The first five races of the NASCAR season have presented a lot of information to process. Amidst the bustle, Ty Gibbs’ performance gets lost.
The spectacular Daytona 500 was followed by an exciting three-wide picture finish at Atlanta. Toyota won in Phoenix, while Kyle Larson won in Las Vegas. Penalties, aero changes, horsepower, a webbed glove, new manufacturer bodywork, and rigorous tire management at Bristol.
It’s understandable why Gibbs, who hasn’t yet claimed a Cup victory, has gotten so little attention.
It was expected that Gibbs would experience a sophomore slump following his victory as Rookie of the Year the previous season. It was forgotten to inform him about that. Currently holding the third position in the championship standings, the 21-year-old is the only driver in the series with four top-ten finishes this season.
Having made it through the first two superspeedway races, Gibbs is playing much better now. In Las Vegas, he qualified eighth and placed in the top five. In Phoenix, where he led 57 laps and qualified on the front row, he achieved his best finish of third.
Ty persevered in the race and worked his way up through the field despite the early problems in Bristol’s practice sessions. He led 137 laps, won both stages, and seemed on his way to his first Cup victory. Sadly, the strange tire condition kept that from occurring.
The 2022 Xfinity champion told Bob Pockrass that he was annoyed. Gibbs stated, “We were only two laps late coming in.” “I suppose I was about four laps down when we had that tire fall apart. It’s just annoying, but you have to put in some effort here.
The driver of the No. 54 Toyota has had an excellent start to the season, as seen by the statistics. This year, Gibbs has led 194 laps, with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson trailing him. He is only a hair behind teammate Martin Truex Jr. in second place with an 8.8 average finishing position.
After the two superspeedway races, Joe Gibbs Racing seems to be the team to beat this year, and Toyota has been the leading manufacturer. Truex finished second at Bristol, while Christopher Bell and Hamlin have already won.
Ty has been pounding on the door, and that victory is just a matter of time. If he wins it this weekend at COTA, his granddad will have won three straight. Ty has won four of the twelve Xfinity Series races on road courses.
Domination of Toyota and Joe Gibbs
Toyota is currently the leading manufacturer in the Cup series. The past two races have been decisively won by them. In the last two races, Toyota has led 712 of the 812 laps.
At Bristol, Joe Gibbs finished first and second, placing all four cars inside the top ten. There is no denying the new Camry’s quickness. As noted by Dale Earnhardt Jr., it also looks excellent.
Title Defendant Ty Gibbs
You must win a race in order to be eligible for the Playoffs; winning a race is not enough to ensure a spot. Ty is still looking for that, but this weekend on the road course in Austin, Texas, it might materialize.
Gibbs earned the third-best average finish out of all the drivers that participated in the six road course races the previous season. As a rookie last season, he finished ninth at Chicago and ninth at COTA. Additionally, Ty placed in the top five at the Charlotte ROVAL and Watkins Glen.
Although it’s still too soon to call him a championship contender, that won’t be the case for long. There will be a victory soon. His teammates can be his fiercest rivals. For everyone else, the season may be prolonged if JGR continues at this pace.
