Ty Gibbs grabs an overtime victory at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 on Saturday afternoon.

PLYMOUTH, Wis. – With a masterful pass of pole winner Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime, Ty Gibbs won Saturday’s Henry 180 at Road America.

Ty Gibbs Grabs an Overtime Victory at Road America

Larson took the white flag in the lead, but Gibbs had a better run down the frontstretch and dogged Larson’s No. 17 Chevrolet through the first and second turns. Gibbs took advantage of an opening to the inside in the third turn and powered his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota past Larson for the lead and the win.

The victory was Gibbs’ first at Road America, his fourth of the season, and his eighth in 34 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. 

“This is just awesome,” said Gibbs, who had just beaten the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion head-to-head. “I can’t believe it. This is just wonderful. 

“I think we were a little bit faster in the first half of the track… Hopefully, a lot of people were watching. It’s cool to be here, a cool race against some Cup Series guys. Hopefully, that says something.”

Kyle Larson Misses a Win on his Execution of the Last Laps

Larson felt he lost momentum in the final corner (turn 14) of the next-to-last lap at the 4.048-mile road course.

“It really started with my final corner coming to the white—I didn’t get through there very good and got a little bit tight and missed my apex, was late back to the throttle, and he got a run on me down the frontstretch. 

“Obviously, you have to protect the inside (in turn 1), and he just got my angles messed up in those two corners. He just did a really good job executing, and I didn’t. Bummer, but it was a really fun race all race long.”

Larson led 31 of the 48 laps to Gibbs’ five and picked up victories in the first two stages, but he gave Gibbs full marks for a clean pass for the win.

“He was able to pass me without laying a bumper on me at all. When he passed me clean, I felt like I should not use him up, like we’ve seen others do when they get passed for the lead late. He ran me clean, and I was going to run him clean. It just didn’t work out for me.”

A Wild Run at Road America

If the decisive pass was clean, mid-pack action earlier in the race provided sharp contrast.

Contact between the Chevrolets of Noah Gragson and Sage Karam ignited a brutal 13-car crash on lap 25, and the resulting caution, the third of the race, put the contending cars on the same tire and fuel strategies.

Brandon Brown, one of the victims of the accident, climbed from his mangled car and sat against the retaining wall in the fourth turn, clearly in pain from the hit he had taken in the melee.

When he exited the infield care center after an evaluation, however, Brown was in much better spirits.

“I caught the dust pile,” Brown said while watching a replay of the incident. “It looks like the 45 (Karam) went around. A lot of cars went around. I couldn’t really see anything until I saw the 48 (Tyler Reddick) and plowed him.

“It was a real gut-check, a little kick to the area that you don’t want to injure.”

Sage Karam’s Point of View

Karam wasn’t charitable where Gragson was concerned.

“That was ridiculous,” Karam said. “I’ve never been turned into on a straight line like that… You can’t get that heated when you’re driving a race car. Unfortunately, he let his emotions get the best of him today.”

Noah Gragson’s Perspective

Not surprisingly, Gragson had a different point of view.

“I guess he forgot the three times before that he’d throw it into the corner, door us and run us off the race track,” Gragson said. “After a while, you get sick and tired of it. I hate that people’s stuff got tore up…

“I take responsibility. I hate it for his guys, but I’m fighting to race for a championship here, and I’m really over getting run over…He started it. I finished it. We’re good.”

The Best of the Rest

Another victim of that wreck, Josh Berry, survived to finish third, followed by Austin Hill and Brandon Jones. AJ Allmendinger ran sixth after starting from the rear and drawing a pit road speeding penalty under caution on lap 26, forcing him to come from the back a second time.

Riley Herbst, Gragson, Jeremy Clements, and Ryan Sieg completed the top ten.

Gibbs is the 13th different winner in 13 Xfinity Series races at Road America. 

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Point Standings

         1. (2)  Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 48.

         2. (1)  Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 48.

         3. (16)  Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 48.

         4. (10)  Austin Hill #, Chevrolet, 48.

         5. (14)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 48.

         6. (38)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 48.

         7. (3)  Riley Herbst, Ford, 48.

         8. (7)  Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 48.

         9. (11)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 48.

         10. (27)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 48.

         11. (21)  Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 48.

         12. (15)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 48.

         13. (13)  Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 48.

         14. (23)  Andy Lally, Ford, 48.

         15. (18)  Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 48.

         16. (30)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 48.

         17. (31)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 48.

         18. (35)  John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 48.

         19. (33)  Patrick Gallagher, Ford, 48.

         20. (5)  Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 48.

         21. (34)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 48.

         22. (24)  Jesse Iwuji #, Chevrolet, 48.

         23. (19)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 47.

         24. (8)  Sammy Smith, Toyota, Engine, 45.

         25. (4)  Cole Custer(i), Ford, Accident, 43.

         26. (25)  Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, Accident, 39.

         27. (6)  Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, Engine, 37.

         28. (29)  Chris Dyson, Chevrolet, Accident, 33.

         29. (22)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Accident, 27.

         30. (9)  Tyler Reddick(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 25.

         31. (12)  Sage Karam, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

         32. (20)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

         33. (32)  Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

         34. (36)  Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

         35. (17)  Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

         36. (37)  Joe Graf Jr., Ford, Brakes, 17.

         37. (26)  Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, Header, 13.

         38. (28)  Will Rodgers, Toyota, Suspension, 9.

The HENRY 180 Stats

Average Speed of Race Winner:  74.621 mph.

Time of Race:  Two Hrs, 36 Mins, 14 Secs. The Margin of Victory:  0.858 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  Five for 12 laps.

Lead Changes:  Nine among six drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson(i) 1-10;T. Gibbs 11-12;A. Allmendinger 13;T. Gibbs 14-15;K. Larson(i) 16-25;J. Allgaier 26-28;C. Custer(i) 29-34;R. Sieg 35-36;K. Larson(i) 37-47;T. Gibbs 48.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Larson(i) three times for 31 laps; Cole Custer(i) one time for six laps; Ty Gibbs three times for five laps; Justin Allgaier one time for three laps; Ryan Sieg one time for two laps; AJ Allmendinger one time for one lap.

Stage 1 Top Ten: 17,54,07,98,19,9,1,51,16,45

Stage 2 Top Ten: 17,2,07,26,7,18,98,51,9,36