While Joe Gibbs Racing has led a fiery start to the 2024 season, amassing two wins with Christopher Bell at Phoenix and Denny Hamlin at Bristol, all eyes are still on the youngest driver of JGR, Ty Gibbs, who is being touted to turn heads at Richmond. The driver who joined the team ahead of the 2023 season has already shown a blistering performance in 2024 with three Top-5s and one Top-10. Although the 21-year-old is yet to reach victory lane, his recent performance at COTA with a P3 finish is enough to guess why veteran insiders are especially concentrated on him.

Recently, former racer and 3x Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett discussed what sets Ty Gibbs apart, while also mentioning how he will have some steep competition from his teammates during next weekend’s race at Richmond while being a formidable force himself. 

Ty Gibbs will have to watch out for his JGR teammates at Richmond

Ty Gibbs is only into his second full-time Cup season, and yet the stats stand by him for a spectacular win soon. The 21-year-old has led 195 laps, falling just behind teammate Hamlin and Hendrick rival Kyle Larson for most laps led. Hence, the apple would not far fall from the tree if we assume Gibbs will be a solid threat for Richmond aspirants. And even Dale Jarrett agrees. Speaking on Motorsports on NBC, the 1999 Cup Series champion said, “Ty Gibbs is showing with five top-ten straight finishes that he’s just on the verge of getting that first victory for himself.”

Further stressing his point, the veteran also acknowledged how the young driver is really rising up the ranks. However, he also mentioned that Gibbs will have to watch out for other JGR drivers. “The young man that has gone to the top of the power rankings in NASCAR is Ty Gibbs at this point in time with his five straight top-tens..So is this the time that he’s going to go get that first victory, make everything happen? And I think it really could..He’s gonna have to outrun his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates…because I talked about the power rankings. The JGR drivers are one through four in that,” Jarrett shared. 

Indeed, the formidable rivals in Ty Gibbs’ path are mostly among his own teammates. Jarrett elucidated why that is the case due to their incredible stats at Richmond. “Denny Hamlin has four wins at this race track. Martin Truex Jr has won three of the last nine races there. Christopher Bell always runs well and has already won on somewhat of a short track at Phoenix earlier this year,” he said.

And to add to that, the Richmond Raceway has transitioned from an ‘Action Track’ into a strategy-heavy track recently. That is exactly why Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are perfect for an outstanding performance at the 0.750-mile track. And from Ty Gibbs’ own statements, it’s evident that he isn’t really stressing about the next race. The driver also reiterated how his pit crew’s support has really helped him up the ante this season.

Gibbs has nothing to worry about with excellent guidance

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Besides his fascinating showdown in the first few races of 2024, Richmond also looks promising for Ty Gibbs. He has only three Cup starts on this track. The first race in August 2022 ended badly with a 36th finish after an engine failure. But then he caught up, with 9th and 15th-place finishes last year. What’s more? Gibbs also won a Xfinity race on the half-mile track in April 2022. So when it comes to familiarity with what the track has to offer, Ty Gibbs is definitely up there. 

Gibbs’s fortunes in Richmond also look bright due to his pit crew. He told Speedway Digest: “We’ve run well and hopefully we can have another good race this week in Richmond. It’s been great. I work really well with my team. Chris Gayle- he has been my crew chief since 2021. I feel like we have a good connection, also my crew engineer- Kyle Abrahams- he has also been with me and Chris Gayle since 2021. We have all been working really well together and we are going to keep hammering down.”

Seems like Ty Gibbs has all the backup he needs to make for a fantastic showdown at Richmond Raceway this weekend. Are you excited to see him run? Let us know in the comments below!

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