NASCAR at a Glance: Why Ty Gibbs Could Be the Dark Horse in 2024

Soumyadeep Saha | 19/03/2024
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With talented rookies like Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, and Zane Smith in the NASCAR Cup Series grid, it would be somewhat of a shock if one was told that the breakthrough driver of 2024 is not one of them. Then who is it? Who is the driver that has shown the greatest promise with just six races in?

It’s none other than the 2023 Rookie of the Year, Ty Gibbs. Safe to say, Gibbs has carried over the momentum that earned him the prestigious Rookie of The Year award to the current season, and in just a few races, he has displayed several glimpses of his incredible potential. After snatching a top 10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the #54 driver went on to grab a P5 finish at Las Vegas and then a P3 finish at Phoenix Raceway.

The 21-year-old Toyota pilot now sits third in the overall point standings and astonishingly just seven points below former Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and teammate Martin Truex Jr., who are currently tied at 185 points.

Gibbs fell short of experience at Bristol

While Gibbs couldn’t win at the Food City 500, he did lead a whopping 137 laps, thus sweeping both the stages on his way to a ninth-place finish, his fourth top-10 performance in the first five races of the season. This adds to the 57 laps that he had led the previous week at Phoenix and places him third in the highest number of laps led this year. Impressed at his extraordinary performance, veteran journalist Davey Segal wrote on X, “@TyGibbsis a rocketship today Restart 28th, already up to 10th. Is told to “make it live” and they have the quickest car, have already passed 2/3 of the entire field.”

There were several moments during last week’s race when it appeared Gibbs would record his first Cup Series win at Bristol itself. Still, sadly, it seemed like he fell short of the experience needed for the tricky tire management, which his teammate and veteran racer, Denny Hamlin, took full advantage of.

Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Gibbs has what it takes to win a race and punch his career’s first playoff ticket. Currently, Gibbs is 68 points above the cutline, which is a solid position to be in right at such early stages of his career. But whether he can etch his name as a championship-contending athlete is yet to be seen.

Post Edited By: Srijan Mandal
Ty Gibbs

About the author

Soumyadeep Saha

Soumyadeep is a motorsport journalist at the Sportsrush. While preparing for his PhD in English literature back in 2021, the revving of stock cars pulled him towards being a full-time NASCAR writer. And, he has been doing it ever since. With over 500 articles to his credit, Soumyadeep strives every single day to bring never-heard-before stories to the table in order to give his readers that inside scoop. A staunch supporter of Denny Hamlin, Soumyadeep is an amateur bodybuilder as well. When not writing about his favorite Joe Gibbs Racing icon, he can be seen training budding bodybuilders at the gym or snuggled in a beanbag watching anime.

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