Ty Gibbs, the 16-year-old grandson of Joe Gibbs, won Saturday’s Icebreaker Late Model race at Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Speedway.
His victory came about a week after the memorial service for J.D. Gibbs, son of Joe Gibbs. J.D. Gibbs died Jan. 11. He was 49.
Joe Gibbs told the track’s announcer in a post-race interview : “I’m just so proud of (Ty Gibbs). This is all Ty has ever wanted to do is race cars. We’re thrilled with that. The Lord has blessed us with a great experience for our family here. I’ve got seven grandsons, it looks like he’ll be the one who races.
“Just a huge deal for the family. Ty has really worked extremely hard at this.”
Ty Gibbs credited his team, “an amazing group of guys,” he told the track’s announcer in a post-race interview. The victory was Ty Gibbs’ first at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Ty Gibbs is scheduled to drive 12 ARCA races this season for Joe Gibbs Racing, sharing the ride with Riley Herbst.
NASCAR suspended Ty Gibbs three races Jan. 30 for a violation of the sport’s preseason testing policy. Gibbs tested an ARCA car for car owner David Gilliland’s DGR-Crosley team. The car had a K&N Pro Series East engine, leading to the violation. NASCAR also suspended Gilliland three races, docked Gibbs 100 driver points, Gilliland 100 owner points and fined Gilliland, Gibbs and crew chief Chad Walters $5,000 each. Walters also was suspended indefinitely. DGR-Crosley is appealing the penalties, stating “we strongly believe that we did not violate any rules.”
You can watch Icebreaker race and the post-race interviews with Ty Gibbs and Joe Gibbs in the video below:
Atta boy! Congratulations on the hard work paying off. 🏁 https://t.co/yi6YoX7dCC
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) February 3, 2019
A lot of hard work in this picture right here! @TyGibbs_ drove a great race and brought home the W! Thanks to @MarcusRichmond_ #twitterlessdavidtriplett and my @nelsonautosport guys for all the hard work! Thanks @phcc27 for letting us do this! pic.twitter.com/lmanjCfrIA
— Timothy Peters (@TimothyPeters_) February 3, 2019
