TY GIBBS SHOWS OFF ROAD RACING SKILLS TO WIN AT WATKINS GLEN
Gibbs scores Third Xfinity Series Victory in 10th Series Start
WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 7, 2021) – Ty Gibbs became the youngest winner at the Watkins Glen International road course in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race. The 18-year old battled some of the best road racers to claim his third series win in only his 10th career start in the series behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Watkins Glen International
Race 20 of 33 – 200.900 miles, 82 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TY GIBBS
2nd, AJ Allmendinger*
3rd, Austin Cindric*
4th, Justin Allgaier*
5th, HARRISON BURTON
6th, BRANDON JONES
17th, KRIS WRIGHT
22nd, DANIEL HEMRIC
28th, STEPHEN LEICHT
38th, MATT MILLS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Why did you choose the inside lane on the final restart?
“I felt like the 22 (Austin Cindric) got a really great restart the restart before and he got a little wide. First of all, I have to say thank you to the man above. That was probably the most fun race I’ve ever been in with AJ (Allmendinger) and with the 7 (Justin Allgaier) and the 22 (Cindric), those guys are very experienced veterans in this racing series. To be able to race and beat them just means a lot. I learned a lot from them too. I just can’t thank Monster Energy, TRD – my Toyota Racing Supra was super fast today and this is just a dream come true.”
How do you keep your composure after you lost the lead on the restart?
“I just feel like being in these situations kind of helps you and getting that experience. Those guys are so relaxed in those situations and I just kind of try to learn from them. This is just wonderful – I can’t even believe it.”
How does it feel to have beaten one of the best road racers of this generation?
“Those two – the 22 (Austin Cindric) and AJ (Allmendinger), the baddest dudes on the road course ever. I don’t really know how I beat them. My guys worked so hard and they do such a good job. What a great race. I’m just at a loss for words right now. This is just awesome.”
What was the move you made to get the win in the closing laps?
“First of all, I just want to say thank you to my crew and all glory to God first of all. That was awesome, to race with two of the best road course racers I feel like or two of the best out there racing road courses. Those are two bad dudes. To beat them means a lot. I couldn’t thank my crew enough along with TRD, Toyota, Monster Energy. It’s awesome, I’m at a loss for words.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race overall?
“Disappointing a little bit because I really wanted to win this race. We fired off ok and lost some spots. We kind of knew we had to be a little out of the box to win, so we tried some stuff and it kind of fell our way, it kind of didn’t. We made it to the end, we just needed some speed, but really proud of my DEX Imaging Supra guys. They worked really, really hard all day to make our car better and better. I felt like I got better throughout the day, and at the end of the day we got a top-five, which is not bad, but it is frustrating to not be winning for sure.”
Top-five today, Harrison. How do you feel like your day went?
“It’s kind of more of the same. I feel like we have been fifth-best road course car on speed all year, and that’s frustrating. We need to be faster than that. Our guys at Joe Gibbs Racing are trying to make my DEX Imaging Supra faster and faster every weekend. I think I’ve got a lot to learn on the road courses. They are kind of my weakest link if you look at stats and things like that. Just got to go to work and try to get a little bit quicker. But we are right there. It’s tiny things in this sport, so we will keep hunting after it and try to go get it in Indy.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Magickwoods Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Good pit strategy and a good race car. How was your race?
“Yeah, it was going to be really good. If we get green to the end, we probably win the race with the strategy that we had. Only one little mistake today – we spun out on pit road kind of early on in the race, but it didn’t hurt us too bad. We rebounded pretty fast from it. Really, really fast Toyota Supr, Menards, Magickwoods, everyone that came on board for both of these races this weekend. I ran that ARCA race yesterday with Venturini (Motorsports) and really think it helped a bunch kind of leading into race. We did that earlier this year at Mid-Ohio and saw a lot of results with this, so this was a really, really solid race for us. Car looks great, clean. We can build off of this, go back and take some notes. We are getting really, really close on these road courses. I think we are capable of winning them for sure.”
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