Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs was well on his way to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway after holding off hard charges from 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, and Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson in the closing laps, even after staying out while Blaney took four tires and Larson took two under the previous caution flag period.
But with three laps remaining, a spin from 23XI Racing's Riley Herbst, who is sponsored by Monster Energy through a deal with his family-owned Terrible's gas station chain, spun out.
The spin itself was not necessarily Herbst's fault, but it was a clear act of intentional payback from Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, who is among a long list of drivers already fed up with Herbst's driving this season. Busch was involved in a separate incident with Herbst earlier in stage three.
Ty Gibbs nearly screwed over by another Monster Energy car
Fortunately for Gibbs, he was able to hold off both Blaney and Larson during the two-lap overtime shootout following the final restart to drive his own Monster Energy-sponsored No. 54 Toyota to victory lane.
But it was a lot closer than it probably would have and should have been without the Herbst incident.
The 23-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native beat Blaney to the finish line by 0.055 seconds to secure his first victory in 131 career starts. It was his 116th race in the No. 18-turned-No. 54 Toyota since replacing Busch in 2023.
For as much as fans love to criticize Gibbs for being a "nepo baby", he has proven he belongs at this level, and even though this win was his first, it was a long time coming.
As for Herbst, it's not exactly a big secret that he is only in his 23XI Racing ride because of funding, and that funding nearly resulted in another Monster Energy-sponsored driver being screwed out of his first win.
Herbst finished ahead of only Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware in the 2025 standings as a rookie, and his top finish of the year was actually worse than Ware's. Meanwhile, both teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick made it to the playoffs and advanced.
Busch was actually considered an early candidate for the No. 35 Toyota in the early stages of 2025 silly season, although nothing ever materialized.
Even still, it seemed like the only right answer for the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team was Corey Heim, yet they stuck with Herbst, who is believed to be on his way out to make way for Heim in 2027. Or at least, that's what most fans are hoping for.
Herbst is 29th in the standings after eight races this year, while Reddick is the points leader with four wins in eight races. Wallace is eighth.
The AdventHealth 400 is the next race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, ad it is set to be shown live on Fox from Kansas Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!