Making his Xfinity Series debut, on the Chicago Street Course, and his sixth Xfinity Series start of the season, Ty Gibbs earned a hard-fought second-place finish in Saturday afternoon’s The Loop 110. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver ran up front most of Stage 1 in his No. 19 GR Supra, finishing third by the stage’s end, before having an issue with a right rear tire gun on the ensuing pit stop, forcing him towards the mid-pack. Gibbs was able to methodically move his way back up the field through the ladder half of the race to be in contention for the victory, falling short by just over a second as the checkered flag flew.
Gibbs’ JGR teammates, Sheldon Creed and John Hunter Nemechek, also found themselves inside the top-10 in Stage 3, but on-track incidents towards the end of the race for both led to finishes in the 20s.
The Xfinity Series returns to action at Pocono Raceway next Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET for the 19th race of the 2024 season.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Chicago Street Course
Race 18 of 33 – 110 miles, 50 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane van Gisbergen*
2nd, TY GIBBS
3rd, Kyle Larson*
4th, Parker Kligerman*
5th, Jesse Love*
25th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
26th, SHELDON CREED
33rd, SAGE KARAM
38th, CHANDLER SMITH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How close were you to getting a win today?
“We had a bad pit stop that one time and got behind. We had a (tire) gun blow out, so it was nobody’s fault — just part of it. We just got behind. I had to use, I feel like, a good bit of my stuff to get back all the way to the front. Then, I was just too loose – we were kind of loose the whole time. It was just hard there at the end. The top restart is really hard because it’s super dirty up there so you’re just up in the fuzz the whole time off of (turn) 12. I don’t know what I could’ve done different there. Just needed to be a little bit better, a little tighter. I felt like we were pretty solid all day. Thank you to He Gets Us, Monster Energy, Interstate Batteries and everybody. It was a good run. We’ll wait til the next one.”
Would you classify this as a good second-place run or a frustrating one?
“There was a lot going on in that race. We came in for our pit stop and lost a ton of spots, we had a (tire) gun blow out, so unfortunate on that side. I think we were just a little too loose the whole time, whole day. Just too loose to get off, that’s what hurt us. But overall, for track time, I had a great time. I’d rather win, but appreciate the opportunity from He Gets Us, Monster Energy, Interstate Batteries, it was a great run. It’s been a fun time and hopefully ready for the next one.”
Was there anything you could’ve done to get by Jessie Love faster to take the lead?
“Yeah, I think I definitely should’ve been more aggressive and probably got around him quicker. I started on the top lane in (turn) 12 and it’s really dirty up there so you lose so much time and then you get behind so you’re already behind. I guess, I think our best bet was to just not have our (tire) gun blow up in the pit stop. I feel like I used my stuff up a lot to get back through the field and I just don’t think it helped our tires. We were really loose. I’d say yes, but it would’ve been close for sure at the end.”
If you got by Jesse Love sooner, do you think you had enough to hold off Shane van Gisbergen?
“Maybe. I just think that we were going to get by the 2 (Jesse Love) so fast anyways I don’t think it was really going to be a race at that point.”
Did you hope to shut down the narrative of Shane van Gisbergen’s success on a street course?
“I don’t really look at the news I feel like a whole lot, so I don’t really to be honest with you don’t really see it. I think there’s some people – we have access to study on SMT and stuff like that that helps for sure but I don’t really pay attention a whole lot to the news, so I don’t really see it. He’s (Shane van Gisbergen) very fast and deserves a lot of credit.”
What did you see from your perspective when Shane van Gisbergen took the lead?
“He just seemed like he set him up really well getting into (turn) 6 and had him pointed in a whole different direction. And he could cross him back over quickly and jump inside and get his nose far out enough to where (Jesse) Love is going to have to lift because at that point it doesn’t make sense to run the corner next to him. It seems like he just did a really good job setting him up.”
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