As has become regular habit all throughout motorsport, drivers who, for one reason or another, have their seats deemed "safe" no matter their performance, quickly become whipping boys. Most often, these are pay drivers, or those who are competing under their family's banner.
In Formula 1, Lance Stroll has been catching that bad rap since the dawn of his career in 2017, with his billionaire father Lawrence Stroll paying for his seat and then ultimately buying Aston Martin, the team he now races for. In NASCAR, however, that driver is Ty Gibbs, the grandson of Joe Gibbs.
Gibbs, a 22-year-old who is already in his third full Cup Series season, is a driver who, despite his obvious ties that would undoubtedly see him drive for Joe Gibbs Racing at one point or another, actually had a ton of talent and results when rising through the ranks. Before he even reached the Cup Series, he scored 11 wins in two Xfinity Series seasons, winning the championship in his only full season in 2022.
However, Gibbs' first three full Cup Series seasons have been huge disappointments thus far.
Unlike the majority of drivers who have been in his position, talent has never been an issue. He has also shown several glimpses of said talent, which begs the question: why does Gibbs still catch so much criticism?
Not including his stand-in performances for the injured Kurt Busch in 2022, Gibbs has made 90 starts in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 54 Toyota since replacing Kyle Busch, but he has only scored 14 top five finishes, 25 top 10 finishes, made the playoffs once, and crucially, has not scored a single victory.
Perhaps most concerning are his numbers in 2025, which have actually shown serious regression. He has just two top five finishes and one other top 10 finish. He has posted a career-low average finish of 19.11 while sitting 24th in the standings and 86 points below the playoff cut line.
Worst of all, though, is the fact that all three of his teammates, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe, have already won races this year. In Briscoe's case, it took him less than half the season to win after replacing the retired Martin Truex Jr., and he wasn't really on many fans' radars after a few decent, but relatively lackluster, years at Stewart-Haas Racing.
Considering Gibbs got to the team well before Briscoe, whether he admits it or not, Briscoe's Pocono Raceway win has to be only hurting his confidence even more.
some uncomfortable conversations need to be held about paw paw's boy https://t.co/RSVnbjkv6A
— calli 🔆 (@PUPPYM0DER) June 23, 2025
Gibbs' results in 2025 have made Joe Gibbs Racing look to be a far cry from the super team they assembled under a decade ago, with Hamlin, Busch, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards all contending for the championship for several years on end.
Rather, it feels more like when they had three drivers contending each week, while Daniel Suarez in the No. 19 Toyota or Erik Jones in the No. 20 Toyota struggled to keep up. Considering both of those drivers were dropped for performance reasons, the likelihood of Gibbs keeping his seat, despite very similar results, will not sit well with the fanbase.
With time running out, Joe Gibbs Racing made some changes to Gibbs' No. 54 team.
With just eight races remaining before the playoffs, Gibbs' 86-point deficit to the cut line virtually puts him in a must-win situation until the end of the regular season to have any chance of qualifying for the postseason.
Heading into the race at EchoPark Speedway this past weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing appeared to recognize the severity of the situation and tried to get the No. 54 team some help by putting a familiar name in Chris Gabehart atop the pit box as a race strategist.
Gabehart, who was crew chief for Hamlin from 2019 to 2024 and won 22 races with the No. 11 team, was replaced by Chris Gayle on top of Hamlin's pit box for 2025 after being named competition director for Joe Gibbs Racing. Just beyond the halfway point of the year, he is now directly tasked with trying to get the team's fourth and final car into the playoffs.
Gabehart's presence may just be what it takes. Gibbs has been competitive in recent weeks, finishing a frustrating third at Michigan International Speedway after losing out to Hamlin in a fuel-saving shootout, and being the closest challenger to eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen in Mexico before finishing 11th after an untimely caution wrecked his pit strategy.
"The margin for winning and not winning in this sport is as tight as it’s ever been... Ty knows my history and resume, so maybe he’ll respond to that in a little bit of a different way."Chris Gabehart, speaking to NBC Sports
Had strategy worked out slightly differently over the last month, Gibbs could have two wins to his name and a playoff spot well-secured. With Gabehart now dictating strategy more than before, Gibbs is due for a big response.
However, if he doesn't break through and at least make the playoffs again, the hate and criticism coming toward him will only continue to grow as those in the same conditions around him continue to contend.