The originally scheduled 250-lap elimination race began a third two-lap overtime with Gibbs in the lead as he made it back before the final caution.
Gibbs, Jones and Noah Gregson battled for the lead three times on the restart, with Jones taking the lead in Turn 4, but shortly after the white flag was shown, Gibbs got into the back of Jones and sent him into the Turn 1 wall .
NASCAR again threw out the caution, but from the time the white flag came out the field was frozen with Gibbs as the leader and he took the win, his sixth of the season.
“I feel like after I got pushed out of the way by (Jones) the first time, that was it, and after that we were fighting for the win,” Gibbs said. “Going into Turn 1 (on the last lap), I definitely didn’t want to shut him down, but I definitely wanted to move him. I crossed that line too far and threw it away.
“In life, there will always be people who will always hate, and you can’t listen to the chatter, you can’t listen to all the opinions and thoughts. I feel like I go here and do my job, which is to fight for wins. So it’s part of life. Fortunately, I’m doing it at a fairly young age.”
Jones, who needed to win the race to move into Championship 4, ended up in the 23rd and final car on the lead lap.
With the win, Gibbs joined Josh Berry and Gregson locked up in Championship 4. Justin Allgaier finished fifth to claim the final slot. The best finisher among those four drivers next weekend in Phoenix will be the 2022 series champion.
“I guess somebody behind me is going to hurt me a little bit,” Jones said after the race. “And I’m going to try to give them as much as I can, too. But I never take anybody out of the show. I think I’ve lost more races than I’ve won, just respectfully letting the guys win and not making those moves,” Jones said. “But time will always bring it back together and I think it will always come back. So I’m looking forward to Phoenix, man. I think we’re going to have a chance to win it. I’ve been feeling that way all day today, thinking : man, I’m going to make it to the next round and go win Phoenix.”
Sheldon Creed finished second in the race, Riley Herbst third, Gregson fourth and Allgaier fifth.
AJ Allmendinger, who was the 2022 regular-season champion, finished 16th and won’t be able to win the Xfinity title until he moves up to full Cup next year.
3 stage
After the break between stages 2 and 3, several leading cars hit pit road, with Gibbs the first out of pit road. Berry stayed on the track and inherited the lead.
On the restart on lap 129, Berry was followed by Austin Hill, Sammy Smith and Jones. Gibbs finished 13th.
On lap 162, JJ Yely spun on the backstretch and spun into the Turn 3 wall, bringing out the fifth caution of the race.
All the cars leading the laps, with Jones taking to pit road first. Creed was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the back of the field.
When the race went back to green on lap 170, Jones was followed by Berry, Gibbs and Gregson.
On lap 178, Gibbs moved past Jones and regained the lead.
On lap 195, both Chris Wright and Howie DiSavino III spun in turns 3 and 4, bringing the race back to the caution.
Several of the leading cars pitted with Jeremy Clements. Gibbs stayed out and remained in the lead.
When the race resumed on lap 203, Gibbs was followed by Jones, Berry, Gregson and Herbst. Allmendinger restarted 15th.
After contact with Daniel Hemrick, Ryan Sieg hit the turn 2 wall to bring the race back to the caution on lap 204.
On lap 211 the race went back to green with Gibbs in front.
Clements, Hill and Stefan Parsons collided in Turn 2 on lap 213, bringing out another caution. The race resumed on lap 219 with Gibbs followed by Gregson and Jones.
More than half a dozen cars, including playoff driver Hill, were caught in a pileup at Turn 4 on lap 220 that temporarily blocked the track.
Gibbs remained in the lead when the race went back to green with 23 laps to go.
After contact with Allgaier, who was battling for position, Allmendinger cut his front tire on lap 235 and spun out in Turn 1, prompting another NASCAR caution.
Gibbs stayed in front on the 242-lap restart, followed by Jones, Gregson and Herbst.
Kyle Weatherman and Brandon Brown spun in the first turn on lap 243 to bring out the 11th caution of the race right after Jones passed Gibbs for the lead.
The race ended in a two-lap overtime with Jones in front, followed by Gibbs, Smith, Gregson and Herbst.
Smith passed Gibbs and Jones for the lead, but ended up in the wall at Turn 4 to bring out the caution and send the race into a second two-lap overtime. Jones took the lead on the restart, followed by Gibbs, Herbst and Gregson.
After Gibbs regained the lead, Berry came back in Turn 2 on the restart, sending the race into a third two-lap overtime. On the restart, Gibbs was in the lead, followed by Jones, Herbst and Gregson.
2 stage
Gibbs passed Allgaier with one lap to go and held on to win Stage 2, his eighth stage win of the 2022 season.
Allmendinger was third, Gregson fourth and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top five.
After the break between stages 1 and 2, most of the cars leading the laps pitted, but Gregson stayed on the track and took the lead.
On the restart on lap 70, Gregson was followed by Raja Caruth (who also failed), Jones and Gibbs.
Gibbs got by Gregson out of Turn 4 on lap 88 and took the lead for the first time in the race.
With 30 laps to go in the stage, Gibbs held a narrow lead over Gregson while Jones continued to run in third.
With 15 laps to go, Gibbs held a gap of about half a second on Jones as Berry moved into third and Allgaier ran fourth.
On lap 106, Landon Cassill spun in Turn 3 and hit the wall to receive his third caution of the race. “He broke down,” Cassill said over his team’s radio.
Several leading cars lapped, including Jones, who was first off pit road. Gibbs stayed away and remained the leader on the lap 113 restart.
Allgaier quickly took the lead on the restart. On lap 109, Gibbs was able to pass Allgaier and regain the lead.
1 stage
Jones held off a ferocious attack from Gibbs to win Stage 1.
Allgaier was third, Berry fourth and Smith rounded out the top five.
Jones started from pole and quickly moved Creed into the lead.
On lap 21, Gibbs passed Creed for second place and nearly 1 second behind leader Jones.
Patrick Emerling crashed Joe Graf Jr. in the first turn on lap 33 to get the first caution of the race.
Several drivers, including Gregson, pitted, but Jones stayed on the track and took the lead. Gregson was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the back of the field.
When the race went back to green on lap 42, Jones was followed by Gibbs, Creed and Smith.
With 10 laps to go in the stage, Jones maintained a narrow lead over Gibbs as Allgaier ran third, 3.6 seconds behind the leader.
Hill (unapproved adjustments) and Hemrick (reserve car) had to start the race at the back of the field.
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