Ty Gibbs, somewhat quietly, delivered arguably the most surprising result of the Straight Talk Wireless 500 weekend in Phoenix. Not many had expected a top-five finish from him after qualifying in 14th, but Gibbs defied the odds.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished the race in fourth, behind Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson. He even took the lead during the final round of pit stops with about 21 laps left after his crew gambled on a two-tire stop and beat the field off pit road. He held off the field for a stretch before Blaney, who also took two tires, slipped past him with 10 laps remaining and drove on to the win.
The result marked the second race in a row where Gibbs crossed the line in fourth, following last weekend’s race at the Circuit of the Americas. Though the wait for a first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series continues, the run moved Gibbs into the top 15 in the standings, lifting him two spots after the weekend in the desert. Voices around the sport took note of the drive.
During the latest episode of the NASCAR Inside the Race podcast, analyst Steve Letarte pointed to the way Gibbs handled the closing laps while facing rivals with more grip.
“I felt like he gave it every he was back-to-back two tire stops. He was behind on tires. I think he was behind on car even a little bit. And I thought he drove a just an outstandingly mature last 25 laps.”
“I think he raced hard. He didn’t race over his head. He didn’t run into people like he raced, like he knew it could happen, but it may not. I thought he was very very polite to his teammate Bell. I’m not sure two years ago we’d have saw that out of Ty Gibbs, but I think Bell got there and Ty conceded. He goes nine to go. I can’t hold him off for nine. I think Ty Gibbs, he’s got he’s taken a lot of heat,” he added.
The tone between teammates stood in discrepancy to a flashpoint last season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. During the Round of 12 race at NHMS, Denny Hamlin made contact with the 23-year-old while the two battled on lap 110, sending the No. 54 Toyota Camry spinning into the wall in Turn 1.
Gibbs, who was not part of the playoff field, had been racing Hamlin and Bell hard, prompting Hamlin to say over the radio, “Are they afraid to talk to him? … They’re just scared of him.”
In Phoenix this year, however, the dynamic took a different path. Gibbs led late in the race before Blaney made the pass with 10 laps left, and the team avoided any flare-ups on track. The race also brought a lift for Joe Gibbs Racing in the results sheet, with Gibbs and Hamlin bringing the cars home in fourth and fifth.
