PHOENIX — One race won’t change a narrative, but Ty Gibbs certainly made huge strides to do that at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night (Nov. 5).
Going into the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race, Gibbs had been labeled by many, including his competitors, as a dirty driver who drove with no respect.
“I lost all respect today,” Brandon Jones said after Gibbs dumped him for the win last week at Martinsville Speedway.
“I know a lot of guys on pit road have [lost respect] for him [too].”
Martinsville was one of at least seven instances this year where Gibbs drove dirty, and it brought on the question of whether some in the NXS field would do anything to prevent him from winning the title.
But Gibbs pulled through on Saturday. He won the race and the championship, getting around Justin Allgaier and holding off a late charge from Noah Gragson to do so.
“I focused out the windshield,” Gibbs told NBC Sports. “I felt like we had a great race with those guys. Great job to JR Motorsports, but the 25% won.”
JRM made up 75% of the Championship 4 after Gibbs cost Jones a spot with the Martinsville dump, allowing JRM’s Allgaier to get in.
“What I did last week was unacceptable, and I apologize once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organization standpoint,” Gibbs said. “All my fault. I can sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it’s not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions.
“I felt like today I had a good race, felt like I made some good moves.”
More importantly, Gibbs won it in clean fashion. The 20-year-old battled hard for essentially the entire final stage of the race with Allgaier and Gragson, but he never wrecked them. He never even bumped them.
It seemed like Gibbs went above and beyond to make sure he made his passes on his championship rivals without any contact. His clean but tactful performance impressed both Allgaier and Gragson, the latter of which said “I don’t like him,” about Gibbs just days before.
After the race, it was Gragson who went and congratulated every member of the No. 54 team and shook Gibbs’ hand.
Noah Gragson went and personally congratulated every member of the No. 54 team after the race. Also chased down Ty Gibbs to shake his hand. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/FyHTyJcJKr
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) November 6, 2022
“Because they did a good job,” Gragson said. “They beat…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…