It took eight races, a small mountain of frustration, and probably a few broken iRacing rigs, but Ty Gibbs finally had a reason to smile on Sunday. And no, not the usual “my trust fund’s doing fine” grin—an actual, earned, “I didn’t get lapped!” kind of smile.
Yes, the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Bristol Motor Speedway, and for once in 2025, Gibbs didn’t disappear into the midfield like a bad pit strategy. He started sixth, stayed there—or better—all afternoon, and when the dust settled, he parked his Toyota in third place.
“It’s definitely really nice,” Gibbs said. “We had a really good clean day, so you know, really happy to have that. It’s been pretty chaotic start to our year. I think we’re back where we’re going to run.”
Now, let’s back up for a moment. When Ty Gibbs replaced Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023, it was like handing your teenage nephew the keys to a Hellcat and telling him to keep it under 60. Expectations? Massive. Pressure? Ridiculous. Patience from fans? Practically non-existent.
And through the first part of this season, the results were exactly what you’d expect when a young driver is trying to live up to one of the sport’s all-time greats—wobbly. No top 15s through the first six races. A 13th at Martinsville. A 9th at Darlington last week that barely registered on the Richter scale. And then came Bristol, and something clicked.
Finally.
It wasn’t a win. It wasn’t even a photo finish. But it was a clean, fast, adult day at the office, and that’s something Gibbs has been needing in a bad way. A podium at the coliseum of chaos? That’s no fluke.
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Of course, now that he’s got a bit of momentum, NASCAR goes and hits the brakes. The Cup Series takes its only weekend off next week, just in time to make everyone forget the progress. Because naturally, the moment the kid gets hot, the schedule decides it’s time for a nap.
But Gibbs isn’t worried.
“I’m really excited for the future and to get back racing after this off weekend,” he said. “I think we’re really capable of winning a lot this year, so we’ll see what we can do and go out and have a fun time, have a blast.”
Confidence? Check. Optimism? Absolutely. And maybe—for the first time in a long time—a reason to believe that the No. 54 isn’t just a placeholder for lost potential.
And no, he’s not shaken by the rocky start.
“I feel like we have great guys around me,” he said. “We’re capable of running really well, as we’ve seen. I don’t think I’d worry about it at all too much.”
For Ty Gibbs, Bristol wasn’t a win—but it sure felt like one. And for now, that’s enough.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.