Newfound Cup Series consistency lifting Ty Gibbs

Six races into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs is 11th in the point standings, buoyed by consecutive top-five finishes at Circuit of The Americas, Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and a sixth last week at Darlington last Sunday, and looks to be getting closer to that elusive first Cup victory with his No. 54 Toyota. The 23-year-old now looks to frantic 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway and this Sunday’s Cook Out 400.

“Martinsville is awesome,” said Gibbs. “And we have 100 more horsepower now. I think that makes a difference – it puts it more in the driver’s hands and I really like that. It gives me a better opportunity. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Gibbs is quite pleased with what has transgressed for the No. 54 team thus far.

“It’s been a really good start for us,” said Gibbs. “We’ve been really consistent and the car has been really good, and I feel like I’ve been doing a good job, as well. I’m maxing out myself on the training side and we’ve also been maximizing the car side. I think everything has just been clicking really good and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Gibbs was caught up in crashes at Daytona and Atlanta but bounced back with a solid fourth-place run at COTA to launch his string of consistent finishes.

“We needed to have a good run and get some stage points and shut some people up,” admitted Gibbs. “It was good to have that. I’ve had a lot of fun. The cars have been fun and great to drive. My pit crew has been killing it.”

One week later, Gibbs raced to a fourth place finish at Phoenix Raceway.

“We were close at the end," he said. "We led them off at the green-white-checkers. Just couldn’t finish it, unfortunately. I’ve been really close there. We’re really strong. Man, we were so close, so it was kind of frustrating. To know that we can be competitive at a track that we kind of were horrible at the last couple years has been really positive. I’ve been having a blast with it all.”

There was good and bad about Gibbs' third consecutive top-five in Vegas,

“Unfortunately, me and Denny Hamlin sped on pit road. It was kind of a freak deal with the way pit road was,” explained Gibbs. “I had to come back from that and had a little adversity, but we kept on fighting and kept on making adjustments and we were really close at the end. We just needed a little bit more and needed some more laps. We were running good there. Vegas is such a fun place to go run at.”

Gibbs’ greater consistency and maturity has not gone unnoticed – not that it makes much difference to him, he says.

“Yeah, I don’t really care because I feel like people are going to judge you if you’re running well; they’re going to be on your side," Gibbs said. "If you don’t run well, they’re going to be on the opposite side, so I don’t really look at that stuff. I think sometimes people get fake about it.

"I don’t really care. I’m not here to make friends with all of that stuff. I’m here to go race cars because I really like it and I want to beat everybody and go win and maximize my job. That’s why I’m here. I really like it, so I don’t really mind or care what people think. I appreciate the best comments from people, but when I’m not running well, they’re not talking about me either. It’s not like I’m making friends with them.

“I just think we have a really good program this year. Not a ton has changed here, but a little bit has. We’ve moved people around and I think that’s made a big difference and I think it’s showing. Having that happen has been really good. We’ve had a lot of fun, too. My group of guys this year is great. We’re all young and after it. It’s fun to have people that are with you and believe in you and are all with you and on your side and kind of understand everything.”

Gibbs is as happy with his crew's performance as his own. Kevin Cox/Getty Images

And for Gibbs to nail down that elusive first career Cup victory?

“I don’t know,” he answered. “We’ve been so close. I think if we keep running consistent, we’ll be there. We’ve been really consistent. We’ve just got to keep doing that and keep maximizing that and eventually we’re going to knock it off. Yeah, just going to keep staying after it, mean. I mean that’s all we can do. We love racing, so if some adversity comes our way, and that’s going to happen, we’ll look past that, too.”

Does Gibbs feel different in 2026?

“Yeah, I do, but also, not a lot has changed,” he insisted. “Everybody believes in each other. Having that is super important.”

One of the younger drivers in the Cup field, Gibbs believes age and maturity will just help him as he goes along in the sport.

“Yeah, I think it will. I think you learn how to control more things in life. I think that helps. I think being young sometimes hurts, but also, it’s helpful because I can maximize my future and see what we did wrong to get better. Sometimes when the track does this or that, I don’t have as much experience and don’t know as much. I think it hurts there. I have a lot of room to learn and grow, and I really enjoy the whole process about it, as well.

“I feel like people just don’t understand me. Some people might see it that I come from a lot of money or whatever and try to make it look like I’m spoiled, but I really love racing. I’m a big fan of it all. I’m not here to have a ton of fans, I just love racing. I’m not trying to be a people pleaser. I’m just trying to go race and win. At the end of the day I love racing and I’m very fortunate to get to do what I do. I grew up in a great family and I’m just going to maximize my life and just keep staying after it.

"I think the biggest thing my dad would always tell me is that you can’t focus on everybody. You’ve got to focus on yourself. That’s how you’re going to get better. If you focus on people doing better than you, you’re not going to win races doing that. I think that’s something that I learned from him. I always think of that, for sure.”