Ty Gibbs is on a hunt. A hunt for his first-ever Cup Series win. Even though he’s alluded to it, his 2025 season has been on a roll. Ty Gibbs has been killing it, with two top tens, three top fives, 65 laps led, and plenty of promise. This weekend proved to be a perfect opportunity for the JGR driver to pounce on.

As the week started hot from the Xfinity win of Daniel Suarez, Ty Gibbs looked ready to carry the emotional momentum into Sunday. At Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he was one of the fastest cars rising through the field, slicing past competitors, and eyeing the leader’s cockpit. Everything was setting up for a showdown with Trackhouse Racing’s SVG. Everything, except for one caution.

Ty Gibbs is devastated after coming close to winning

Ty Gibbs had one of the strongest performances of his young career at Mexico City, showing speed, precision, and race-leading confidence. However, all of this was undone by the pit strategy and an untimely caution. Starting fourth, Gibbs asserted control of the race. By lap five, he had taken the lead and built a two-point-second gap over Ross Chastain, setting a best lap of 114.654 seconds. He continued to stretch his advantage through lap six with SVG by turn 4. Yet he remained in the fight.

The frustration was raw. Speaking to Matt Weaver, Gibbs didn’t hold back. Matt took to X to immediately share his frustration: “Ty Gibbs on the unfortunate timing of the caution that cost him a chance to challenge SVG.”

“I don’t know what they’re, what these guys do on restarts, and they check everybody up, and everybody just rails each other, but… That happened, so we got a little nose damage, um, but, whatever, had fun,” Ty quickly dismissed the heartbreak as he finished 11th. Adding to this race that was out of their hands, he said, ” Sometimes life just doesn’t work out for you, sometimes things don’t work out for you, and you just gotta keep digging.” 

At the 25th lap restart, Gibbs executed a bold move, passing Daniel Suarez cleanly in the stadium section to reclaim the lead. From there, he remained at the front, leading 16 laps by lap 35 while under pressure from Van Gisbergen. He posted one of the fastest laps of the race (92.798 mph) and consistently ran among the top five. He pulled the lead on 43, surrendering the position but maintaining a solid strategy.

The late-race caution dropped at the worst possible moment for the No. 54 team. Ty, taking this defeat in his stride, said, “You just gotta keep digging, keep moving forward, and, uh, that’s what it was, and you can’t change anything. You can’t change a thing, except you couldn’t fire it back up, or, I don’t know, he sat there, it seems like, for a while, so, I don’t know, maybe he waited for caution, but, I don’t know, it was unfortunate. Keep digging, take what you got, got a fast race car, didn’t win, but, sometimes it just happens.”

After restarting 15th on lap 57, he made quick moves, including a pass on Alex Bowman for fourth. Then came a crucial window on the caution on lap 65 where Gibbs led again, with a sizable margin over Michael McDowell, having now led 26 laps and spent over 40 laps in the top five. But he hadn’t pitted in 23 laps, and the window to make a final stop was closing. On lap 67, he drove into the pits and emerged first off pit road only for a precaution to fly just after, reshuffling the order and trapping him behind those who stayed out. The bad luck was costly.

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Christopher Bell’s lament on a second-place finish

Christopher Bell may have finished second in Mexico City, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn’t exactly celebrating. Despite a strong run that saw him battle through the chaos and come home as the runner-up behind SVG, Bell wasn’t satisfied. For most of the grid, a podium would be a solid day. But anything short of that feels like a step backward.

He admitted as much of the race, telling FOX Sports he felt like a third-place car all weekend. Still in praise of SVG’s dominance, Bell goes on to say, ” He (SVG) was really good. Ultimately, it was just a third place (car) today. I felt like Ty (JGR teammate Ty Gibbs, was really good (but) the yellow flag (a late caution) bit him, and we walked away with second.”

Reflecting on the Chilango 150, he recalls saying, 

Statistically, Bell is having one of the best seasons in his career: three wins, three second-place finishes, and a third in just 16 races. That consistency has helped him climb to 3rd in the championship standings. But it’s also clear that for Bell, consistency is not the goal; domination is. He doesn’t want to be in the mix; he wants to be the one that no one can catch.

And even after he praised his team for giving him a fast Camry, Bell still placed the blame squarely on himself. “The Joe Gibbs Racing group brought an amazing Mobil 1 Camry and I can’t really say that it was my car that was lacking; I think it was on me this weekend.”

It looks like the JGR camp is having the Monday blues on a Sunday. Hopefully, they are able to recover in Pocono next weekend