XFINITY RECAP

• Saturday’s SKREWBALL PEANUT BUTTER WHISKEY 200 at Watkins Glen

Winner: TY GIBBS Even the very drivers he beat offered congratulations to 18-year old Ty Gibbs for the teenager’s victory in Saturday’s Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 200 at the renowned Watkins Glen International road course. No matter which side of the track Gibbs re-started from, no matter the occasional hiccup getting up to speed, the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs proved he was up for the task — leading a race best (and career best) 43 of 82 laps to claim his third Xfinity victory in 10 starts this season. He also won at the Daytona road course and at the Charlotte oval. Gibbs beat one of the track’s all-time best, A.J. Allmendinger by .938-seconds to take the victory, passing him with two laps remaining. “Ty did a great job, he was clean, made a great move on me and I couldn’t really do anything to defend it,” Allmendinger said For his part, Gibbs was all smiles and few words after climbing out of his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The fans gave him a huge ovation. He is the youngest driver in Watkins Glen’s storied history to win an Xfinity race. “Probably the most fun racing with A.J. (Allmendinger), the 7 (Justin Allgaier), and the 22 (Austin Cindric); those guys are very experienced veterans in this racing series and being able to race and beat them means a lot,” Gibbs said. “I learned a lot too.” Cindric, the 2019 Watkins Glen winner and Xfinity championship leader finished third, followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton.