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Ty Gibbs Spins Brandon Jones At Martinsville To Advance To Championship 4

by Hunter Thomas October 29, 2022 1 comment

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ty Gibbs spun Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Brandon Jones to win the Dead on Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway and to advance to the Championship 4 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Both Gibbs and Jones had been very strong competitors all race long. In fact, Jones won stage 1, and Gibbs won stage 2; however, as the laps wound down, the tension rose as Playoffs berths were on the line.

On the final restart of the evening in NASCAR Overtime, Jones, Gibbs and Noah Gragson were three-wide battling for the lead as they drove down the backstretch. Sheldon Creed gave Jones a big shove into Turn 3, moving the driver of the No. 19 Menards Toyota into the lead. The field took the white flag, and going into Turn 1, Gibbs ran into the back of Jones, spinning him up the track and into the outside wall. Gibbs inherited the lead and cruised to victory, earning his sixth win of the season. Gibbs was already going to advance so long as he didn’t fall significantly back; however, Jones needed to win.

“I definitely didn’t want to wreck him, but I wanted to get him out of the groove,” Gibbs said. “I felt like we lost earlier in the spring race just the same way, but I’m just pumped to get this win. It’ so awesome. Especially at a track that I feel like I’ve been coming to forever; I ran Late Models here, and it’s super cool to win here.”

The fans in attendance at Martinsville weren’t happy at all with Gibbs’ race-winning move. Boo’s were accompanied with the chant, “Thank you, grandpa” while he celebrated on the frontstretch.

Jones however, was very calm after the incident. He’s leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season and is going to compete for JR Motorsports in 2023. Even though he’s parting ways with the team, he was expecting Gibbs to race him more cleanly on Saturday.

“I think it (Playoff pressure) opened up the opportunity to get moved, but I don’t know about dumped and destroyed and finish dead last, I mean I guess at the end the day I needed to win the race you know so I think for you know, second to last,” Jones said. “It is what it is you know, but just expected to maybe have a little bit more of a shot at it there. You know, I think that to me, that’s what’s fun in this sport is having a duel and not just completely destroying somebody’s day.”

Creed finished second, while Riley Herbst, Gragson and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-five. Sam Mayer, Nicholas Sanchez, Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill and Blaine Perkins completed the top-10.

Following the race, Hill and Myatt Snider got into a brief scuffle on pit road.

There were 18 lead changes among six drivers. Gibbs led a race high of 102 laps.

Throughout the 269-lap race, there were also 14 cautions for 91 laps.

The Championship 4 is now set. Gragson, Gibbs, Josh Berry and Allgaier will compete for the Championship.

The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion will be crowned on Saturday, November 5 at Phoenix Raceway. The Championship Race will broadcast live on USA and MRN at 6 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com