October 29, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Ty Gibbs bulldozes teammate Brandon Jones to win at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Ty Gibbs’ take-no-prisoners mentality continued at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday—this time against his own teammate Brandon Jones.

Coming to the white flag lap in the third attempt at overtime, Gibbs sent Jones into the spin cycle entering Turn 1.

Gibbs maintained the lead and held on to score his sixth win of the season by 1.919-seconds over Sheldon Creed in the Dead on Tools 250.

“It was definitely not a clean move, for sure,” Gibbs said. “I definitely didn’t want to wreck him but I definitely wanted to move him out of the groove so I could go win. I felt like we lost the spring race getting moved by him. He’s my teammate, but definitely want to get the win here. It’s important to get the win. And now we’re going to the championships.

"It’s cool. Hopefully, I don't get hit by any cans or anything right here (laughs). But awesome. All the glory to God.”

Gibbs justified wrecking his teammate as payback for Jones’ move here in the spring. While there had been some cooperation earlier in the race, any attempt at helping Jones win went by the wayside in overtime.

By dumping the No. 19 car, Gibbs knocked another Toyota driver out of the NASCAR Xfinity Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway next weekend and opened the door for Justin Allgaier in the process.

“We got moved out of the way earlier this year so, it’s part of it,” said Gibbs as the crowd displayed its dissatisfaction. “We definitely can’t communicate (between teams)—because if you’ve seen, everyone’s getting penalized for that. We were just racing hard. I guess there’s no team racing anymore. They don’t want that to happen. Everyone’s getting penalized, so we just do the best we can.”

Jones started on the pole and finished 23rd after leading 98 laps. The veteran racer was more genuine in his response on the radio to his No. 19 crew—who he is leaving at season’s end.

"You guys are like family,” Jones said. “I’m damn sure glad to be out of this place.”

When he climbed from the car, Jones told MRN Radio he wasn’t surprised by Gibbs’ actions.

“I know Ty enough to where I know he doesn't care about what he did,” Jones said. “He's pretty much, well, he wasn't pretty much, he was locked into the next round. So really, what did that do? I don't really understand the move. I understand trying to get aggressive, you want to win the race. But to just destroy the race car, I don't see it.

“I don't get any satisfaction from it. Maybe he does. Maybe he likes to win that way? But I never have and never felt strong about racing that way. So we'll just take it and go for it.”

Riley Herbst finished third followed by Noah Gragson, Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Nicholas Sanchez, Daniel Hemric, Austin Hill and Blaine Perkins.

The most ferocious battle throughout the day was between Allgaier and AJ Allmendinger, who were fighting for the fourth and final spot in the final four after Josh Berry locked into the Championship round with his win at Las Vegas and Gragson advanced through his Miami-Homestead victory. Gibbs had qualified on points after an eight-car wreck ignited the ninth of 14 cautions on Lap 221. When the race returned to green, the Nos. 7 and 16 came together on the front stretch and Allmedinger left rear tire went flat. He finished 16th.

“I can’t even describe it,” Allgaier said. “It’s disappointing that it’s gotten to the point where it’s—unfortunately easier to drive through somebody than it is to pass them. Really proud of our team. We never gave up until the checkered flag fell. Had a ton of damage right there but made it to the final round.

“You get down to the end, (Allmendinger) was pushing pretty hard. He chose to run into us enough times that you get to the point where you have to go for it. He knew when he turned back left that we were going to hit. I hate it for those guys. I don’t know if we could have run 25 laps battling as hard as we did there at the end. They’ve had a great season, we’ve had a great season, it’s just so hard when it comes to the last race especially at a place like Martinsville.”

The achievement marks the fifth time Allgaier will advance to the Championship 4 round.