(Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble is scalding hot.
With four races remaining in the regular season, Michael McDowell holds a 16-point advantage for the final spot on the preliminary grid. Ty Gibbs is currently the first driver out.
“We just have to execute every week,” Gibbs said during a press conference Saturday when asked about his confidence in making the playoffs. “I didn’t really do good last week, and we gained a bunch of points still. I’ve just got to do better than that, and I think we will have a better shot. I’ve got all the confidence in my team. I know they are bringing great race cars to the track, and we will see what we can do.”
Gibbs finished 15th in last week’s race at Richmond Raceway, a result that he viewed as a disappointment. However, he leapfrogged AJ Allmendinger to 17th in points after Allmendinger struggled and finished 27th.
For the most part, Gibbs hasn’t looked the part of a rookie in his first Cup Series campaign. He has six top 10s and scored his best finish of fifth at Pocono Raceway two weeks ago, a year removed from his highly anticipated debut.
That said, he’s also understanding the expectations.
“It’s a rookie season. That’s what everybody has been telling me. It’s alright – just do the best you can,” Gibbs said. “I feel like I go into each race the same – just try to complete the mission and do the best I can and do the best I can with my car. Sometimes I don’t do as good with what my car is capable of so I need to go back and learn, but sometimes I can’t make my car go any faster because something is wrong with it – I just need to suck it up and deal with it.
“It’s a mental game. Racing is really, really hard. Cup is really, really hard, and I think the Xfinity to Cup jump is three times as hard as it has ever been. You have a whole different car and track position means more than anything, but I really enjoy it and my team does a great job and works really hard.”
Over his year and a half of Xfinity racing, Gibbs often got criticized for his uber-aggressive racing style. In last year’s penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway, Gibbs spun teammate Brandon Jones for the win as Jones hoped to secure a spot in the Championship 4. He’s also had numerous other run-ins, including a fight with JR Motorsports’ Sam Mayer at the Martinsville spring race.
But Gibbs has seemed to dial back the aggression as he’s made the transition to full-time Cup racing. He attributed Xfinity drivers as aggressive by trying to prove their Cup readiness. So when he came to Cup, he embraced his role as a rookie and what was expected of him, both on and off the track.
“They put on a great show, but the race in Xfinity – everybody is trying to get to Cup, so there is a lot to prove,” Gibbs said. “I think there is already a lot of aggression in that, and of course, everyone wants to get into Cup. The Cup Series is so much different, and why it’s so much different for me is I’ve known Kevin Harvick since I was probably five, and I’ve known so much of these guys since I was super, super young. The respect is already there from me to them
“I feel like there is so much talk about it, but we have a lot of respect for each other, and I’ve got great respect for my teammates and all of the drivers. I’ve known Kyle Larson since I’ve raced dirt karts, and he came to our motocross shop. I’ve known those guys for so long. It’s so different.”
Gibbs scored a top 10 in last year’s Cup race at Michigan with 23XI Racing while subbing for Kurt Busch. He’ll roll off third in Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 after narrowly missing the pole to teammate Christopher Bell.
“We had a really good car last year,” Gibbs said. “I got caught speeding on that last restart when Denny (Hamlin) had a penalty and had to come from the back. I feel like we were really fast last year, and I really like this track. It’s really fun. You are just hammering down the whole time – really fast. It’s a really cool place. It’s fun to race here.
“Toyota will bring strong cars, and hopefully the Toyota that goes to victory lane will be me.”
