Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs, driver of the No 18 Pristine Auction Toyota, celebrates being named the Bounty Rookie of the Race after winning the General Tire 150 for the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, on March 12, 2021. (Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)

Ty Gibbs Picks Up Four Special Awards With Win At Phoenix

www.arcaracing.com March 17, 2021

In the inaugural ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix Raceway last year, Ty Gibbs won almost everything related to the event except the race itself.

This year, Chandler Smith wasn’t around to play spoiler, and Gibbs held off the field to win the majority of ARCA’s special awards in addition to the General Tire 150, the one and only ARCA Menards Series-ARCA Menards Series West combination race of the season.

MORE: Phoenix Race Highlights | Photo Gallery

Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs, driver of the No. 18 Pristine Auction Toyota, celebrates winning the General Tire Pole Award at Phoenix. (Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)

A rare desert rain shower led to the cancellation of qualifying Friday, so the General Tire Pole Award went to the driver with the fastest lap in the day’s prior practice session: Gibbs, with a speed of 133.442 mph. Gibbs joined Drew Dollar (Daytona) as the first two pole-sitters of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series season.

While Gibbs was in command for most of the race, leading 124 of 150 laps to become the Valvoline Lap Leader for the evening, he was not unchallenged. Taylor Gray paced the field for 15 laps, matching the youngster’s age, and was the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader during his time out front. Taylor joined his older brother, Daytona halfway leader Tanner Gray, as a recipient in that category.

Three other drivers led laps during the General Tire 150. Drew Dollar led five laps, running his season total to 23, and Thad Moffitt led five laps, as well. Daytona winner Corey Heim added a single lap led.

Heim is the closest competitor to Gibbs in the yearlong Valvoline Lap Leader standings, with his 39 laps led trailing Gibbs’ total of 124.

This year’s Bounty Rookie Challenge through two races is led by the same pair of drivers leading in overall points. Gibbs was named the Bounty Rookie of the Race at Phoenix with his win, but he sits behind Heim by a margin of just two points points in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings.

An unexpected third competitor remains within striking distance of the two leaders. Kyle Sieg, the younger brother of current NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Ryan Sieg and the late racer Shane Sieg, has posted top-five finishes at both Daytona and Phoenix, putting him third on the rookie leaderboard with 79 points.

Kyle Sieg was the K&N Filters Hard Charger at Phoenix for his drive to a fourth-place finish from a 16th-place starting spot, gaining 12 positions. After a pair of strong runs to open the season, the family-owned RSS Racing team could be reconsidering the part-time schedule they announced in the offseason and thinking about full-time.

Aided by a shrewd strategy call that allowed Gibbs to regain the lead after a round of pit stops, Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Mark McFarland earned the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race nod. McFarland is third in the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings behind only Venturini Motorsports crew chiefs Billy Venturini (who calls the shots for the No. 15 team with driver Drew Dollar) and Shannon Rursch (who works with No. 20 driver Heim).

Perhaps the most impressive part of Gibbs’ General Tire 150 win came after the checkered flag had waved. He celebrated his victory with a monstrous, smoky burnout that grabbed the attention of both everyone at racetrack and everyone on the internet. Fans the next day voted the raucous celebration as the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race.

The ARCA Menards Series now enters a spring break, of sorts, with its return to the track coming April 24 for the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The ARCA Menards Series West will be back in action June 5 at Sonoma Raceway.