Don’t look now, but 21-year-old Ty Gibbs has become the most consistent NASCAR Cup Series driver over the last five weeks.
Since finishing 17th in the season-opening Daytona 500, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has logged five consecutive top-10 results. That’s more than any other driver. What stands out more is that he’s maintained his performance on different types of race tracks.
The Cup Series sophomore recorded his first top-10 finish of the year Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is now a superspeedway. He then conquered a pair of intermediate tracks — Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway — and finished fifth and third in his No. 54 Toyota Camry, respectively.
Gibbs managed his tires like a veteran during a chaotic race on the concrete at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and ran ninth. He also led 137 of 500 laps at the 0.533-mile concrete track.
Most recently, the North Carolina native showed his speed at the Circuit of The Americas road course and finished third during last Sunday’s Echo Automotive Park Grand Prix.
Though he earned a handful of top 10s during his rookie season, this type of early season consistency is a new look for Gibbs, who appears to be finding his footing quite nicely.
“It’s just been really good. My team has been doing a really good job. We are working really well together. I’ve been having a lot of fun racing in the Cup Series. It’s really cool,” Gibbs said.
As he puts it, the team has been “hammering down” this year. It’s helped that the 21-year-old has had time to build a stronger relationship with crew chief Chris Gayle and engineer Kyle Abrahims, who have both been by Gibbs’ side since 2021.
“I work really well with them,” Gibbs said. “Chris (Gayle) really cares a lot about me and about the racing and about the team. He is really supportive, and he wants to win as much as I do, every single weekend. It is one team. It is not just me that deserves to win. He does too.”
The 2022 Xfinity Series champion has yet to park his No. 54 Toyota in victory lane since moving to the Cup Series, but he believes a victory will inevitably come if he continues to maintain his performance.
“I just feel like I work hard every week and I love racing, and I try to go after it every weekend. If I can’t, I try to finish the best I can,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs is second in the standings, five points behind class leader and teammate Martin Truex Jr., who has been racing in NASCAR’s premier division since 2004.