Youngster Ty Gibbs got it done again, taking home the victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday. Gibbs, 18, led a race-high and career-best 43 of 82 laps and claimed his third win in 10 starts this season.
This weekend, the series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard on Saturday, August 14 and 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, IMS and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Last season, the Xfinity Series made its first trip to the Indianapolis Road Course. The road course is 2.439 miles and 14 turns. The series will kick off the weekend Saturday evening and the Cup Series will run the road course for the first time in history on Sunday.
In 2020, Indiana native Chase Briscoe won the inaugural race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course after starting from 12th. Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five.
The 2020 race had 38 cars in the field with 13 lead changes and eight leaders. There were five cautions for 15 laps and only 27 cars finished on the lead lap. 35 cars were still running at the finish and Briscoe led 30 laps. The margin of victory was 1.717 seconds between Briscoe and Haley.
The Pennzoil 150 will be 151.22 miles and 62 laps with Stage 1 ending on Lap 20 and Stage 2 ending on Lap 40. This weekend will also include practice and qualifying leading into the race. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will practice at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday, August 13 on NBCSN. Qualifying will take place on Saturday morning at 10:05 a.m. ET on the NBC Sports App & Trackpass to set the starting lineup for the 4 p.m. ET race.
Ty Gibbs looks to make history at Indy Road Course
Grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, Ty Gibbs, can become just the second driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to win four races in his first 11 Xfinity career starts joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip (1982 Charlotte-2, 1983 Daytona-1, 1984 Daytona-1 and Charlotte-2). If Gibbs (Daytona RC, Charlotte and Watkins Glen) accomplishes the feat and wins this weekend at Indianapolis, both drivers will have won four races in their first 11 starts but Gibbs will be the only driver to have earned it all in a single season.
| Drivers | Wins | NXS Career Starts |
| Darrell Waltrip | 4 | 11 |
| Butch Lindley | 3 | 11 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 3 | 11 |
| Ron Fellows | 3 | 11 |
| Ty Gibbs | 3 | 10 |
Playoff Bubble: NASCAR Xfinity Series has six to go
With six races left in the regular season, let’s take a look at the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff clinch scenarios heading into this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard, on Saturday, August 14 at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, IMS and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. A win gets you in, but drivers must still clinch their spot-on points by accumulating enough points that even with a win they do not fall out of the top 30 and become ineligible for the Playoffs.
Already clinched:
The following four drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver Xfinity postseason field: Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Jeb Burton. Burton clinched his spot at Watkins Glen International.
Can clinch via points at Indianapolis:
Myatt Snider could clinch with three points because of his previous win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Can clinch via win at Indianapolis:
The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst, Myatt Snider, Brandon Brown.
Ryan Sieg could clinch with a win and 54 points.
Clinching for Regular Season Championship:
Austin Cindric cannot clinch the regular season championship this weekend. Second-place has 769 points and can still reach 1,129 points. Cindric currently is 80 points up on second place AJ Allmendinger.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Standings Post-Watkins Glen:
| Rank | Driver | Points | Starts | Race Wins | Stage Wins | Playoff Pts | Pts From Cutoff |
| 1 | Austin Cindric | 849 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 28 | In On Wins |
| 2 | AJ Allmendinger | 769 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 16 | |
| 3 | Justin Allgaier | 693 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 4 | Jeb Burton | 624 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 5 | Myatt Snider | 448 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6 | Daniel Hemric | 708 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 259 |
| 7 | Harrison Burton | 654 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 205 |
| 8 | Justin Haley | 610 | 19* | 0 | 3 | 3 | 161 |
| 9 | Noah Gragson | 584 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 135 |
| 10 | Brandon Jones | 523 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 74 |
| 11 | Jeremy Clements | 489 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 12 | Michael Annett | 479 | 19* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| 13 | Riley Herbst | 449 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -30 |
| 14 | Brandon Brown | 434 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -45 |
| 15 | Ryan Sieg | 394 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -85 |
| 16 | Tommy Joe Martins | 323 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1156 |
Sunoco Rookie Class Update: Berry still holding on
Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs have put on quite a show in the Xfinity Series during their rookie season. The two drivers, who are both running partial schedules, have consistently run up front – grabbing wins and making themselves a part of the mix. Last weekend at Watkins Glen was no different as Gibbs grabbed his third win in 10 starts. Berry didn’t compete at Watkins Glen.
But Berry has been able to hold off Gibbs in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings for several weeks. Berry has 397 points and six awards while Gibbs has seven awards but only 379 points. Ryan Vargas is in third with Jade Buford in fourth and Sam Mayer in fifth.
Berry has run in 16 of 20 Xfinity Series races run. Most recently, he covered for Michael Annett in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and finished eighth. In total, Berry has one win, four top fives and nine top 10s.
Gibbs has only competed in 10 of 20 races. He now has three wins, eight top fives and eight top 10s to his name. Gibbs will be back behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
| Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings | ||
| Rookies | Points | Awards |
| Josh Berry | 397 | 6 |
| Ty Gibbs | 379 | 7 |
| Ryan Vargas | 193 | 4 |
| Jade Buford | 145 | 1 |
| Sam Mayer | 82 | 1 |
