibbs credited Allgayer for putting him ahead.

“It helped me a lot,” Gibbs said. “I had fun racing JR (Motorsports) cars.

“Hopefully we can keep going and go out and win some more races.”

Gragson won both events and led 52 laps on Saturday en route to his third top three finish to open the season.

But after he lost the race at the final restart, he expressed some doubts about it.

“I just lost there in our own game,” he told Fox Sports. “The restarts just, you know, failed. It felt like it was rolling, but I think that’s the box we’re in.

“…Earlier in the race we were warned that we were doing something like that, but I don’t know. We just need to be better. Congratulations to them. We will continue to work hard. … We will come back stronger next weekend.”

Series champion Daniel Hemrick finished third. Josh Berry finished fourth. Allgaier rounded out the top five finishers.

STAGE 1 WINNER: Noah Gragson

STAGE 2 WINNER: Noah Gragson

DISQUALIFICATION: Joe Graf Jr.’s No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Ford, which led Cup Series regular Cole Custer to victory at Auto Club Speedway last week, was disqualified for having three mounting nuts loose and not secured when inspected after racing (Rule 10.5.2.5.d – Xfinity Series Rulebook). Graf finished 29th in the race, but after the disqualification, he was credited with the last place – 38th. There were no other problems after the post-race inspection.

WHO HAS A GOOD RACE: Gragson lost the win at his home track, but between him, Berry and Algayer, JR Motorsports still placed three drivers in the top five. … Creed and Moffitt overcame their scrapes with the wayward Zig to finish seventh and eighth respectively. Creed also rallied over a speeding ticket on pit road in the finals.

WHO HAD BEEN BAD RACE: Matt Mills suffered a severe crash on lap 84. Contact from another contestant hit Mills hard on the inside wall of the back wire. He got out of the car and left; Later he was checked and discharged from the household center.

NOTICE: During a hazard warning on lap 16, raindrops began to fall onto the track. Shortly thereafter, the rain turned into snowstorms, causing the race to be stopped on lap 19 with a red flag. The red flag did not appear for nearly 42 minutes before the race resumed with caution. The race turned green again on lap 23.

NEXT: Phoenix Raceway – Saturday, March 12 at 4:30 pm ET FS1