Gibbs optimistic of Phoenix turnaround after slow start to ’25

Ty Gibbs has seven NASCAR starts at Phoenix Raceway. Three came in the Xfinity Series between 2021 and ’22 and included a win. Four more starts went green in the Cup Series for Gibbs in 2023 and ’24, with a best finish of third coming last year. All of which has the 22-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver eager to take another shot at the Phoenix mile this Sunday.

“Yeah, I love Phoenix. It’s a sentimental place for me,” he says. “I just enjoy being out there. I’ve had great success there and I’ve also had very bad luck there. I’m excited for it, though.”

The opening phase of the new Cup season has been rough around the edges for Gibbs. The Daytona 500 brought a lackluster 16th-place finish, while Atlanta Motor Speedway saw Gibbs caught up in a multi-car crash. Last weekend at Circuit of The Americas, Gibbs was a lowly 34th at the finish.

“It’s been tough so far,” Gibbs admits. “We haven’t had great finishes, but we’re going to be really good. We came from two speedway races, which I feel are luck of the draw, and then last week we got wrecked. I think we are going to be really strong. I’m excited for the rest of the year. I’m ready to get in the consistent schedule rhythm where we are racing every week. I want to just get after it. I just want to have the opportunity to go out and show off my skill set and show off my team’s hard work. I just want to make it happen.”

Gibbs has been vocal lately about “throwing some stuff around” and trying new variables within the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team to increase overall performance.

“Yeah, for sure we have been doing that,” he says. “We made some adjustments to our team and have had some new people come in. I have a new crew chief in Tyler Allen now and I really like working with him. He’s super-chill and works really hard. I feel like he is pretty methodical in some of the ways he thinks about racing. It is cool to have a different perspective on it.”

Following Phoenix, Gibbs will then look to ensuing races at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Darlington and Bristol.

“I’m pumped for all this,” says Gibbs. “Having the next month of going to badass tracks is super-cool, so we’re going to make the best of it. Hopefully we can go win at some of them and see what we can do.

“It is tough to find an edge out there,” he acknowledges. “We all have the same cars and the same stuff to work with, so whoever can figure it out the best can get it. Of course, it comes out of my part and also my team’s part, but I feel like it is more on me and I’m working as hard as I can to get it down.

#54: Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, Monster Energy Toyota Camry

Something of a polarizing figure in Cup, Gibbs has been forced to deal pushback from the often-critical NASCAR fan base, as well as in the media. He thinks he’s a bit misunderstood — but also doesn’t care about it all that much.

“I think if they got to know me on a different level than what I seem like on the outside, I think they’d all think I’m pretty cool. But I don’t really care about how I make them feel. It’s just their perspective and their perception on me. That’s their deal because they can think however want to think because they’re Americans and we all have freedom of speech and thought. But I’m a pretty cool guy. Maybe sometimes I don’t look like that, but I feel I am.

“I’m here to win,” continues Gibbs. “I feel like I was raised to come into the sport with success, to try to come in and win everything at everything I do. I also want to be respectful and to be humble and just try and make it happen. I want to try and be a good person, but I want to try and kill them at the same time.

“I feel like I’m happy every day. I’m so blessed in my life. More than I could ever imagine, I’m blessed. I’m surrounded by great people. I just want to work as hard as I can and have as much success as I can and enjoy the whole ride. I also have to give a shout-out to our brother Dingo (Luke Trembath). We lost him. He was a great guy. I’ve had people like that in my life who are super-cool. I just learn stuff from people like him and I want to be positive. He was such a great guy. We all miss him.”

What Gibbs wants now is that first Cup Series win.

“I think we are very capable of breaking through,” he says. “We were last year and we just missed it. We’re going to go at it full force. I’ve got so much good stuff going on for me and I always have. I hope I can just do the best that I can and win and be a good example for people and just make the sport better. I think anytime I get in the Cup car, I have a shot to win.”