Ty Gibbs isn’t just another young driver on the NASCAR grid. He’s the heir to Joe Gibbs’ racing empire, the grandson expected to carry one of the sport’s most powerful legacies into the next era. But with that name comes pressure, scrutiny, and sky-high expectations. After a chaotic and wildly inconsistent 2025 season, the conversation around Ty has shifted from when will he break out? to can he survive the pressure at all? And now, with the departure of the team mastermind, the man credited with stabilizing him, many in the garage believe Ty’s 2026 campaign may be his toughest test yet.

Gabehart’s exit leaves a void at Joe Gibbs Racing

“Gabehart is not there anymore. There’s still a lot of capable people on that team and that organization, but if we’re talking about a name from a big team that’s going to miss the playoffs, he has to be it because he could find himself in a point hole again.” The blunt assessment from Jordan Bianchi captures the growing unease surrounding Ty Gibbs as he enters one of the most pivotal seasons of his young career.

Chris Gabehart’s departure from Joe Gibbs Racing in December 2025 didn’t just remove a key strategist. In fact, it removed the one person credited with pulling Ty out of the mental and competitive freefall that derailed the first half of his 2025 season.

Elevated to JGR’s Director of Competition, Gabehart had spent much of last year providing hands-on support for the No. 54 team, sharpening Ty’s race craft while cooling his impulsive tendencies. Without that stabilizing voice, Gibbs enters 2026 with more uncertainty than ever.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

The tension between the two (and Gabehart’s guidance) became most visible during the Watkins Glen race, where Ty spiraled into frustration as his car struggled for rear grip. “We’re [expletive] right now, so we’ve got to do something different,” he radioed. Gabehart’s response was sharp and revealing.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve got a real good understanding of that from inside the car,” he fired back. “So you can call the strategy if you want or we can keep rolling. But I (would) do the best I could to go as fast as I can.”

Moments like that highlighted both Ty’s volatility and Gabehart’s role in steadying him. Now, that buffer is gone. With expectations rising and patience wearing thin, Ty Gibbs enters 2026 needing not just speed but growth. Whether he finds it (or not) may define the next chapter of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Ty Gibbs targets a bounce-back 2026 season

As surprising as it sounds, Ty Gibbs is entering his fourth full NASCAR Cup Series season still searching for his first career win. Despite 123 starts, the young heir to Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t yet found Victory Lane – a fact that looms larger with each passing year. His trajectory once appeared promising: a solid rookie season in 2023 (P18), followed by a clear step forward in 2024 where he made the playoffs and finished 15th.

But 2025 brought an unexpected slump. Gibbs not only missed the postseason entirely but slipped backward to P19 in the final standings, marking his worst full-time Cup performance. Now, the pressure sits squarely on his shoulders as he attempts to reset and deliver the consistent results expected from the sport’s most pedigreed prospect.

Speaking with RACER, Gibbs acknowledged the struggles while expressing optimism about what lies ahead.

“2025 wasn’t really a great year for us, unfortunately. We made some changes towards the end and we were running really strong at the last couple races of the year. We’re starting off this year kind of with the same deal, so I’m real excited for this year and to see how it goes. It’s all part of the process…I’m going to go hammer down and work hard and try to outwork these guys and beat them.”

With NASCAR’s reintroduced season-long format placing a premium on weekly consistency, Gibbs knows he can’t afford another slow start or another morale-crushing points deficit. Every stage, every finish, and every mistake matters more than ever.

For now, his immediate focus is on the Daytona 500, a race that has quietly treated him well. In three starts, he’s posted two top-20 finishes. If there was ever a place to spark a resurgence (and silence the critics), it’s at the sport’s biggest stage.