(Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
LOUDON, N.H. — Ty Gibbs has seemingly shed his rookie stripes and developed a veteran poise in his first NASCAR Cup Series season.
Nearly a year removed from his Cup debut at Pocono Raceway, Gibbs has found a rhythym behind the wheel of the No. 54 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Though his results don’t fully show it, the 20-year-old has run in the top 10 to top 15 for most of the season after a rocky start.
Gibbs didn’t record a finish better than 16th in the first four races but went on a stretch of three consecutive races where he finished ninth. He snagged another ninth two weeks ago on the streets of Chicago, but suffered damage in a crash and finished 34th last Sunday in Atlanta.
All things considered, Gibbs, who typically holds himself to a high standard, is satisfied with where he’s at with his team.
“I feel good. I feel like we’ve been running like top 10 every weekend,” Gibbs said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday. “I’m happy with it. Just got to finish well. Got wrecked out early last week [at Atlanta] which sucks, but it’s part of it.
“You have to be disciplined, smart and have awareness, but just race and be the best you can and not wreck … I feel like every weekend we’ve been really good.”
Before crashing at Atlanta, Gibbs sat 16th in driver’s points and inside the playoff grid. But ahead of the Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Gibbs is 19th, 26 points below the cutline.
At this point of the season, Gibbs acknowledged that’s he knows where he stacks up in points. However, he’s not letting that bother his mindset as he looks to follow Austin Cindric and become the second consecutive rookie to make the playoffs.
(Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
“I do the best I can every weekend and really not try to pay attention,” Gibbs said. “Looking at the scorecard isn’t gonna help me shoot below par.
“Of course I want to make the playoffs and of course I want to win. To do that, I got to be the best I can during the race, during the week and working hard. For me, that’s not sitting there looking at points every single day, waking up and looking at my phone. I just go out there and work, do the best I can. It’s always what I’ve done.”
Gibbs will have an opportunity on Monday at Loudon, a place where Joe Gibbs Racing has historiclly ran well at. JGR has won six of the last 11 Cup races at The Magic Mile, including last year with Christopher Bell. In last year’s Xfinity race, Gibbs finished 21st.
He will, however, will have plenty of ground to make up after qualifying last on Saturday afternoon.
“Track position is really important and it shows it like last year,” Gibbs said. “Bell did a good job last year and that’s how they won. You just have to execute and stay up front all day and be there for the end of the race.”
The Crayon 301 is set for 12 p.m. ET on Monday after rain led to the postponment of the race for a day.
