The excitement was palpable on Saturday, as NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers prepared to take the green to a near-sold crowd, at Watkins Glen International Raceway. At the drop of the flag, pole sitter Ty Gibbs and Alex Bowman barreled down into turn one, with Gibbs holding the advantage over Justin Allgaier. Meanwhile, Parker Kiglerman after a slight slip-up, regained ground to chase after Sheldon Creed in a tight points battle. Brennan Poole in the #6 car went for a spin in the chicane but quickly recovered.
As the laps in the stage continued to tick off with Gibbs dominating the rest of the field, drivers battled three wide throughout the pack. Chandler Smith and Jeremy Clements got into a scuffle, with Clements collecting a flat tire in the incident. Simultaneously, Kyle Busch came to pit road, with what was originally reported as a flat tire, but later was clarified to be a build-up of debris. Stage one concluded with Gibbs easily taking the stage win.
At the conclusion of stage one, the caution flag was displayed for Ryan Ellis who had stalled on the track, giving many drivers a much-needed break on pit road. Just as they were planning to lift the caution, the #92 of Josh Williams suddenly had extensive damage to the front of his car, from an incident. Back under green flag conditions, stage two was underway with the lead easily being taken charge of once again by Gibbs. The caution flag was displayed after Sammy Smith and Kaz Grala made contact, Grala as a result drove straight through the bus stop and spread debris onto the track. Ty Gibbs would go on once again to win the stage.
The final stage was easily taken control of by Gibbs. A brake hose was found in the bus stop, however, was considered to not be a concern. The caution flag waved once again, for Max McLaughlin after slamming into the wall. When the field went back to green, Kyle Weatherman who stayed out on the race track, went three wide with Gibbs and Austin Hill, with Gibbs pulling the ultimate move to reclaim his lead. As Gibbs accelerated forward, the rest of the field continued to knock Weatherman down position after position.
With 30 laps to go, Gibbs continued to lead as second-place Hill was stalked for the spot by Bowman. The laps continued to go by, with Bowman now fighting with Cole Custer for the position. However, Gibbs maintained a 2.5-second lead over the rest of the field, but under the instruction of his crew was trying to conserve fuel. Anthony Alfredo took a spin, but quickly recovered, with just over 20 laps to go.
In a surprise turn of events, Bowman and Custer, both went for a synchronized spin while battling for position and making contact. Both drivers had minimal damage and were able to quickly rebound. However, disaster struck again, as Custer then drove into the grass, but after some effort was able to work his way back onto the racing surface. Kyle Busch, running 11th, radioed to his crew that he had no 3rd gear.
Less than 11 laps to go seemed like it would be a cake walk for Gibbs, who continued to dominate over the rest of the field. However, the question of fuel came into play. After creating enough of a gap for himself, he pitted for fuel, blending back in line behind 5th place Sheldon Creed, and becoming the only car on track with enough fuel to make it to the end. It didn’t take for the reigning champion however to start climbing his way back through the field, easily getting by Creed and Bowman.
With 7 laps to go, Parker Retzlaff got sideways and spun into the gravel, leaving him stuck and forcing the caution to come out. Shaping up for an interesting finish, the green flag waved to much anticipation. At the restart, Sam Mayer and Allgaier battled a hungry Gibbs who rocketed to the lead with a move on the outside. With 4 to go Allgaier spun in front of the field, with a number of cars getting caught up in it, leaving an array of fluid and debris on the track.
In NASCAR overtime, Ty Gibbs was spun by Sam Mayer, allowing Sheldon Creed to take over the lead. Sam Mayer fell to second with heavy damage but was able to take the lead back from Creed. Drivers slipped and slid all throughout the last few laps, with fluid all over the track. Sam Mayer was able to go on, survive the carnage, and have enough fuel to hold on to the lead, grabbing his second win of the season.
Featured image credit to @JRMotorsports on X.
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