NASCAR's Next Star

With NASCAR having so many different ways of developing drivers, there’s no shortage of young drivers making their way into the series. Whether it be dirt track racing like Kyle Larson or paved short tracks like Joey Logano, many disciplines can lead to NASCAR. With this constant influx of new drivers it’s hard to say who’s going to be the next big star until they prove it.

Chase Elliott was the last of these drivers that many had confidence in being the next star. It made sense with his father being one of the all time greats and his success before jumping in a cup car. Elliott made his cup debut the year after his now Xfinity Series championship and then would move full time to the 24 a year later. Everyone knew that this was going to lead to Chase winning but doubts began to sprout with him still not having a win nearly 2 ½ years into his tenure. After getting 3 wins in 2018, he was back into the spotlight of being the new star driver.

A driver with the same expectations has been thrust into the spotlight in the past year. Ty Gibbs is the grandson of Joe Gibbs, who owns Joe Gibbs Racing. He started his journey just like any other driver. He ran a full season of late models, after finishing 8th for the season, he moved up to ARCA where he drove for his grandfather. In 47 ARCA races, he earned 18 wins and a championship. During his championship season, 2021, Ty started racing part time for his grandfather in the Xfinity Series where he would win in his debut race at the Daytona Road Course. He went on to win four more times in his 18 total starts. This was enough to convince everyone that he is going to be something special. Fans across social media were taken back by his ability to make veteran-like moves to put himself in a good position each race at the age of 19.

However, as Ty has been running for the Xfinity Series championship and filling in for an injured Kurt Busch in the cup series, he has ruffled many feathers with other drivers and the fan base. Fox headlines of Ty Gibbs, “Ryan Sieg unhappy with Ty Gibbs at Las Vegas”, “Gibbs nudges Nemechek to win in Xfinity Series at Richmond”, “Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer get into fight at Martinsville”, “Ty Gibbs wins races but is viewed as NASCAR's newest villain”, “Gibbs, Hemric trigger multi-car wreck at Talladega”, “Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson exchange on-track blows at Portland”, “Ty Gibbs, William Byron spin fighting for the lead”, “Up to Speed: William Byron, Ty Gibbs penalized after Texas”. All of these headlines are from 2022, and so it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that Ty isn’t favored by most. But his talent is hard to argue against.

Another Xfinity Series championship contender and Cup Series veteran, AJ Allmendinger, spoke about GIbbs saying, “... but what he’s really good at is just not - on the racetrack itself, if you really look at it he doesn’t make a ton of mistakes and put himself in bad positions.” AJ also went on to say, “I love racing against him because it pushes me to my limits and I have to be at my best and maybe even go to levels I don’t think I have sometimes to even just try to run with him. He’ll be around for a long time, no doubt”. Having a competitor praise you is an accomplishment within itself because it means something special. No one wants to admit that they are being pushed to drive harder by some kid, but it’s clear that AJ respects Ty and his talent enough to give praises.

With his polarizing actions and extreme talent, many people draw comparisons to Kyle Busch. Which seems fitting as he is expected to replace Kyle’s vacant spot at JGR for 2023. But Ty still has a lot to prove, like an Xfinity Series championship against two drivers that are announced to move up to the cup series full time in 2023. Ty’s career has definitely just started and is looking to not end anytime soon.