Ty Gibbs will make the jump to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2023.
The 20-year-old driver, whose run to the Xfinity Series championship in the 2022 season was equal parts impressive and controversial, will drive the No. 54 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team announced Tuesday.
The move effectively fills the void left by Kyle Busch, who left JGR after 15 years and joined Richard Childress Racing at the end of the 2022 season. This will be the first time JGR won’t run the 18 since 1992.
Gibbs has been the most likely candidate to replace Busch since his announcement to join RCR in September. The young driver is the grandson of JGR’s owner, Joe Gibbs, and his talent is undeniable: He earned seven wins and 23 Top 10s en route to the Xfinity Series title earlier this month.
He also won the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2021.
Despite all he’s won, Ty Gibbs is still a controversial figure in racing. His 2022 season was riddled in moves that alienated him from the rest of the field (and subsequent apologies). The one that set the motorsports world on fire involved his win at Martinsville Speedway, when he appeared to wreck his own teammate to clear his way for a win he didn’t necessarily need. (He then went on to compare himself to Jesus after the win, telling Sirius XM NASCAR Radio in part, “I always go back to the same verse that Jesus was hated first and among all the people, so that’s a part of it, I feel like, just, you know, silencing the crowd. I feel like that’s what you have to do as a professional athlete.”)
He spent most of his frontstretch interview after his Xfinity Series championship win apologizing for the Martinsville mayhem.
“What I did last week was unacceptable, and I apologize once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organization standpoint. All my fault,” Gibbs told NBC Sports after celebrating at the start-finish line at Phoenix Raceway. Boos reigned down louder than cheers did at the time of the interview. “I can sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it’s not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions.”
Chris Gayle, who served as crew chief during his NASCAR Xfinity Championship season, will move with Gibbs up to the Cup Series.
Gibbs raced part-time at the Cup level in 2022, mostly subbing in for 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch, who for a bulk of the summer was recovering from a brain injury and intent on returning before the playoffs. He notched one Top 10 in 15 races.
He did not compete in the final Cup race of the season at Phoenix Raceway because of a family emergency. His father, Coy Gibbs, passed away at age 49 the night before the Sunday championship race Nov. 6.
