By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
Winning is the only thing that matters to Ty Gibbs. Anything less is a disappointment for the 22-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
In the closing stages of Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Gibbs was quietly in the mix for the race win as fuel mileage was on everyone’s mind.
The driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry saw himself in third place as a frantic battle between race leader William Byron and Gibbs’ teammate Denny Hamlin unfolded in front of him.
Should any driver run out of fuel, Gibbs was ready to make his move to get that long elusive first NASCAR Cup Series win in his 102nd start at the circuit he’s been strong with an average finish of 8.0 in three previous races.
However, Gibbs’ fuel economy didn’t favor him and had to give up third to Chris Buescher passed him with three laps remaining. A shot at victory would have to wait another week.
Fortunately for Gibbs, he had enough fuel to make the distance and regained third after Byron ran out of fuel coming to the white flag.
While Hamlin ended up victorious and brought JGR its first Michigan Cup win since Matt Kenseth in 2015, Gibbs’ third-place result equaled both last year’s effort at the two-mile oval and his season-best result at Bristol in April.
The cadence and expressions from Gibbs during his post-race interview with Amazon Prime’s Marty Snider and Trevor Bayne said it all – sheer agony.
“We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota Camry. I wish we could’ve won, but that wasn’t the option with the fuel spot we were in. It’s just very unfortunate,” said Gibbs.
“I felt like we had the capability to go do it and we showed that we’re fast enough. It’s definitely frustrating, but that’s part of it sometimes.”
Gibbs added that he was willing to push hard on the leaders to get the win, even if it meant he ran out of gas.
Despite settling for third, he was glad to have been in that spot in the first place after describing how horrible the start went and thanked the team for making key adjustments in order to salvage his race.
“Most of the time, we haven’t come back after starting off not great and having problems with cautions coming out during pit road stuff,” Gibbs explained. “I’m very frustrated right now, but it does matter that we finished good. I definitely seemed upset because I am. We worked hard to come out here and win, so it’s definitely frustrating.”
Frustrations aside, it marked Gibbs’ first top-five since Bristol as he snapped a five-race skid that plummeted him down to 27th in the regular season standings.
Following one of his strongest races this year, Gibbs heads to Mexico City (Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime) up two spots with 11 races left before the playoffs.
Gibbs described his success at Michigan is a byproduct of the ability of passing cars that suits his driving style to a tee.
“Honestly, it’s because it’s so wide and we can pass. We can’t really pass in these things,” said Gibbs. “I think everybody says the same thing every week, as we know. The track opens up so much, you can pass a lot. That’s what makes it so racy, for sure.”
The upswing from Michigan couldn’t have come at a better time for Gibbs as the next set of races, including the road course at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, tend to favor the youngest driver of the JGR stable.
With his grandmother’s side of the family being from Mexico, a maiden Cup win at the 2.429-mile road course bring sentimental values to Gibbs.
“I’m excited for next week’s race. Maybe I get to see some family,” said Gibbs. “But very happy for these next stretch the races, and some of my sprint car stuff as well. It’s going to be a fun stretch of racing.”
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