PHOENIX, Arizona — It's championship weekend for the World of Outlaws and also for NASCAR.
A local from York County ended the season raising the NASCAR Xfinity Championship trophy in victory lane.
Joe Gibbs Racing has won back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Championships with Daniel Hemric in 2021 and this year, his grandson Ty Gibbs.
For a local kid from Spring Grove, it’s his first taste of an Xfinity Championship. This is the second season Kyle Abrahims has been the First Race Engineer on the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54, but it's his first championship.
“It probably took me the three or four hours of sleep I got for it to start sinking in, for sure. You’re just at the highest of highs celebrating with everybody," said Abrahims.
Not many can say in their third season in NASCAR, they’ve won a championship.
“We knew we had the speed and the capability to do it. It was just capitalizing on what we knew we had," said Abrahims.
The team ended the season with six wins, including the finale at Phoenix Raceway while clinching the championship and having a near perfect race of leading 125 laps, two stage wins and capturing the checker flag in just Ty Gibbs' rookie season as the driver.
“It’s so hard when it comes down to one race. You know, you’re competing against three different guys who are just as good as you. Who put in an entire year of work, just like you did. It just takes execution and a lot of work on that setup to end up accomplishing what we did," said Abrahims.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the team after Ty Gibbs' father, Coy Gibbs, passed away hours after seeing his son win his first championship.
World Finals
On night one of the World Finals, held at the Dirt Track in Charlotte, the Shark Racing guys started in the second row.
Logan Schuchart battled with the now five-time Outlaw champ Brad Sweet.
You know the saying of it's not over until you cross the finish line.
Caution came out with three to go. Then, with two sticks in the air, Schuchart dropped to the inside for the lead in one and two. Carson Macedo seemed to have a problem. He was slowing up as the shark swam away from the field to win the opening night of the finals.
Brock Zearfoss finished seventh as Lance Dewease charged from 29th to eighth, but it would be the 10-time champ who swept the final two nights. Donny Schatz finished the 2022 on a high note.
Grandview Update
Fans and drivers can smile: another year you will hear a rumble from the Thunder on the Hill.
Grandview Speedway announced they will be racing in 2023 with an opening day yet to be announced after The Copart Company, who originally offered to buy the track, terminated the contract for the sale.
The speedway owners had set a strict date to sell, so if needed, they could have time to plan for the upcoming racing season.
Grandview will once again host a Pa. Speedweek show on June 27th.
More information can be found here.