AVONDALE, AZ – NOVEMBER 05: Ty Gibbs (#54 Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota) looks on before qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Championship race on November 5, 2022 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ty Gibbs will not compete in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Finals in Phoenix due to a family emergency.
20-year-old Gibbs won the second-tier Xfinity Series title on Saturday while driving for his grandfather’s Joe Gibbs Racing team. He raced in the Cup Series as a replacement for Kurt Busch at 23XI Racing as Busch missed the second half of the season with a concussion he sustained at Pocono this summer.
Former Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver Daniel Hemric will replace Gibbs in the No. 23 car on Sunday.
Gibbs won the Xfinity title on Saturday night after beating three JR Motorsports drivers in the winner-take-all championship race. Gibbs’ title came a week after toppling teammate Brandon Jones for the win in Martinsville.
Gibbs was showered with boos after dropping his teammate off in Martinsville. Had Jones won the race, JGR would have let two of the four drivers race for the championship on Saturday. Instead, Gibbs was the team’s only title contender and he spent the week apologizing for his actions after initially appearing unapologetic in the moments after he bumped into Jones.
It is widely expected that Gibbs will take over the #18 car at JGR in 2023 in place of Kyle Busch. Gibbs has 11 wins in 51 Xfinity Series starts and 33 top 10 finishes.