Gibbs eager to get started on NASCAR Cup Chase title quest

The last race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, is set for this Saturday evening on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, and for Ty Gibbs, driver of Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 54 Toyota, it's a chance to take stock ahead of the final phase: The Chase. Third in the Cup Series points standings and locked into the postseason with victories at Bristol and Iowa, the 23-year-old has had an excellent year beyond that with 10 top fives and 10 top 15s. He doesn't think that has earned him as much notice from the NASCAR community as it should, though.

“Some do, but not really,” Gibbs says. “I mean it’s hard for people to understand.

“I feel like, honestly, that we’ve got a good shot at the title. I’m excited. It’s going to be fun the next 10 weeks of the playoffs. Besides the speedway stuff, we’re really solid everywhere we go for the rest of the year. I’m looking forward to capitalizing on going back to tracks we’ve been to already this year and getting better at that.”

That includes the high-bank challenge at Daytona this weekend, too.

“Daytona is obviously one of the more challenging ones just because it’s a speedway race and you can kind of get hosed with the wrecks and stuff," he admits. "But it’s fun and the last couple of races the Toyotas at Daytona have actually been really good.”

Gibbs finds the 2.5-mile Daytona circuit and odd mixture of strenuous and relaxing.

“Yeah, you can," he says when asked if he can ever relax in the car at speed. "I mean, it feels like you’re just going down the 405 and hang a left for about 45 seconds and you come out and do it all again. You’ve got a lot of people around you, too, It can be difficult, but it’s not too physically exerting. It just can get hot sometimes. I think Daytona is sick. Obviously, I don’t really like the restrictor plate stuff. It’s just a different style of racing, so it’s like going from supercross to flat track. It can be difficult sometimes, but it’s pretty fun. I respect the Daytona history a lot. That’s the first place where they really started ripping.”

Victory at Iowa is part of a recent surge of momentum for Gibbs and company. Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Gibbs enters Daytona coming off of an eight-race run in which he placed in the top five four times and won at Iowa Speedway.

“I definitely think we’ve got a lot of momentum right now,” agreed Gibbs. “Last week at New Hampshire we didn’t really have a great weekend, and we were still sixth. There is typically a lot of consistency there. Hopefully we can keep it rolling into the Chase. You know it feels good to see the hard work paying off. It just feels good to be able to be competitive. I’ve kind of known the whole time that I can do it. It was about getting the right people around me that I needed to make this happen and I wouldn’t be here without them.”

Gibbs has also been looking at his own performance and approach and working at optimizing every variable he can.

“Just kind of looking back from last year and seeing what I can do better from those previous races and just stay on top of what we’ve been doing,” Gibbs explains. “We’ve been staying on top of the simulator and trying to maximize it. We have not been changing too much up. My crew chief Tyler [Allen] and everybody that’s been helping my program has been making big gains with our whole deal. It’s been huge. And it’s been a lot of fun, too.

"I’m really happy with everything. I’m really happy with my guys Chedder [Robert “Cheddar” Smith, car chief] and all the guys on the ground floor, too. They’ve been killing it and it has been a blast to drive their cars. We’re definitely a lot better than last year. We have a young team, too. Hopefully we can keep working together for a long time."

Does Gibbs expect to develop a different mindset entering the Chase, which starts at Darlington on Sept. 6?

“I mean you can, but I feel like that’s not the right way to do it,” reckons Gibbs. “I feel like I’d rather keep it to what got me here, you know? I don’t want to just ditch everything and jump ship. I really like Darlington, too. I think it’s one of our more badass racetracks that we go to. Get up right next to the fence making speed. It feels like I’m at a dirt track and right on the top. That’s pretty cool. We’ve been really strong there the last two or three years there, so we’ll just keep seeing where we can go.

"It’s so sick to really put it all together and kind of trust the process, too, because that can be difficult at times. That’s just part of life and that’s how you get better, too. Sometimes it takes a little bit of sacrifice, but that’s what makes it all fun in the long run.”