“There’s no secret here; we’re going through a tough time,” Coach Gibbs said this about his grandson Ty after a P13 finish at Martinsville Speedway. Ever since the 2022 Xfinity Series champion made his debut, he’s been under the watchful eyes of critics. Although he didn’t have pressure on his shoulder during the rookie year, a lot of that changed with the way he ended the 2024 season.
He made it into the playoffs on the back of a points cushion, but his on-track performance just plummeted from Charlotte Roval to Phoenix. And things haven’t changed for good ever since the new year kicked off. The P13 finish at Martinsville was his best one so far, and apart from the Daytona 500, he has finished 22nd or worse in the remaining five races.
On one hand, Denny Hamlin from Joe Gibbs Racing snapped a 10-year wait to win at the Martinsville Speedway. But on the other hand, Ty kept adding another race until his debut win at the Cup Series; the number now stands at 94. To make matters worse, the 22-year-old is the longest-tenured JGR driver to go winless; the record was previously held by J.J. Yeley. Driving the JGR Toyota can be a blessing and a curse, and for the time being, Ty Gibbs is experiencing the latter feeling.
So far, Ty has 2 DNFs in 2025 and has an average finishing position of 23.857. Even a relatively decent finish at paperclip couldn’t help him much as he’s placed 31st in the point standings after seven race weekends. Despite the dark clouds looming over the No. 54 team, Joe Gibbs and his team are working overtime to help Ty come out of the slump.
“I appreciate for Heather, for myself. This is really tough. So it’s a big deal for us. But we’re going to fight. Ty’s dad, Coy, his statement was always, anytime we got in a tough spot about his kids, he goes, I raised my kids tough. That’s what he said. Hopefully, we’re going to fight our way out of this.” Coach Gibbs added.
Joe Gibbs, when asked by @dustinlong about his grandson’s Ty season, says they will keep fighting through the tough times. @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/w5gQcW41vc
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 31, 2025
But the fans who’ve seen these results become regular sightings weren’t sold on Joe Gibbs’ show of confidence. Rather, they came down hard on Ty, demanding his exit from the No. 54 seat and making amends for their past mistakes.
Fans want JGR to replace Ty Gibbs with Kyle Busch
Ever since Kyle Busch left JGR, his career has hit new lows. Driving the No. 8 RCR Chevy, he’s been to victory lane just thrice and was winless the entirety of the 2024 season. Thus, one race win per season for the 20th year straight was derailed, and things are not looking good for Rowdy after flashes of brilliance. Although it is tough to picture a scenario where Ty Gibbs gets fired, bringing back Busch to JGR won’t be a bad idea. “Fire him and go save Kyle Busch from his misery…”
Even those who are rooting for Ty feel that Busch should get another chance, as the young driver still has time to improve. The theory behind this idea is that Denny Hamlin is eventually going to retire in a year or two, and that would allow JGR to bring Ty back to Cup racing. “Honestly seems like it would work out for everybody if this happened. Send Gibbs back to xfinity for a couple years and sign Kyle and when Kyle or Denny inevitably retires or leaves you can bring Gibbs back up if you wanted. But this, of course, has all been easy to say and I know things are always more complicated than that.”
Meanwhile, a few others took shots at veteran owner Joe Gibbs for defending his grandson. We have seen the likes of Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, and Cole Custer take a humbling road down in the lower series. But despite the recurring theme of mediocre results, Ty keeps getting more chances to prove his worth. “What was he going to say? If Ty doesn’t get a top 10 at Darlington, we’re gonna fire his a–?”
Now we all know that Corey Heim has been knocking on the door for a Cup Series ride for a long time. Although he’s finally running a partial schedule with 23XI Racing, fans believe that if Ty wasn’t in the No. 54 car, he would easily replace the driver mid-season. “If it were anyone else, they would be in danger of Heim taking over their ride midseason.”
Not everyone was against the 22-year-old; this fan highlighted that his crew chief, Chris Gayle, was offloaded to the No. 11 team. And guess what? He helped Hamlin find his way back in the victory lane at Martinsville. This is the same guy that helped Ty win the 2022 Xfinity Series championship, so clearly, he’s finding it hard to adjust with the new team, and the outside pressure isn’t helping his case. “Well, they did give Denny his crew chief. Dunno.”
It’s too early in the season to make a definitive opinion on whether or not Ty Gibbs should continue with the No. 54 team. We might get a better idea about it once we reach the regular season finale; until then, he will keep racing on Sunday. Even if things don’t improve, he is likely to retain his place within the team.
The post “Fire Him”- Calls Mount Against Joe Gibbs Grandson Amidst Unending Cup Series Misery appeared first on EssentiallySports.
