Ty Gibbs is in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time. And make no mistake about it, the 21-year-old didn’t get here by accident, or a surprising win as occurred on multiple occasions in 2024. Despite his achievement of earning a playoff berth on points, there’s still a vocal portion of the fan base that regularly suggests he hasn’t earned his standing as a Cup driver and it’s only because of his last name.
During his appearance at Playoff Media Day, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver visited with the various media outlets, including Danielle Trotta and Larry McReynolds on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. In that 10-plus minute interview, Gibbs touched on various topics, including an interesting conversation on his perspective of time going by, and another thoughtful explanation on why he doesn’t like talking about his grandfather all the time.
Several minutes after the interview ended, America’s Crew Chief shared his feelings on Gibbs and what the young driver had to say.
@LarryMac28 talked about the maturity of @TyGibbs and also offered a specific message to his haters.
“What a long way that young man has come,” McReynolds acknowledged. “If we’d have had him for 10 minutes, let’s just say his year he won the Xfinity Series championship (2022), we would have had to have had 25 questions because the answers would have been yes and no. I mean he was outgoing and energetic. It’s so fun to see how much he’s matured. Yeah — as a race car driver, but just outside that race car.
“A thing that just absolutely drives me crazy is when I hear people say he’s got that ride because his last name is Gibbs. And I always respond quickly, he maybe got an opportunity to drive a race car in top equipment because yes, his grandfather is Joe Gibbs, but that young man has capitalized on it. I mean, he won an ARCA Menard’s Series championship. Dominated.
“He won an Xfinity Series championship. The first time they ever put him in an Xfinity Series car — we talked about his road course prowess — his first start was at the Daytona Road Course, no practice, and he won the race. And Joe Gibbs, I don’t care who it is, unless they can perform, he’s not putting them in one of those Cup Series cars.
“And this young man, he had an outstanding rookie season. He did exactly what a rookie needed to do. I saw a lot of maturity in Ty Gibbs from honestly, the year he won the Xfinity Series championship to a rookie year in the Cup Series last year. And now he’s a part of the playoffs.”
Ty Gibbs Gets Personal When Discussing Family
In the post-interview conversation with McReynolds, Trotta also mentioned how Gibbs has had to endure more than others his age with the tragic death of his father the day after he won the Xfinity Series championship. During the interview, when questioned about how much time he spends with his grandfather and what they do together, the driver had a thoughtful answer.
@TyGibbs got personal during Cup Series playoff media day, talking about his family and how he really appreciates spending time with them. He also discussed how time goes by so fast. He speaks as someone who is more mature than his 21 years of age.
And it’s understandable.
“I get asked about my grandfather a lot and I feel like it’s honestly selfish of me to just talk about my grandfather because I’ve got my whole entire family,” Gibbs said. “I spend a lot of time around everybody. I have two brothers and one sister. My sister’s in college. Brother’s going to go to college. So there’s a lot going on, but I spend time with everybody. No, it’s not just coach. So I feel like people are like, oh, it’s like coach is like my dad. You know what I mean?
“Like, I’m not around him all the time. He’s up in Wisconsin and all over the place all the time. You know what I mean? So I’m with my mom. Most importantly, I love my dogs. I’m with my dogs a lot at my mom’s house because they’re just terrorizing everything and destroying everything. But I get to spend time with my whole family and I love it. And, you know, I really appreciate all of it.”
Gibbs Has Funny Moment With McReynolds
McReynolds and Trotta both agreed that Gibbs has become more comfortable in front of the microphone as he’s matured. One humorous example happened during the interview when the driver talked about his 77 Cup Series starts.
“That’s more starts than I have in the Xfinity series, which just blows my mind,” Gibbs said.
“It’s happened so fast,” Trotta said.
“Life goes by,” he said. “Everybody always asks me if there’s one lesson you’ve learned, time goes by so fast and I appreciate it so much. Time goes by so fast. I remember when I was younger, days felt like eternities. When you’re at school, it felt so long.
“Now, it’s just like me today, okay, sim the next day, and then this, then we got to go to the track. And I mean, time just goes by so fast. You have no control. I remember the years felt like forever. Now, we’re almost in September. I turn 22 next month. I’m like, what the heck?
“Is this what it feels like when you get older? I don’t know,” he said with a laugh and looked in McReynolds direction. “I’m not shooting any strays here.”
“You looked straight at me though,” McReynolds joked.
“Yeah, I know,” Gibbs laughed. “I’m sorry.”
Ty Gibbs has endured a lot in his young life. It’s resulted in a maturity and perspective most don’t have at that age that includes a genuine appreciation of time and family. A mindset that will serve him well for years to come in his racing career and beyond.
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Larry Mac Doesn’t Sugarcoat Thoughts & Shuts Down Ty Gibbs Haters