Ty Gibbs carries Busch tribute scheme to fifth-place finish at Bristol

Ty Gibbs spent the Bristol Motor Speedway race weekend honoring the late Kyle Busch.

For a good chunk of Saturday night, it looked like he’d end it at a place Busch frequented in Thunder Valley: victory lane.

That wasn’t ultimately meant to be, but Gibbs had a great time trying to make it happen.

“That car was just a blast to drive,” Gibbs said after a fifth-place run. “I had so much fun tonight. It was an honor to drive the M&M’s Camry. It was something I’ll never forget.”

The spring Bristol winner arrived at the site of his maiden Cup Series triumph with added pressure. He was piloting a special M&M’s livery that paid homage to Busch’s legendary Cup career. Gibbs was flanked by Busch’s son, Brexton, during driver introductions. Busch’s wife, Samantha, shared words during the pre-race festivities. Fans were given yellow towels to wave on lap 18.

Early on, the symbolic gestures seemed like they’d be the primary takeaways from Gibbs’ night. But a quiet start gave way to true contention as the race went on and Gibbs worked his way forward.

Gibbs ended Stage 1 in fifth. By the time Stage 2 was complete, he was up to second. The Joe Gibbs Racing star surged to the lead in the final stage and ultimately led three times for 120 of the race’s 500 laps. He was positioned to pace the field comfortably over a long green-flag run to the finish when an ill-timed caution forced him to take the free-pass.

That caution gave Carson Hocevar the lead and ultimately set Gibbs up for a messy run to the checkered flag. The 23-year-old quickly chased Hocevar down on the ensuing run and managed to pass him in lapped traffic, but forced a three-wide move on Alex Bowman and Cole Custer that set off a crash seconds later.

Gibbs continued on with his battered No. 54 Toyota afterward, but the bulk of the frontrunners elected to pit while he stayed out, leaving Gibbs vulnerable on older tires for what turned out to be a caution-filled closing stint.

That may have played a role in his race’s undoing. He survived multiple restarts, but on the final restart with nine to go, Gibbs wasn’t able to close the door on second-place Kyle Larson quickly enough on the bottom. That left him with a blown corner and allowed Hocevar, now with fresher right-side tires after pitting, to his outside.

“I just tried to stay up a little bit too long in [Turns] 1 and 2 to try to shut the 77’s [Hocevar's] air off,” Gibbs said. “The 5 [Larson] got in there and we just missed it a little bit.”

Those few seconds ultimately made the difference in Gibbs’ race. He and Hocevar collided multiple times over the ensuing two laps, opening the door for Joey Logano to slip through and steal the win.

After getting the worst of the contact with Hocevar, Gibbs ended up fading to fifth in the final laps.

It wasn’t the result he wanted, but it was a good night for Gibbs’ Chase hopes. The two-time winner left Bristol fifth in the standings, just 42 points behind new championship leader Kyle Larson.

As a bonus, Gibbs had a front-row seat for the fight that took place on pit road, even adding his own small twist to the conflict at the expense of Frontstretch’s Michael Massie.

In the end, Gibbs gave his invested partners a memorable night in Thunder Valley.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost that. … Kyle would have made it happen,” Gibbs said. “It was cool to have the M&M’s colors this weekend, to have everybody here from MARS.

“It was such a special weekend. All for Kyle. All for Samantha and their family.”