Making the playoffs this season was important for Ty Gibbs and Alex Bowman. Neither driver had made it to the final 16 in 2023 despite driving for the two top teams in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now that they are in the postseason, some fans are calling it a Cinderella story. However, neither driver is worried about that particular tag. Both have one goal in mind — getting the best out of their respective cars and going as far as possible into the playoffs this season.
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It has been a tough few years for Bowman until he won on the streets of Chicago this season. He failed to make the playoffs last year as he could not win a race and was also out for a few fixtures due to injury. This year, Hendrick Motorsports has all four cars in the mix and it will be interesting to see how things pan out. According to the #48 driver, being consistent will be key in the next 10 weeks to do well in the playoffs.
“We haven’t been where we need to be for the last little bit. Our season has kind of been broken up into streaks of really good runs, and then streaks of really bad runs. So, I think if we can get the streak of really good runs to fall well for the next 10 weeks, I think we can be in a really good spot,” he said in a recent media interaction.
Bowman has had a decent season so far. Apart from his win, he has earned multiple top-10 finishes throughout the regular season. It’s quite an improvement considering where he was at this point last season.
Cinderella story would be winning a championship, says Ty Gibbs
It’s an almost similar story for Ty Gibbs in terms of stats but he gets a bit of leeway since he is only 21 years old. The #54 driver is the future of Joe Gibbs Racing and he has proved that on track on multiple occasions.
Gibbs has run better than a lot of the seasoned veterans and is regarded quite highly by the racing community. He knows how good he has been this season. Hence, for the youngster, a Cinderella story would be winning the Cup Series championship out of nowhere.
“To be honest with you, I don’t really care too much. I try to win every race that I’m in and try to make the best of it. I enjoy what I do. I don’t really know. Cinderella story sounds cool, to go on and win a championship – I could retire after. (laughter) Just kidding. I don’t really know. I don’t really look at social media all that much, so I wouldn’t know,” he quipped.
Both Gibbs and Bell will have to run well in the first round since they don’t have as many playoff points as the rest. But since they’re both underdogs, the pressure of expectation is a lot less which could ultimately help them do a lot better than what fans may anticipate.
