Gibbs’ grandson wins in his Xfinity debut

Joe Gibbs celebrated his first NASCAR victory as a grandfather, watching from the pits as 18-year-old Ty Gibbs won his Xfinity Series debut Saturday in the Super Start Batteries 188 on the road course at Daytona International Speedway.

It was the very first NASCAR national series race for Ty Gibbs, who jumped two steps from ARCA to Xfinity for his debut. He plowed through the field on a pair of restarts to beat reigning Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric in double overtime.

Gibbs became the youngest driver to win an Xfinity road course race at 18 years, 4 months, 16 days. Cindric held the record at 20 on the road course at Mid-Ohio in 2019. Joey Logano holds the overall record; he won 21 days after his 18th birthday in his third race – also driving for Gibbs.

Gibbs became the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history.

Gibbs drove through the grass, used the top lane on the oval and dove inside in the turns in his shocking first win. He'd never raced an Xfinity car before, never done a live pit stop before and COVID-19 restrictions cut practice and qualifying for Saturday's race.

Joe Gibbs, a member of the NASCAR and Pro Football Hall of Fames, watched stoically from behind the pit stand. Shielded by a mask, he gave no indication of emotion. But as his grandson crossed the finish line, his glasses fogged and he hugged a Joe Gibbs Racing team member.

“This is the only thing Ty has wanted to do since he was 2-years-old,” Gibbs said. “This is such an experience. Any parent or grandparent would tell you, it's like a dream come true for our family.”

NASCAR Trucks Series: Ben Rhodes swept a two-race stop at Daytona International Speedway, winning his second race in one week Friday night.

Win No. 2 came under caution in triple overtime in the BrakeBest Brake Pads 159 on Daytona's road course. It was exactly one week after Rhodes won the season-opening race.

Rhodes passed Sheldon Creed after a caution in regulation and it ultimately gave him control of the race despite the three overtime challenges.