NASCAR: Ty Gibbs wins race and Xfinity title

Ty Gibbs’ rookie campaign has been full of non-stop headlines throughout 2022. Whether it be his six wins entering the Championship 4 finale at just 20 years old or his aggressive driving style, Gibbs has been the star — for better or worse — in the Xfinity Series.

His stardom shined the brightest Saturday evening at Phoenix Raceway as Gibbs claimed the series title in his maiden Xfinity season. The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing driver held off a JR Motorsports trio of rival Noah Gragson and his teammates Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry in the championship race.

At 20 years, 1 month and 1 day old, Gibbs became the fourth-youngest champ in series history, coming close to the likes of current Cup Series veterans Chase Elliott and William Byron. Elliott is the youngest NASCAR national series champ, winning the Xfinity title in 2014 at the age of 18, while Byron grabbed his NXS title in 2017 at 19.

Gibbs dominated the ARCA Menards Series on his come-up, winning 18 races across three seasons and grabbing checkered flags at a ludicrous rate of 38.3% in 47 starts. He was nearly perfect in 2021 across all three ARCA banners, winning 10 of 20 races in the Menards Series and all six of his combined starts in the West and East Series.

Having shown full command at the ARCA level, the teenager was called up for a part-time role with his grandfather-owned JGR team. He piloted the No. 54 Toyota and immediately made his name known in the series where names are made.

His first career Xfinity start? A rousing victory as a then-18-year-old Gibbs won on Daytona’s road-course layout, leading 14 of the 56 laps in the process.

Gibbs continued to shine in 2021, winning three more races, and while he wasn’t championship eligible, the Xfinity contingency got the message loud and clear that the fast-rising prospect was bound to be a title contender soon.

His official rookie year brought that contender status to fruition as Gibbs earned five victories prior to the start of this year’s playoffs.

While wins and top-five finishes are always remarkable for someone as young as Gibbs, his shining moment came in the summer at Road America as the No. 54 driver outdueled the 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson through the left and right-hand turns of the 4.048-mile road course.

It was the race that reaffirmed Gibbs as a top-tier talent who’s ready for potential limelight in NASCAR’s premier series.

While not how drivers would want to get their first shot in the Cup Series, Gibbs — in addition to his Xfinity role — filled in the remainder of the 2022 Cup Series for Kurt Busch after the 2004 champion was injured in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway.

Gibbs scored three top-20 finishes in his first three Cup starts with the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, including a career-best top-10 run at Michigan International Speedway. While never collecting another such finish heading into the title race, Gibbs learned how to drive the Next Gen car and earned valuable seat time that should have him prepared to make the full-time jump to the Cup level when the time comes.

His sixth win in the penultimate race of 2022 at Martinsville Speedway didn’t come without its criticism, but the victory cemented his position in the Championship 4 — which has now culminated in his first title of what could be many more to come for the 20-year-old.

With a jump to the Cup Series perhaps right around the corner for Gibbs on his grandfather’s team, he’ll have a lot of eyes on him as he continues to mature into a championship-caliber driver at the sport’s highest level.

Quotes

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How did you put all the chatter behind you and deliver the title?

“First off, I want to say thank you to my team, my pit crew. Everybody did an awesome job. They put us here. Awesome job to my team. I know what I did last week was unacceptable, and I apologize once again. It was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organization stand point. I will sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it is not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions. I feel like today I had a good race. We made some good moves. Me and the 7 (Justin Allgaier) were racing really hard. Hopefully we put on a good show for you fans, thank you for all of what you guys do.”

CHRIS GAYLE, crew chief, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How proud are you of this kid after this week?

“Yeah, just think how tough you have to be, how resilient you have to be after going through that last week. The hardest thing for him was going to be all the stuff leading up to it, man. When you got between these two walls on this the racetrack, that’s where he shined today, man. There were three or four moments there where he could have panicked, could have got himself in trouble, could have got somebody else in trouble, and man, he did such a marvelous job all day.

TONY MUELLER, vice president, integrated marketing operations, Toyota Motor North America

“For the second consecutive season, we get to celebrate Joe Gibbs Racing as NASCAR Xfinity Series champions, this year with Ty Gibbs. Toyota’s partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing spans 15 years and together we’ve achieved much success both on and off the race track. The opportunity to add yet another championship to our list of accomplishments is meaningful to everyone within the walls at Toyota and TRD. Congratulations to Ty and the entire JGR organization.”

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