Ty Gibbs beats Kyle Larson for Henry 180 win

Ty Gibbs might be the grandson of Joe Gibbs and drive some of the best equipment available in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but the eighteen-year-old definitely knows how to make the most of what he has. Although reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson dominated Saturday’s Henry 180 at Road America, Gibbs passed him on the final lap en route to his eighth career win and fourth on a road course.

Larson, driving for his Cup team Hendrick Motorsports in its first Xfinity programme since 2009, won the pole and looked virtually unstoppable as he led all but fifteen laps and won the first two stages. Gibbs qualified second and spent much of Saturday chasing Larson before finding an opportunity as the last lap commenced. After staying on his rear bumper through the first corner, made his move on the inside before switching to defence.

The young prospect kept the Cup star off him for the rest of the circuit and his series-leading fourth win of 2022.

“I had a fun time racing with Kyle,” said Gibbs. “I thought it was going to get a little rough there, but he’s such a great competitor and a great person. We played golf the other day—I want to tell him thanks for the golf lessons, I still suck. This is awesome. I can’t believe it. It’s wonderful.

“[…] It’s cool to be here, cool to race the Cup Series guys. Hopefully, that says something.”

The finish developed due to overtime that sprung up after another Cup driver Cole Custer suffered a massive wreck after his brake rotor blew up.

However, easily the biggest crash of the day—if not headline—came on lap 14 when Noah Gragson‘s scuffle with Sage Karam saw the former hook right into his opponent, triggering a massive pile-up that collected eleven other drivers. Brandon Brown suffered an especially hard hit that forced him to sit along the wall while fellow driver Myatt Snider oversaw him until safety crews arrived.

Gragson, whose aggressive driving style has frequently attracted scrutiny, was lambasted for his action but did not receive penalty or discipline from NASCAR besides a warning. Karam’s employer Tommy Joe Martins accused Gragson of triggering the wreck intentionally and told JR Motorsports owners Kelley Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Twitter, “I’m sure you’re embarrassed to even be associated with that. Hard racing and bumping a guy back I get but that kind of stuff can hurt someone. It’s too much.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” responded Kelley Earnhardt. “I understand you are upset rightfully so. Our team will sort out what we need to with Noah and move on.  The highs and lows are all part of what we do.”

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	2	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	48	Running
2	1	17	Kyle Larson*	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
3	16	8	Josh Berry	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
4	10	21	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
5	14	19	Brandon Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	48	Running
6	38	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
7	3	98	Riley Herbst	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	48	Running
8	7	9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
9	11	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
10	27	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford	48	Running
11	21	91	Preston Pardus	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
12	15	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
13	13	44	Josh Bilicki*	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
14	23	08	Andy Lally	SS-Green Light Racing	Ford	48	Running
15	18	36	Alex Labbé	DGM Racing	Chevrolet	48	Running
16	30	4	Bayley Currey	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
17	31	78	Josh Williams	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
18	35	26	John Hunter Nemechek*	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota	48	Running
19	33	38	Patrick Gallagher	RSS Racing	Ford	48	Running
20	5	1	Sam Mayer	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
21	34	27	Jeb Burton	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
22	24	34	Jesse Iwuji	Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	Chevrolet	48	Running
23	19	23	Anthony Alfredo	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet	47	Running
24	8	18	Sammy Smith	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45	Engine
25	4	07	Cole Custer*	SS-Green Light Racing	Ford	43	Accident
26	25	88	Miguel Paludo	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet	39	Accident
27	6	2	Sheldon Creed	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	37	Engine
28	29	35	Chris Dyson	Emerling-Gase Motorsports	Chevrolet	33	Accident
29	22	11	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	27	Accident
30	9	48	Tyler Reddick*	Big Machine Racing Team	Chevrolet	25	Accident
31	12	45	Sage Karam	Alpha Prime Racing	Chevrolet	24	Accident
32	20	10	Landon Cassill	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	24	Accident
33	32	31	Myatt Snider	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	24	Accident
34	36	68	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet	24	Accident
35	17	02	Brett Moffitt	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet	24	Accident
36	37	5	Joe Graf Jr.	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Ford	17	Brakes
37	26	6	Ty Dillon*	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet	13	Header
38	28	13	Will Rodgers	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	9	Suspension
DNQ		66	J.J. Yeley	MBM Motorsports	Toyota
DNQ		92	Dexter Bean	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
DNQ		47	Ryan Vargas	Mike Harmon Racing	Chevrolet

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points