Ty Gibbs wins Xfinity race in first series start

(Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

 Nobody can still claim Ty Gibbs is overrated after tonight’s Xfinity race.

Yes, he’s Joe Gibb’s grandson. But he’s now one of an elite class of drivers who have won in their first NASCAR start.  

Here’s what Ty has said about racing in the past:

“The name Gibbs, it has its pros and cons, you know? I like it more than anything. I mean, you know that people are always going to hate on you and you have to ignore that in your life and just focus on what you’re doing. I’m thankful that I got born into this great family and to be able to race. I’m the only one in my family who wanted to race, so I got lucky with that too. I really like it. I get a lot of backing and my family supports me a lot too. And my dad Coy, he really likes it. He runs the NASCAR stuff now, so he goes to a lot of my races and he gets to see what happens. He’s like my boss and my dad, so it’s a good deal.”

At 18, Gibbs is the third-youngest first-time series winner, after Joey Logano and Chase Elliott. Not too shabby company there. 

At the start of the race, nobody really thought Gibbs was a serious contender. The race seemed to be a battle between Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric. 

However, after winning Stage 2, Gibbs held his own for the last stage of the race. 

On the last restart, Ty took the lead from fourth and there was no stopping him.  

He climbed out of the car full of emotion and admitted he cannot do a burnout.  He could barely finish the post race interview, overcome with emotion and disbelief.  

Keep this man-boy in your sights. He’s going to be a huge contender in NASCAR’s future. 

As Austin Dillon notes, it’s always awesome to win one for grandpa.

Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass astutely observed after the race, that what makes Ty Gibbs' win even more impressive is that he is only the sixth driver to win in their Xfinity debut ... but the first to do so before ever racing in Cup!