A lot of eyes were on Ty Gibbs at Daytona on Saturday. In the final regular-season race of the season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was looking to finish as high as possible to hold on to the No. 3 spot in the standings ahead of the Chase. Journalists at the track were looking to hear a piece of his mind before the engines started. However, MRN Radio’s Dave Moody was left disappointed when he felt Gibbs had refused to talk to him.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
He took to X to reveal how, in his 40-year career with the network, not one driver had done something like this before. JGR’s President Dave Alpern had to step in and clarify the situation.
“Dave, this is not accurate. I was there. Ty was engaged with a pre-planned meet and greet with his car sponsor. MRN showed up and was told by our folks [that] Ty was occupied for the moment, and they chose not to wait. Ty was never told and would have been happy to talk after he was done,” Alpern replied under Moody’s X post.
Dave Moody’s claims were dismissed. He agreed later on, stating that there were plenty of “agendas” before the race, which makes sense, considering it was Daytona and the last race before the Chase began. But what might have made the NASCAR media veteran jump to a conclusion is Gibbs’ history with the media.
Joe Gibbs’ grandson has never really been one to outright refuse to speak with members of the media. However, there have been instances where he’s proven to be a tough nut to crack. That said, he has had his reasons in a lot of those cases.
In Iowa earlier this season, Gibbs was accused of being rude by some members of the media following his seven-and-a-half-minute post-race press conference. As the race winner, journalists wanted more time with him. But Gibbs hit back later in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, saying that he had just finished racing 350 laps in extreme heat and simply wasn’t in the mood to talk much.
“Like sometimes it’s just not how you feel, and I’m very true to myself, and you know, I just act like myself,” Gibbs added. “I don’t have to be like anybody too, so yeah, it can be definitely difficult. I think like a lot of the media members don’t understand that.”
Gibbs has had to work a bit harder than most drivers to be taken seriously in the Cup Series garage. He was tremendous in the development series, winning the ARCA Menards Series and O’Reilly Series (then known as Xfinity) back-to-back before making it to the Cup Series. But while his results took a step back at the highest level, allegations of nepotism continued to follow him, considering who his grandfather is. Thankfully for Gibbs, his 2026 season has helped silence some of those criticisms.
Gibbs heading to the Chase after a breakout regular season
2026 won’t be Ty Gibbs’ first-ever postseason appearance. But it’s the first time he will head there with not one, but two wins under his belt. The talented JGR driver won in Bristol earlier this season, before adding another to his column in Iowa. The number of people calling him a nepo baby drastically reduced after that.
Ty Gibbs had a rough end to his regular-season finale at Daytona. He looked strong early, finishing second in Stage 1. However, his night fell apart with just five laps to go when Carson Hocevar lost control of the No. 77 car, causing a chaotic multi-car wreck. While Erik Jones hit Hocevar directly, Gibbs spun while trying to avoid the crash. The No. 54 Toyota still caught part of the wreck, suffering terminal damage that left Gibbs with a 34th-place DNF.
The 12 points he earned were not enough for the No. 3 seed heading into the Chase. Tyler Reddick, who finished third, climbed up a spot. Gibbs went down to fourth place.
Gibbs, however, is already looking at the bigger picture. Even before the Daytona disappointment, he declared that he would be going for the championship. With 10 top-fives and 15 top-tens, he’s been one of the more consistent drivers in 2026. And except for superspeedway races—which he considers to be like a lottery, much like many others on the track—he’s confident about doing well at every other track on the remaining schedule.
“I’m looking forward to capitalizing on going back to tracks we’ve been to already this year and getting better at that,” Gibbs said per Racer.
Daytona may have ended on a sour note. But Gibbs has bigger things to worry about now. The Chase is here, and he finally has a chance to let his driving do the talking.