Gibbs Beats The Heat & Late Spin For Solid Day In Virginia

Ty Gibbs (54) leads a line of cars Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – At famed Martinsville Speedway, clean racing and leaving with all four fenders intact isn’t guaranteed each time one visits the half-mile ‘paper clip.’

With that fact in mind, despite capturing his best finish of the NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday at Martinsville, Ty Gibbs’ path to a productive day had a few bumps in the road.

The 22-year-old came home 13th in Virginia, marking his first top 15 of the season and highest finish since his Duel race over a month ago at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

That doesn’t tell the whole tale, however, as Gibbs had to fight back from a late-race spin and endure the heat behind the wheel after his driver cooling suit failed early in the race.

“There’s no secret, we’ve gone through a tough time to start the year. Everything that’s happened to us, not much has gone our way (with the No. 54 team),” said Joe Gibbs, Ty’s grandfather and the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, after the Cook Out 400. “When that happens, I know what I'm studying through who surrounds us, who is there with us, (and) who is working their rear-end off at the race shop to try and get us back where we know we need to be [with Ty].

“We're going to fight. Ty’s dad Coy [a former NASCAR driver, and the past co-vice chairman and co-owner of JGR who passed away in November 2022], his statement was always anytime we got in a tough spot with his kids, he’d say, ‘I raised my kids tough.’ That's what he said.

“Hopefully we’re going to fight our way out of this.”

Whether it’s been a lack of speed with missed car setups or in-race situations that doom a promising weekend, saying it’s been rough for the No. 54 team is an understatement. No top 20s in Ty Gibbs’ last five races and two finishes worse than 30th have put him outside the top 30 in points entering April.

However, at Martinsville his luck took a turn. In qualifying Gibbs was 13th, which gave him solid track position entering Sunday’s 400-lap race. Then in stage two, the Charlotte, N.C. native finished fourth and collected seven stage points.

Then came the challenge. Gibbs saw contact entering turn two from Toyota teammate Tyler Reddick while running 11th with 103 laps to go, which could have easily spoiled his strong effort.

Although the two manufacturer teammates got together, Gibbs was able to work his way through the field back into the top 15 over the 75-lap green flag run that ended the race.

Ty Gibbs (Rusty Jarrett/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

It was his fifth top 20 at Martinsville and his first stage points in a Cup Series race at the track since 2023. He now sits 31st in the regular season standings, but still has a steep hill to climb.

Though he hasn’t been able to spend much time with the younger Gibbs outside the racetrack, teammate Denny Hamlin – who won Sunday’s race at Martinsville – did share that he’s given the third-generation driver some advice amid one of the bumpiest stretches of Gibbs’ young career.

“He asked me what he should do; how does he turn this thing around, and my advice was just, ‘You’re not going to get it all back in one week,’ Hamlin said. “That is what I see most young guys try to do. If they make a mistake, they end up compounding it with multiple mistakes over and over and over. They just can’t get out of making mistakes.

“At some point you have to just ask yourself, ‘How can I get through the day with a green race? He got spun today. But how can I get through with a decent finish? Not a good finish, a decent finish, and then build on that,” Hamlin continued. “I told him, ‘People are going to run into you today. You can’t let that stuff get to you. You have to be able to be mentally strong enough to let that stuff go.’

“Certainly it’s really easy for him to hit the panic button and say, ‘Man, things are going as bad as they ever have; I can’t get through a race without problems and everybody is out to get me.’ But he just has to have a quiet week and then build on that. … These races are really, really long. Thirty percent of the competition will take themselves out every single week. If you have a 12th-place car, you will finish eighth if you don’t screw up because others in front of you will.

“I think if he can continue to have that type of mentality and not panic, it will eventually turn for him.”

Despite not having a top 10 yet, Gibbs will look to carry the momentum of a stronger day into Darlington (S.C.) Raceway next weekend. In the last spring race at Darlington, Gibbs finished second and led 34 laps.

NASCAR will headline its annual throwback weekend, honoring the sport’s 77-year history, with the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, April 6 at 3 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.