BRISTOL, Tenn. — All the pieces finally came together for Ty Gibbs at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
No, the Joe Gibbs Racing heir didn’t finally score that elusive first Cup win in his 96th start.
But nine races into the 2025 season—and with new crew chief Tyler Allen—the 22-year-old racer scored his first top five of the year and put together a complete race with the No. 54 team.
“It was a good day,” Gibbs said. “I was kind of managing the race and figuring out the way we needed to be. It was fun. I had a blast. We’ve definitely made an improvement.
“Thank you to Monster Energy, SAIA and Toyota. It was fun.”
Gibbs started the weekend by qualifying sixth—his best qualifying effort of the year. The track position enabled him to stay in contention—as much as anyone could against phenom Kyle Larson—and collect points in both stages.
After Stage 1, which ran green for the entire 125 laps, Gibbs finished ninth. He gained two spots in the pits and remained seventh during the only caution for an on-track incident on Lap 179. While some teams elected to pit, Gibbs remained on the track and maintained seventh place until the end of the second stage on Lap 251.
Following Lap 257 pit stops, Gibbs gained two additional positions in the pits. He started the final stage fifth on lap 266. He advanced to fourth by Lap 270 and took over third on Lap 285 as engine issues developed on the No. 48 Chevrolet of polesitter Alex Bowman.
As race winner Larson extended his lead over Denny Hamlin, Gibbs pitted on Lap 382. Hamlin and Larson followed within the next three circuits. Gibbs cycled out to ninth, one lap down as Ryan Blaney’s team elected to keep the No. 12 Ford out on the track—waiting for a caution in hopes of thwarting Larson’s dominance.
Once Blaney pitted on Lap 439, Gibbs vaulted to third. Despite a late challenge from teammate Chase Briscoe, Gibbs held his ground and collected his first podium finish of the year.
“I think we were very capable of running better than this,” Gibbs said. “It was good to be back in the mix—and back up here where we belong.
“I appreciate my team. Tyler Allen, my engineers did a great job. My spotter Tony Hirschmann did a great job today—it was good.”
Gibbs also complimented his new car chief Robert “Cheddar” Smith, who joined the team at the end of last month. Smith was the long-time assistant for Rodney Childers during Kevin Harvick’s glory days at Stewart-Haas Racing. Following a sluggish start to the season—with just two top-20 results—JGR recruited Smith from Spire Motorsports.
Since Smith came on board, Gibbs has scored consecutive top 10 finishes and moved up to 20th in the NASCAR Cup point standings.
The move of Chris Gabehart from crew chief of the No. 11 team to Competition Director has helped the performance of all of the JGR Toyotas including the No. 54.
“It’s just hard work and dedication to the process and what you believe in and figuring it out,” Gabehart said. “My new role is to help which team might be struggling the most and figure out ways to help each team with certain things—whatever that might be.
“The 54 has been struggling a lot lately, but I’m really proud of Tyler and the engineers, bringing on Cheddar, and Ty’s resiliency to work through the last 20 or so races and now being able to look out the other end.
“This sport doesn’t owe you anything but if you’re not willing to make it through the tough times you definitely won’t get to the good ones. So proud of them for that.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at [email protected].
