In what was perhaps a prelude of the future, Ty Gibbs had to work Sunday. The 19-year-old Xfinity driver, grandson of NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, got a call late Saturday night only hours removed from finishing second after a thrilling last lap battle with Noah Gragson in the Xfinity race at Pocono Raceway.
Sunday morning, after some quick time on a simulator Gibbs was back at Pocono being fitted for a seat in the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing. The normal driver, veteran Kurt Busch, was still suffering some concussion like symptoms from a crash during Saturday’s Cup series qualifying and was not being cleared to race by NASCAR medical staff.
The young Gibbs would make his Cup series debut for the team, a satellite operation co-owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan at Pocono.
Wearing Busch’s McDonalds firesuit that seemed to be a bit too big, Gibbs started the race from the back of the field in a backup Toyota. He avoided trouble running inside the top 20 for much of the race. As Hamlin celebrated the win, Gibbs seemed satisfied with his 16th place finish after running near the top 10 at one point. It was a finish that came hours after the race when Denny Hamlin the original winner of the race, along with his JGR teammate Kyle Busch, had both their cars fail post race tech. That DQ’d both drivers stripping Hamlin of the win and moving everyone else up in the final standings. Gibbs crossed under the checkered flag 18th, but will be scored 16th,.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to God for giving me this opportunity,” he said. “Thank you to Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. Everybody at 23XI.
“The most important thing right now is about Kurt’s health and hopefully he can get back in this seat. He drives way better than me, so he deserves this. He’s been awesome. He’s helped me out so much.
“I want to say thank you to him. We had a fast McDonald’s Camry TRD. I had a great time so Michael (Jordan), if you’re watching I want to say thank you. It’s a big pleasure to wear this on my shoulder and on my shoes. I had a great time, and I learned a lot, so it was awesome. Thank you to Monster Energy.”
His first race behind the wheel of a NASCAR Cup car, the new Next Gen, came with surprises for the driver who has made 36 starts in NASCAR’s Xfinity series scoring 8 wins.
“Just the dirty air and how bad that affects you,” he said. “Just being able to make sure I was getting out far enough. I was a little bit tight all day, so just trying to get front turn and trying to get more center turn which would help me. It was a learning day. I felt like I learned a lot. I’m very thankful. It was close to almost a top 15.
“It was fun racing with Brad (Keselowski). Never thought I’d race with these guys. It was just cool being next to them on the track. So, to 10-year-old Ty that means a lot. I don’t think I would ever expect that.”
With the speculation that Kyle Busch might leave Joe Gibbs Racing next season, the run by Gibbs Sunday could show that he’s ready to step up to the Cup series, something few would have expected when the 2022 season started.
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.
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