Gibbs’ Hard Crash Leads To Early Exit From Cup Finale

Ty Gibbs (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Ty Gibbs entered Phoenix Raceway hoping for a memorable end to his sophomore NASCAR Cup Series season. It was exactly that, but not how he hoped it would be.

Gibbs pounded the outside wall at the exit of the dogleg just a lap into Sunday’s Cup Series season finale, moments after scraping the SAFER Barrier exiting turn four with his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE.

It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the crash whether it was caused by a simple overcorrection or a mechanical failure, but Gibbs seemed to think it was a minor miscue on his part that led to the crash.

“It was definitely a big hit,” noted Gibbs after being checked and released from the infield care center. “I made contact with the wall, but I didn’t think it was necessarily too bad, and I went off into the dogleg pretty quick. We’ve been really hard on the track there all week and I think I just caught it at a bad angle, and the car took off on me.

“I had no control there. It was a really, really big hit though, like I said.”

With a full 40-car field starting the final race of the year, Sunday’s disappointing early exit marked the worst finish of Gibbs’ 87-race Cup Series career and the third time he’s finished last in a race at the top level of the sport.

He ends his second full season with career-highs in every major statistical category – eight top fives, 12 top 10s, two poles, 417 laps led, an 11.6 average starting position, and a 16.8 average finish.

But Sunday won’t give Gibbs the momentum he hoped for heading toward the 67th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 2025, at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

“All we can do is work through the winter to make ourselves better,” Gibbs noted. “We’ll come back stronger.”